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Dan loved this although disagree with your assessment of the scene where King George disparages Pitt as just a servant to balance the books which you take too literally. It is clearly designed to tell us the audience that the King is the old duffer who doesnt know what he's talking about by use of irony😏
You that Winston Churchill was drunk and slurd his words and out his face with drugs he had to repeat that speech year after the war when he was sober he was an embarrassment he's a known Paedophile and took drugs
He’s the most amazing actor! He’s fantastic in this. Compare this performance to his portrayal of George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Simply amazing.
Try his podcasts they are great too. I listen to Dan and his guests along with another channel ‘we have ways’ hosted by Al Murray and James Holland while having breakfast and/or lunch. Full of information and insight 👍
American here, just wanted to express my appreciation and gratitude for this channel. I'm something of an Anglophile and I love learning about British history, and History Hit makes it so fun and accessible. The presenters are so knowledgeable and passionate, I always look forward to new videos 😀 Also, Gary Oldman is an absolute legend, he is much beloved and admired here in the States.
I fully agree. I'm a German immigrant to the United States, and this is hands down my favorite history channel. It's not just British history. Memorial Day saw the release of the video about getting WWI soldiers the Medal of Honor that was denied to them because of racism. And around the same time, the video about the getting a proper burial for British soldiers at the Battle of Camden, where Dan Snow traveled to South Carolina. Close to my home in Charlotte.
As an American, I truly enjoy Mr. Snow’s absolute knowledge and heartfelt passion for British History! I have enjoyed Dan from the RUclips History Channel plus watching him on Television over here in the middle of America (Oklahoma)… His passion and knowledge would qualify him for a knighthood (or a least a professor at Eaton or Oxford’)… I been to Oxford a couple of times and I could see him/hear Dan not only educate but couch his students to think out the box to understand her cherished traditions…only a British citizen ever could…
I love watching Dan Snow! He's such an engaging speaker and you can sense his passion for history whenever he speaks. Would love to see more of these videos in the future!
I was already a fan of Dan Snow, but his grasp and detail in this piece are second to none. I find history and particularly that of the United Kingdom very interesting and captivating. There is only one other historian that I enjoy listening to and seeing other than Dan Snow and that is Dr. David Starkey (Praise indeed Mr Snow).
Darkest Hour received several accolades, including Best Actor for Oldman at the Academy Awards. Oldman also won the BAFTA Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor--Motion Picture Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.
I had reservations about how Meryl Streep was going to pull this off as it's a very hard accent to get right. But then I remembered that she's Meryl Streep
@@Slowlythinking Gillian Anderson, good as she was, didn't have the burden of carrying an entire film. But I agree, she deserves consideration. A very Kermodish prejudice.
I love his clear love and knowledge of history and I also love that he can also appreciate the movies themselves even with discrepancies. He points out things that historically are incorrect without full blown insulting the work which is nice to see.
This is one of many of Dan's reviews I have watched and I love how his passion for history shines through when he talks about any subject. I love listening to it, and learning from him! Thanks Dan :)
It's easy to criticize Neville Chamberlain in hindsight, but he made the best choice with the information he had. He was perhaps naive, but so were many other people. It's important to give people some grace when we look at history.
I just said basically the same. In a modern lens, Chamberlin is a fool to believe Hitler. But in the actual context of the times, Chamberlin made the best choices he could with the information he had. Millions of people were taken in my Hitler's ability to talk. Other heads of state included. Did Chamberlin, to modern eyes, make a mistake? Yes. Is it fair to judge him by what we know now? No.
Exactly. We didn't realise how evil Hitler was or intended to be, and just because Chamberlain's "deal" was the first sign of what was to come doesn't mean that we should condemn him for making it.
Honestly I could watch these videos all day. Gary Oldman is being brilliant as Churchill as he is in any film he is in. Meryl Streep is also brilliant playing Thatcher who was such a divisive PM. Tony Blair handled Diana’s death very well and Michael Sheen nails it.
Michael Sheen did a trilogy of Tony Blair appearances. The first is The Deal, in which he and Gordon Brown (David Morrissey) come up together and compete for the leadership of the Labour Party. The Queen is chronologically second, and the last is The Special Relationship, about Blair's dealings with President Clinton, well played by Randy Quaid (and Hope Davis is the best Hillary Clinton I have ever seen). The third is also the most political of the three, and is very interesting on Blair's influence on US participation in the defence of Kosovo.
Love these videos with Dan Snow. He reminds me of a fantastic prof I had while at university for a class on Renaissance History. If he was teaching where I went to school, he would have overflowing classes.
2 films I would recommend are The Gathering Storm where Winston Churchill is played by Albert Finney & The Long Walk to Finchley where a young Margaret Thatcher is played by Andrea Riseborough.
Gary Oldman was a wonderful Churchill. It was Edward R. Murrow (American journalist) who said that Churchill mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.
It'd be interesting if Dan could do another one for Prime Ministers; 'Amazing Grace' - 'Curtin' (he was Australian, not British- & it was a mini-series, not a movie)...
A thrilled looking video about the characteristics speech of Sir Winston Churchill ...during WW2...and Other brilliant figures of recent history of Britain 🇬🇧...with attractive introduction video
An interesting selection of movies made more interesting by Dan's engrossing and enthusiastic presentation. The movie about Chamberlain reminds me of a history course l took back in the eighties at adult college which covered the origins of WWll
Michael Sheen had actually played Tony Blair in a television film prior to making the movie The Queen. He also has a stunning resemblance so he was the perfect fit.
It's unfortunate but whenever I see Chamberlain waving that piece of paper I see a fool. I don't like thinking that way about an earnest man who did the best he could but we are looking at it with hindsight. In hindsight he definitely was very foolish if he actually believed Hitler. It seems as if he did though there's no way to be certain about that. Obviously he had to claim that he had done something important by buying the world more time.
On Churchill's speech in "Darkest Hour" there was a character with the 3rd party(at least separate from Halifax) who would display his approval or rejection of the speech by removing his jacket handkerchief. His approval of the speech and subsequent ovation from the remainder of the audience, according to the plot would show the total victory for Churchill. Did something like this actually happen?
Chamberlain was much less confident that is generally thought - he didn't want to waive the paper; his letters to his sister are full of his doubts about the Hitler agreement.
Thatcher calling any compromise with Argentina to be Appeasement was a conscious word choice. She knew the last time Appeasement was attempted, Hitler violated the terms of the armistice and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia and wasn't intent on going down that path again.
Thus justifying sending elite British troops and millions of pounds of war machinery to "defend" penguins on a rock a thousand miles away from underage, under equiped conscripts sent by a Banana Republic dictator on the verge of losing power whose reasons for war were exactly the same as Thatcher's - distract everyone from the problems at home with a private little patriotic war. No one bought it then - neither in Argentina or England - and deliberately invoking threats of Hitler over what was fundamentally a colonial territory dispute only proves how monstrous she was.
I mean…It’s an effective manipulation of the public consciousness, but of course there’s long leagues of difference between the expansionist Nazi war machine and….Argentina, not even capable of posing a competent threat, laying claim to essentially its backyard.
Intentionally trying to evoke that specter to suit her own ends. Argentina was not going to take on the world just by giving them the Falklands. It was a pathetic attempt on her part to garner public opinion and give herself a veneer of military heroism. Disgusting, and anyone that believes it is ill-informed.
On British history movie that I have questions about. The 2006 movie Amazing Grace. A great movie. 1. Did the abolitionists really sneak a bill pass parliament that allowed British privateers to seize British slave ships flying false colors during the Napoleonic Wars? 2. Was this a critical bill that financially weaken the slave owners, eventually allowed the British Atlantic Slave trade to be abolished? Note: If so, that is an incredible story. But I would wonder why parliament couldn't overturn this within a year. 3. Or did the slave trade just take a big financial hit due to the very long Napoleonic Wars, without any special bill passing parliament to make this happen? 4. Was the timing of the passage of a later bill in 1807 related to the United States making the importation of slaves from Africa illegal, as specified in the Constitution to take place in 20 years? 5. Did the British wish to be the first to prohibit this and was this factor decisive in the passing of this bill in 1807?
Gary Oldman's Churchill was masterful , but Brian Cox's interpretation will always be underrated due to both movies were released in the same year . In Cox's Chirchill , he dived deep down to another Churchill , not the BlitKrieg hero but to the D-day Churchill , a man haunted by his own demons , notably the desastrous Gallipoli campaign , a bit of a glory seeking commander reminding us of his predecessor's effort in the war of the Spanish succession . To sum it up, it's a must see as we see another side of Winston presented to us by Brian Cox...
The problem with Cox’s Churchill, was that the entire premise of the film was around Churchill’s opposition to the D-Day landings so close to the event itself. Churchill was initially sceptical but was fully onboard and behind it months before June 6th 1944, so the entire film Cox was in and is portrayal, is based on a falsehood. If Churchill was so against D-Day the days before it happened, it wouldn’t have happened!
William Pitt may very well be the only British PM who is part of an airport code in the United States: PGV - Pitt Greenville. Greenville, North Carolina, located in Pitt County. Named after him. Meanwhile, CLT, the airport code for Charlotte, North Carolina, is named after King George's better half. Here ends my contribution to utterly useless trivia.
They should make a movie about David Lloyd George, the PM during the latter part of WWI. He was also among those who negotiated the Treaty of Versailles.
I (I'm Canadian) learned just recently that the UK flag is only called the Union Jack when flown at sea, and is properly the Union Flag otherwise. I love that Dan Snow calls it the Union Flag. I rarely hear it referred to that way. He seems like he would know, which suggests that what I learned is true!
I think Churchill's speech isn't just one of the most important speeches in the history of the English language I think it's one of the most important speeches in all of human history
Yes trouble is when it came to helping other countries fight their enemies churchill wasnt so willing so his speeches were a load of bullshit as far as us australians were concerned.
@@johnb1150 not really sure what exactly you're referring to: If you are talking about Gallipoli than you are under the modern and incorrect conception that the British threw away Anzac lives because they did not care about the colonies etc, when in reality the British and French (individually) lost more there than the Anzacs did. It was a collective tragedy born of bad strategy, not some weird feeling of superiority. If you mean WW2 against Japan, then this still makes no sense. The Australians withdrew most of their soldiers from Africa after Japan joined the war and Britain had no real objection to this. Realistically, there wasn't much more that Britain could have done to help Australia (they were kind of busy, and had just lost their eastern capital ships) and honestly most planners realized that Australia was in no real life-or-death danger. Even the Japanese considered an invasion of Australia foolish and pointless
@@kayisonyoutube3435Not really - not when you consider the context, especially the fact that a collapse in British morale and ignominious defeat would most likely have brought a quarter of the globe under Nazi Germany’s dominion. And even if Corporal Browntrousers had permitted an exiled British Government to continue to govern the Empire from Canada, a Nazi Germany in full command of Europe is a very different proposition to the Soviet Union than was hitherto the case. Also, a British defeat would likely have ended the war before the United States’ entry into it after Pearl Harbor, which means the Soviets would have been considerably weaker without the support of the Lend-Lease programme. No, this speech is every bit as important as claimed.
@@milesconerly5818 And he plays the Queen's Private Secretary in the recent series about Prince Andrew's interview, A Very Royal Scandal. Alex Jennings also played King Charles III in a radio play that came out several years ago. He has portrayed King Leopold of the Belgians (in Victoria). Alex Jennings is one of the best actors the UK has ever produced (and that's a crowded field). He is very versatile and if you check out his IMDb entry, you may find you have seen him in loads more things than you have mentioned.
Oh man I had no idea that Churchill went and re-recorded his greatest hits... While he was still a leading figure in politics, and was just about to become PM again. That is so perfectly Churchill.
The act of bowing to the monarch in the investiture of the PM is not the people abasing themselves to the Crown but an elected official bowing to the people in the person of the Queen.
My two favorites are ‘Darkest Hour’ and ‘Munich; since I like that they are set before and during World War 2 which is one of my favorite subjects. Chamberlain failed to understand that Hitler and his followers didn’t want any peace, their intentions are made clear in Mein Kampf regarding ‘living space’ for Germany. Unfortunately not everyone is a rational person who can be made to see reason. Gary Old man’s portrayal of Churchill is the best that I have seen by far, he really became that character.
I quite like the idea the prime ministers although elected are supplicant to the monarch in a symbolic way. The fact they meet once a week is almost like having to go to confession and admit your sins and having to bow and kiss their hands is symbolic I think not that they are in service to the queen or king but to the country, your reminded not to ge to big for your boots and you are a servant to the country and the people. Personally I like that rather then the presidential model where they both get the actual power and take on that ceremonial role as well.
3:30 I still do not think, especially to the regular public, that Churchill is well understood beyond the outer shell of the speeches and 'the hero'. And I don't think this movie really helped very much in that regard.
I had the opportunity to meet Lady Thatcher and Sir Dennis, after she had retired. She was on a trip to the USA, and I was a Supervisory Inspector with US Immigration. All persons, regardless of position, are required to clear Immigration and Customs. I cleared her and Sir Dennis in a side room to expedite their entry for security reasons. Both Lady Thatcher and Sir Dennis were the soul of courtesy, not a bit of pretension, and we had about a five minute conversation. She was one of a very few people I asked for an autographed photo fir my Office, which she obliged. President Reagan was another, and both their signed photos are above my desk at home now that I'm retired. She and President Reagan, Britain and America, brought back national pride, and were truly a driving force which changed the world and brought down the Soviet Union.
Oh, please. There are swathes of British people who hate her for destroying their industries and communities in the 80s. Flag shagging doesn't pay the bills.
Thatcher wasn’t tough in meetings as is always suggested. It’s interesting to see the testimony from German politicians who say that she regularly compromised in EU meetings after midnight as she wanted to go to bed and people knew it and used it. The Germans around Kohl really disliked her after she tried to block German unification and remained very derogatory about them.
I enjoyed this review immensely. I think Dan Snow showed great insight into all the films. I was completely unfamiliar with the Munich movie which seems to be the most recent. I read recently that the Prime Ministers don't actually kiss hands or kneel to the monarch, that the term is a leftover from long ago when this was the case and that the monarch simply shakes hands with the incoming Prime Minister. So is the whole business in The Queen with Tony Blair about it just a fiction then?
Despite generally being a staunch lefty myself, I feel that the sympathetic portrayal of Neville Chamberlain was much needed. I truly believe he was fully aware of the danger that Hitler posed upon the world, but he was also very aware that Britain was in no current position to fight a major war. He sacrificed his political career to buy us time. Now whether we should have struck sooner is debatable, but considering the Soviet threats of the same time, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He chose to buy precious time whilst rearming in preparation for an inevitable conflict.
Is Dan saying all this off the top of his head? He knows all the details, the dates, where each scene actually took place. Quite a brain he has, and a good teacher.
I didn't think Meryl Streep was at all convincing as Margaret Thatcher. Patricia Hodge was a much better protrayal. Meryl Streep seemed to have a soft look about her (not a very good description but the best I can come up with) while Ms Hodge had that edge of hardness and command visible in her expressions.
31:30 It's hard to think how long ago it was now. It was an incredibly emotional event, even in Canada there were people weeping in the streets when interviewed by the press.
I don’t know his name, but I’d like your take on the actor who played Winston Churchill in the movie “Ike: Countdown to D-Day” starring Tom Selleck as General Eisenhower. Excellent movie and fairly accurate.
Disraeli wasn't Prime Minister during any of the Anglo Burmese Wars (he died in 1881, four years before the final annexation of Burma). I think it was Randolph Churchill who gave Burma as a Christmas present?
Playing a British monarch or prime minister seems to be an easy way for an actor to win an Oscar. Gary Oldman won an Oscar for portraying Winston Churchill. Meryl Streep won an Oscar for portraying Margaret Thatcher. Helen Mirren won an Oscar for portraying Elizabeth II. And Judi Dench won an Oscar for portraying Elizabeth I.
Colin Firth won one for playing George VI. Olivia Colman won one for playing Queen Anne. Katherine Hepburn won one for playing Eleanor of Aquitaine. There are quite possibly more. And of there were any justice Peter O'Toole would have own for playing Henry II in Becket and Richard Burton for playing Henry VIII in Anne of a Thousand Days.
The portrayal of the l8 Baroness Thatcher when PM appears, in the film under advisement to be biased to a degree. It is unlikely that most southerners will be able fully to appreciate this. It is certainly true that Chamberlain was deluded and that WW2 could've been shorter had he seen the writing on the wall, as did many, such as my dad, of who's memory I am unspeakably proud. Interesting resume, thanks and.. Nice one Dan & Team! ⭐👍
Wiston Churchil was surrounded of very bright people too... they decoded the enigma machine.... and created the RAF, with plains superior to the germans.... """Zero hour approaches"""
Another note about the The Edge of War. As Dan said, Germany was quite weak in 1938. Even the extra year or two wasn't enough. They were so weak in fact that when the French invaded Germany in response to the invasion of Poland, even the half hearted and piecemeal attack was able to drive all the way to the town of Hornbach, taking 11 other towns and villages along the way, with no resistance. Had the British and French puffed out their chest and made it clear in 1938 that if Germany so much as blinked wrong, the full force of their militaries would come crashing down on Hitler's head, Hitler likely would've given in. To put it more simply, if Britain and France had half the ball Hitler did, there would have been no World War 2. Hell, it would've even had more effect if they'd done it in 1936 in opposition to the Remilitarization of the Rhineland. The whole "Extra year" claim is just a weak cover story to excuse the British and French governments from allowing the horrors of the Holocaust and World War 2 to have occured.
That scene from the Queen always fascinates me. It's easy to argue monarchy as an institution doesn't have any place in modern democracy, but I do think there's value in the leader of a country getting an ego check once a week. Separating the power from the glory and reminding elected leaders that they're civil servants, not kings.
Thatcher, one of the greatest PMs who made one of the greatest blunders resonating greatly now, selling off council houses and not using the money to replace them.
As an American, I find your PMs interesting. As the US and Britain have had such a long 'partnership', internationally; I have my opinions of your PMs (as I'm sure some Brits have of some of our Presidents), and the one I have the most trouble with, is M. Thatcher. Meryl Streep did a fine job of portraying her, it was just hard to watch. :)
@@stephenreeds3632 As was Reagan, at the time. He and Thatcher, between them, stuck us in this neoliberal, post-social contract, 'throw money at the rich' reality.
@@curiousworld7912Thatcher was a great leader, in the sense of complete and utter integrity and determination in her own ideology. Whether or not I agree with her domestic policies or not (some I do, some I don’t), give me someone like her over a slippery chameleon like Boris Johnson every day of the week.
If you enjoyed this please don't forget to like the video and let us know what genre of movies you'd like Dan to react to next! Also please do subscribe if you haven't already and help us reach our goal of 1 MILLION subscribers!
Isn’t that Dan’s dad Jon Snow in the sound on the Falklands video at about 6m40s?
The only issue is that the film isn’t called The Darkest Hour. It’s just Darkest Hour, no ‘the’
“The Darkest Hour” is a 2011 science fiction film 😂
Dan loved this although disagree with your assessment of the scene where King George disparages Pitt as just a servant to balance the books which you take too literally. It is clearly designed to tell us the audience that the King is the old duffer who doesnt know what he's talking about by use of irony😏
Every time I see Meryl as Thatcher I am reminded of Jennifer Saunders playing Meryl as Thatcher...
You that Winston Churchill was drunk and slurd his words and out his face with drugs he had to repeat that speech year after the war when he was sober he was an embarrassment he's a known Paedophile and took drugs
I can't get enough of Dan's breakdowns. More please
More on the way!
Agreed! He's such an engaging presenter!
This are brilliant
This is fantastic
A fountain of knowledge, he covers so much of history it's quite amazing
One day Lord Buckethead will make the cut.
That literally made me LOL
Hehe. Heard about that guy. Has been running still?
@@jozz2248Lost to the Conservatives at Uxbridge's snap election sadly. But he'll be back.
Lord Buckethead will not become the prime minster. He will become the Emperor of a new British Empire.
Legend
Gary Oldman killed it as Churchill. He BECAME Churchill. One of the finest performances of his career.
He slays like a Royal knight EVERY role he EVER portrays! He is superb!
There were points in that clip where I could hear Reznov 😂 he really is such a joy to watch
Along with Dracula and victor resnov
His Churchill was way too nice but that happens a lot with historical figures in films
He’s the most amazing actor! He’s fantastic in this. Compare this performance to his portrayal of George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Simply amazing.
Fun fact: Dan Snow is the great-grandson of Prime David Lloyd George through his mother and had did a documentary on him
Tis true!
Whoa. That's amazing.
So Lloyd George knew his father?
@@HistoryHit The reply is supposed to be: Father knew Lloyd George.
Repeat lines 1 and 2 to the tune of Onward Christian Soldiers....
@@HistoryHitIs this the British equivalent of being the son of an NBA superstar?
And now I will spend the day watching The Darkest Hour, The Iron Lady & The Queen.
Oldman is a chameleon, he becomes every role he performs. It's entertaining to watch any movie he's in
Isnt he amazing? Dracula one minute Winston Churchill the next,both utterly seamless performances.
He currently portrays President Truman in Oppenheimer
Exactly up there with Daniel Day Lewis
Love Dan Snows' videos. Entertaining and informative in equal measures.
☺☺☺
Try his podcasts they are great too.
I listen to Dan and his guests along with another channel ‘we have ways’ hosted by Al Murray and James Holland while having breakfast and/or lunch.
Full of information and insight 👍
American here, just wanted to express my appreciation and gratitude for this channel. I'm something of an Anglophile and I love learning about British history, and History Hit makes it so fun and accessible. The presenters are so knowledgeable and passionate, I always look forward to new videos 😀
Also, Gary Oldman is an absolute legend, he is much beloved and admired here in the States.
Wow, thank you!
I fully agree. I'm a German immigrant to the United States, and this is hands down my favorite history channel. It's not just British history. Memorial Day saw the release of the video about getting WWI soldiers the Medal of Honor that was denied to them because of racism. And around the same time, the video about the getting a proper burial for British soldiers at the Battle of Camden, where Dan Snow traveled to South Carolina. Close to my home in Charlotte.
As an American I too love the history of England.
I recently found out through my DNA, that most of my ancestor’s come from England. 🏴
@@fosterfuchsSo cool! 😎 history is fascinating, especially when it becomes more personal!
As an American, I truly enjoy Mr. Snow’s absolute knowledge and heartfelt passion for British History! I have enjoyed Dan from the RUclips History Channel plus watching him on Television over here in the middle of America (Oklahoma)…
His passion and knowledge would qualify him for a knighthood (or a least a professor at Eaton or Oxford’)…
I been to Oxford a couple of times and I could see him/hear Dan not only educate but couch his students to think out the box to understand her cherished traditions…only a British citizen ever could…
Dan Snow is a moron he only gets work because of his family connections
I love watching Dan Snow! He's such an engaging speaker and you can sense his passion for history whenever he speaks. Would love to see more of these videos in the future!
💯
Just love Dan’s passion for history. It’s catching lol
He’s a vomit!!
Dan is pretty awesome. Also, it’s nice to see a public-facing male historian who’s as hot as the UK’s female historians.
@@grahamstrouse1165 lol agreed 😉
@@moonlightserenade6292 I didn’t know that. Thank you for sharing. 😁
I was already a fan of Dan Snow, but his grasp and detail in this piece are second to none. I find history and particularly that of the United Kingdom very interesting and captivating. There is only one other historian that I enjoy listening to and seeing other than Dan Snow and that is Dr. David Starkey (Praise indeed Mr Snow).
Darkest Hour received several accolades, including Best Actor for Oldman at the Academy Awards. Oldman also won the BAFTA Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor--Motion Picture Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.
It should also win a best bullshit propaganda award.
I had reservations about how Meryl Streep was going to pull this off as it's a very hard accent to get right.
But then I remembered that she's Meryl Streep
I could listen to Dan Snow talk for hours. He's smart, articulate, knowledgeable, handsome. He looks tall. I bet he's tall. ❤❤️🔥🔥😍
I have always enjoyed whatever Dan has been the presenter of, I could watch his history shows all day long.
Gary Oldman is rare to see as an actor but everytime you get to see him it’s a masterpiece.
We should defend our island whatever the cost may be.... we shall never surrender. His speech was intense moments of passion.
Gillian Anderson played thatcher well in the crown
I even think Gillian Anderson's role was way better than that of Meryl Strip's.
@@Slowlythinking Gillian Anderson, good as she was, didn't have the burden of carrying an entire film. But I agree, she deserves consideration. A very Kermodish prejudice.
I love his clear love and knowledge of history and I also love that he can also appreciate the movies themselves even with discrepancies. He points out things that historically are incorrect without full blown insulting the work which is nice to see.
I adore Gary’s performance in The Darkest Hour! They did such a great job telling this story.
I love your breakdowns, thank you for posting this!
This is one of many of Dan's reviews I have watched and I love how his passion for history shines through when he talks about any subject. I love listening to it, and learning from him! Thanks Dan :)
It's easy to criticize Neville Chamberlain in hindsight, but he made the best choice with the information he had. He was perhaps naive, but so were many other people. It's important to give people some grace when we look at history.
True. The appeasement was an attempt to save British men and women from total war.
I just said basically the same. In a modern lens, Chamberlin is a fool to believe Hitler. But in the actual context of the times, Chamberlin made the best choices he could with the information he had. Millions of people were taken in my Hitler's ability to talk. Other heads of state included. Did Chamberlin, to modern eyes, make a mistake? Yes. Is it fair to judge him by what we know now? No.
Exactly. We didn't realise how evil Hitler was or intended to be, and just because Chamberlain's "deal" was the first sign of what was to come doesn't mean that we should condemn him for making it.
Honestly I could watch these videos all day. Gary Oldman is being brilliant as Churchill as he is in any film he is in. Meryl Streep is also brilliant playing Thatcher who was such a divisive PM. Tony Blair handled Diana’s death very well and Michael Sheen nails it.
Michael Sheen did a trilogy of Tony Blair appearances. The first is The Deal, in which he and Gordon Brown (David Morrissey) come up together and compete for the leadership of the Labour Party. The Queen is chronologically second, and the last is The Special Relationship, about Blair's dealings with President Clinton, well played by Randy Quaid (and Hope Davis is the best Hillary Clinton I have ever seen). The third is also the most political of the three, and is very interesting on Blair's influence on US participation in the defence of Kosovo.
Nigel Hawthorne was such a brilliant actor.
Yes, Minister
I’d love for you to review Tom Hanks production of the series John Adams & Outlander, as to the historical accuracy of those series!
Love these videos with Dan Snow. He reminds me of a fantastic prof I had while at university for a class on Renaissance History. If he was teaching where I went to school, he would have overflowing classes.
2 films I would recommend are The Gathering Storm where Winston Churchill is played by Albert Finney & The Long Walk to Finchley where a young Margaret Thatcher is played by Andrea Riseborough.
Gary Oldman was a wonderful Churchill. It was Edward R. Murrow (American journalist) who said that Churchill mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.
It'd be interesting if Dan could do another one for Prime Ministers; 'Amazing Grace' - 'Curtin' (he was Australian, not British- & it was a mini-series, not a movie)...
A thrilled looking video about the characteristics speech of Sir Winston Churchill ...during WW2...and Other brilliant figures of recent history of Britain 🇬🇧...with attractive introduction video
An interesting selection of movies made more interesting by Dan's engrossing and enthusiastic presentation. The movie about Chamberlain reminds me of a history course l took back in the eighties at adult college which covered the origins of WWll
Michael Sheen had actually played Tony Blair in a television film prior to making the movie The Queen. He also has a stunning resemblance so he was the perfect fit.
Chamberlain is more complex than i think i was taught.
It's unfortunate but whenever I see Chamberlain waving that piece of paper I see a fool. I don't like thinking that way about an earnest man who did the best he could but we are looking at it with hindsight. In hindsight he definitely was very foolish if he actually believed Hitler. It seems as if he did though there's no way to be certain about that. Obviously he had to claim that he had done something important by buying the world more time.
On Churchill's speech in "Darkest Hour" there was a character with the 3rd party(at least separate from Halifax) who would display his approval or rejection of the speech by removing his jacket handkerchief. His approval of the speech and subsequent ovation from the remainder of the audience, according to the plot would show the total victory for Churchill. Did something like this actually happen?
Chamberlain was much less confident that is generally thought - he didn't want to waive the paper; his letters to his sister are full of his doubts about the Hitler agreement.
I loved every minute of this video, more please 🙏🏽
Thatcher calling any compromise with Argentina to be Appeasement was a conscious word choice. She knew the last time Appeasement was attempted, Hitler violated the terms of the armistice and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia and wasn't intent on going down that path again.
Never again
Just because you had an empire before doesn't mean you continue to be a wanker
Thus justifying sending elite British troops and millions of pounds of war machinery to "defend" penguins on a rock a thousand miles away from underage, under equiped conscripts sent by a Banana Republic dictator on the verge of losing power whose reasons for war were exactly the same as Thatcher's - distract everyone from the problems at home with a private little patriotic war. No one bought it then - neither in Argentina or England - and deliberately invoking threats of Hitler over what was fundamentally a colonial territory dispute only proves how monstrous she was.
I mean…It’s an effective manipulation of the public consciousness, but of course there’s long leagues of difference between the expansionist Nazi war machine and….Argentina, not even capable of posing a competent threat, laying claim to essentially its backyard.
Intentionally trying to evoke that specter to suit her own ends.
Argentina was not going to take on the world just by giving them the Falklands. It was a pathetic attempt on her part to garner public opinion and give herself a veneer of military heroism.
Disgusting, and anyone that believes it is ill-informed.
On British history movie that I have questions about. The 2006 movie Amazing Grace. A great movie.
1. Did the abolitionists really sneak a bill pass parliament that allowed British privateers to seize British slave ships flying false colors during the Napoleonic Wars?
2. Was this a critical bill that financially weaken the slave owners, eventually allowed the British Atlantic Slave trade to be abolished?
Note: If so, that is an incredible story. But I would wonder why parliament couldn't overturn this within a year.
3. Or did the slave trade just take a big financial hit due to the very long Napoleonic Wars, without any special bill passing parliament to make this happen?
4. Was the timing of the passage of a later bill in 1807 related to the United States making the importation of slaves from Africa illegal, as specified in the Constitution to take place in 20 years?
5. Did the British wish to be the first to prohibit this and was this factor decisive in the passing of this bill in 1807?
Gary Oldman is Amazing! I had no idea that was him as Chruchill!😯😯
It wasn’t that was Winston Churchill playing the role of the great Garry Oldman 😅
Gary Oldman's Churchill was masterful , but Brian Cox's interpretation will always be underrated due to both movies were released in the same year . In Cox's Chirchill , he dived deep down to another Churchill , not the BlitKrieg hero but to the D-day Churchill , a man haunted by his own demons , notably the desastrous Gallipoli campaign , a bit of a glory seeking commander reminding us of his predecessor's effort in the war of the Spanish succession . To sum it up, it's a must see as we see another side of Winston presented to us by Brian Cox...
The problem with Cox’s Churchill, was that the entire premise of the film was around Churchill’s opposition to the D-Day landings so close to the event itself.
Churchill was initially sceptical but was fully onboard and behind it months before June 6th 1944, so the entire film Cox was in and is portrayal, is based on a falsehood.
If Churchill was so against D-Day the days before it happened, it wouldn’t have happened!
Finally. A video commenting on historical films that's actually worth watching. Dan Snow does a marvelous job.
William Pitt may very well be the only British PM who is part of an airport code in the United States: PGV - Pitt Greenville. Greenville, North Carolina, located in Pitt County. Named after him. Meanwhile, CLT, the airport code for Charlotte, North Carolina, is named after King George's better half. Here ends my contribution to utterly useless trivia.
Useless? I love it! Thanks.
Gary Oldman disappears into every role he plays. He's one of my favorite actors.
They should make a movie about David Lloyd George, the PM during the latter part of WWI. He was also among those who negotiated the Treaty of Versailles.
That would be brilliant. It would be dark as fuck but it would be brilliant.
I (I'm Canadian) learned just recently that the UK flag is only called the Union Jack when flown at sea, and is properly the Union Flag otherwise. I love that Dan Snow calls it the Union Flag. I rarely hear it referred to that way. He seems like he would know, which suggests that what I learned is true!
I think Churchill's speech isn't just one of the most important speeches in the history of the English language I think it's one of the most important speeches in all of human history
Yes trouble is when it came to helping other countries fight their enemies churchill wasnt so willing so his speeches were a load of bullshit as far as us australians were concerned.
@@johnb1150 not really sure what exactly you're referring to:
If you are talking about Gallipoli than you are under the modern and incorrect conception that the British threw away Anzac lives because they did not care about the colonies etc, when in reality the British and French (individually) lost more there than the Anzacs did. It was a collective tragedy born of bad strategy, not some weird feeling of superiority.
If you mean WW2 against Japan, then this still makes no sense. The Australians withdrew most of their soldiers from Africa after Japan joined the war and Britain had no real objection to this. Realistically, there wasn't much more that Britain could have done to help Australia (they were kind of busy, and had just lost their eastern capital ships) and honestly most planners realized that Australia was in no real life-or-death danger. Even the Japanese considered an invasion of Australia foolish and pointless
Haha! Just a teensy bit Anglo centric of you.
@@kayisonyoutube3435Not really - not when you consider the context, especially the fact that a collapse in British morale and ignominious defeat would most likely have brought a quarter of the globe under Nazi Germany’s dominion. And even if Corporal Browntrousers had permitted an exiled British Government to continue to govern the Empire from Canada, a Nazi Germany in full command of Europe is a very different proposition to the Soviet Union than was hitherto the case. Also, a British defeat would likely have ended the war before the United States’ entry into it after Pearl Harbor, which means the Soviets would have been considerably weaker without the support of the Lend-Lease programme. No, this speech is every bit as important as claimed.
@@johnb1150Churchill’s probably rotting in Hell now but I reckon he’s at least got window unit air-conditioning.
Oldman was simply remarkable as Churchill....
Stunningly brilliant and perfectly presented!
I wish we could see what he thinks of Gillian Anderson as Thatcher.
Antony Sher was brilliant as Disraeli, a hugely underrated actor who should have had more film roles.
I can't get enough of the fact that the actor who played Edward VIII on The Crown is playing Sir Horace Wilson in The Edge of War... such a dichotomy.
Also played the then Prince of Wales, now King, in "The Queen"
@@milesconerly5818 And he plays the Queen's Private Secretary in the recent series about Prince Andrew's interview, A Very Royal Scandal. Alex Jennings also played King Charles III in a radio play that came out several years ago. He has portrayed King Leopold of the Belgians (in Victoria).
Alex Jennings is one of the best actors the UK has ever produced (and that's a crowded field). He is very versatile and if you check out his IMDb entry, you may find you have seen him in loads more things than you have mentioned.
I love how oratory establishes leaders. Thats working out really well.
Great stuff. Loved this. Thank you Dan.
This video, in a word. excellent. Lead on.
Thank you Roger! Appreciate it 🙏
Oh man I had no idea that Churchill went and re-recorded his greatest hits... While he was still a leading figure in politics, and was just about to become PM again. That is so perfectly Churchill.
Just on looks alone, the Hitler from edge of war is the absolute worst in I have ever seen.
🤣🤣
The act of bowing to the monarch in the investiture of the PM is not the people abasing themselves to the Crown but an elected official bowing to the people in the person of the Queen.
I'm a History major and I love your videos.
My two favorites are ‘Darkest Hour’ and ‘Munich; since I like that they are set before and during World War 2 which is one of my favorite subjects. Chamberlain failed to understand that Hitler and his followers didn’t want any peace, their intentions are made clear in Mein Kampf regarding ‘living space’ for Germany. Unfortunately not everyone is a rational person who can be made to see reason. Gary Old man’s portrayal of Churchill is the best that I have seen by far, he really became that character.
Thank you for these great videos, Dan
Gary Oldman has played Winston Churchill and more recently he's played Franklin D Roosevelt. He just needs to play Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito now!
I quite like the idea the prime ministers although elected are supplicant to the monarch in a symbolic way. The fact they meet once a week is almost like having to go to confession and admit your sins and having to bow and kiss their hands is symbolic I think not that they are in service to the queen or king but to the country, your reminded not to ge to big for your boots and you are a servant to the country and the people. Personally I like that rather then the presidential model where they both get the actual power and take on that ceremonial role as well.
3:30 I still do not think, especially to the regular public, that Churchill is well understood beyond the outer shell of the speeches and 'the hero'. And I don't think this movie really helped very much in that regard.
I believe Attlee said of Chamberlain that he was trying to get the national program on the wireless, but all he got was midlands regional.
I had the opportunity to meet Lady Thatcher and Sir Dennis, after she had retired. She was on a trip to the USA, and I was a Supervisory Inspector with US Immigration. All persons, regardless of position, are required to clear Immigration and Customs. I cleared her and Sir Dennis in a side room to expedite their entry for security reasons.
Both Lady Thatcher and Sir Dennis were the soul of courtesy, not a bit of pretension, and we had about a five minute conversation. She was one of a very few people I asked for an autographed photo fir my Office, which she obliged. President Reagan was another, and both their signed photos are above my desk at home now that I'm retired.
She and President Reagan, Britain and America, brought back national pride, and were truly a driving force which changed the world and brought down the Soviet Union.
Oh, please. There are swathes of British people who hate her for destroying their industries and communities in the 80s. Flag shagging doesn't pay the bills.
Britain couldn't help Poland in 39, or save the 22-miles away France in 40. What on Earth could they have done for distant Czechoslovakia in 38?
"And Margareth Thatcher deserves a lot of credit for Britain's response to the Falklands War"
That, and dying.
Taking a proper dump.on Maggie...
Please, ppl do not ever change!
Thatcher wasn’t tough in meetings as is always suggested. It’s interesting to see the testimony from German politicians who say that she regularly compromised in EU meetings after midnight as she wanted to go to bed and people knew it and used it. The Germans around Kohl really disliked her after she tried to block German unification and remained very derogatory about them.
I'm glad this video is over 30 minutes long
I enjoyed this review immensely. I think Dan Snow showed great insight into all the films. I was completely unfamiliar with the Munich movie which seems to be the most recent. I read recently that the Prime Ministers don't actually kiss hands or kneel to the monarch, that the term is a leftover from long ago when this was the case and that the monarch simply shakes hands with the incoming Prime Minister. So is the whole business in The Queen with Tony Blair about it just a fiction then?
Despite generally being a staunch lefty myself, I feel that the sympathetic portrayal of Neville Chamberlain was much needed. I truly believe he was fully aware of the danger that Hitler posed upon the world, but he was also very aware that Britain was in no current position to fight a major war. He sacrificed his political career to buy us time. Now whether we should have struck sooner is debatable, but considering the Soviet threats of the same time, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He chose to buy precious time whilst rearming in preparation for an inevitable conflict.
These are great thank you for this
Amazing, Dan. ❤
The most unrealistic part of The Darkest Hour is that Winston Churchill is far too easy to understand.
Like this review. I believe that "Tension" in republics is a very Good thing. It should Never be "resolved". Tension resolved equals dictatorship
Long term tension unresolved almost always leads to civil war and collapse
Like something a nazi would say
Is Dan saying all this off the top of his head? He knows all the details, the dates, where each scene actually took place. Quite a brain he has, and a good teacher.
I didn't think Meryl Streep was at all convincing as Margaret Thatcher. Patricia Hodge was a much better protrayal. Meryl Streep seemed to have a soft look about her (not a very good description but the best I can come up with) while Ms Hodge had that edge of hardness and command visible in her expressions.
31:30 It's hard to think how long ago it was now. It was an incredibly emotional event, even in Canada there were people weeping in the streets when interviewed by the press.
Great stuff. Keep it up.👍
Thanks David!
I don’t know his name, but I’d like your take on the actor who played Winston Churchill in the movie “Ike: Countdown to D-Day” starring Tom Selleck as General Eisenhower. Excellent movie and fairly accurate.
Disraeli wasn't Prime Minister during any of the Anglo Burmese Wars (he died in 1881, four years before the final annexation of Burma). I think it was Randolph Churchill who gave Burma as a Christmas present?
"I'm big and fat, and a bit drunk!" Possibly the most apt description of Ol' Winston ever...
Playing a British monarch or prime minister seems to be an easy way for an actor to win an Oscar. Gary Oldman won an Oscar for portraying Winston Churchill. Meryl Streep won an Oscar for portraying Margaret Thatcher. Helen Mirren won an Oscar for portraying Elizabeth II. And Judi Dench won an Oscar for portraying Elizabeth I.
Colin Firth won one for playing George VI. Olivia Colman won one for playing Queen Anne. Katherine Hepburn won one for playing Eleanor of Aquitaine. There are quite possibly more. And of there were any justice Peter O'Toole would have own for playing Henry II in Becket and Richard Burton for playing Henry VIII in Anne of a Thousand Days.
Dan Snow is so dreamy 😍
The portrayal of the l8 Baroness Thatcher when PM appears, in the film under advisement to be biased to a degree. It is unlikely that most southerners will be able fully to appreciate this.
It is certainly true that Chamberlain was deluded and that WW2 could've been shorter had he seen the writing on the wall, as did many, such as my dad, of who's memory I am unspeakably proud. Interesting resume, thanks and.. Nice one Dan & Team! ⭐👍
Another great show of a Prime Minister would be Benedict Cumberbatch as William Pitt the Younger in Amazing Grace.
Wait, is Benjamin Disraeli there played by Antony Sher? The evil mass-guillotining marquis from Hornblower? That's cool.
Somebody actually remembers Hornblower!
Meryl Streep using the left hand is the biggest blunder .I never expected they would get this wrong
You know everything, Dan Snow.
Wiston Churchil was surrounded of very bright people too...
they decoded the enigma machine....
and created the RAF, with plains superior to the germans....
"""Zero hour approaches"""
The Darkest hour was an absolutely epic performance from Oldman.
Really enjoy these videos
Any Movie Director Ever after watching this: We're going to hire Dan Snow to ensure historical accuracy
Another note about the The Edge of War. As Dan said, Germany was quite weak in 1938. Even the extra year or two wasn't enough. They were so weak in fact that when the French invaded Germany in response to the invasion of Poland, even the half hearted and piecemeal attack was able to drive all the way to the town of Hornbach, taking 11 other towns and villages along the way, with no resistance.
Had the British and French puffed out their chest and made it clear in 1938 that if Germany so much as blinked wrong, the full force of their militaries would come crashing down on Hitler's head, Hitler likely would've given in. To put it more simply, if Britain and France had half the ball Hitler did, there would have been no World War 2. Hell, it would've even had more effect if they'd done it in 1936 in opposition to the Remilitarization of the Rhineland. The whole "Extra year" claim is just a weak cover story to excuse the British and French governments from allowing the horrors of the Holocaust and World War 2 to have occured.
That scene from the Queen always fascinates me. It's easy to argue monarchy as an institution doesn't have any place in modern democracy, but I do think there's value in the leader of a country getting an ego check once a week.
Separating the power from the glory and reminding elected leaders that they're civil servants, not kings.
Thatcher, one of the greatest PMs who made one of the greatest blunders resonating greatly now, selling off council houses and not using the money to replace them.
As an American, I find your PMs interesting. As the US and Britain have had such a long 'partnership', internationally; I have my opinions of your PMs (as I'm sure some Brits have of some of our Presidents), and the one I have the most trouble with, is M. Thatcher. Meryl Streep did a fine job of portraying her, it was just hard to watch. :)
Believe me, the real thing was more painful.
@@stephenreeds3632 As was Reagan, at the time. He and Thatcher, between them, stuck us in this neoliberal, post-social contract, 'throw money at the rich' reality.
@@curiousworld7912I'm afraid what you're saying is nonsense
@@curiousworld7912Don't quit your day job. History isn't what you're good at.
@@curiousworld7912Thatcher was a great leader, in the sense of complete and utter integrity and determination in her own ideology.
Whether or not I agree with her domestic policies or not (some I do, some I don’t), give me someone like her over a slippery chameleon like Boris Johnson every day of the week.
Isnt the actor playing Hitler in "Munich, Edge of war" the same actor who played Goebbles in "Downfall"?
Yes
Sir Humphrey Appleby really does get around