Editing The Dam Busters (film) (section)

==Reception==
===Critical===
Reviews upon its release were positive. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' described the film as having great attention to detail.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://variety.com/1954/film/reviews/the-dam-busters-1200417808/ | title=The Dam Busters| date=January 1955}}</ref>

Over time, the film's reputation has grown and is now regarded as a beloved classic of British cinema.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/classic-british/greatest-war-movie/ | title=Is this the greatest war film of all time?| newspaper=The Telegraph| date=2018-04-06| last1=Freer| first1=Ian}}</ref> The British Film Institute placed ''The Dam Busters'' as the 68th greatest British film. In 2004, the magazine ''[[Total Film]]'' named ''The Dam Busters'' the 43rd greatest British film of all time. In a 2015 review, ''[[The Guardian]]'' stated that ''The Dam Busters'' remains very well made and entertaining.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/07/the-dam-busters-film-reel-history | title=The Dam Busters: Hits its targets – and doesn't dumb down| newspaper=The Guardian|location=London| date=2015-08-07| last1=Tunzelmann| first1=Alex von}}</ref> The film holds a [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes|100% rating]] with an average rating of 7.9/10 on [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 11 reviews.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Dam Busters |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dam_busters |access-date=17 January 2023 |publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] }}</ref> David Parkinson of ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' gave the film three out of five, describing the film as "patriotic and spirit-lifting".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/dam-busters-review/ | title=The Dam Busters| date=31 March 2006}}</ref> A review commented, "It is testament to Anderson's authoritative, quiet guidance that the performances are largely realistic, and multi-dimensional."<ref>http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/483144/index.html British Film Institute Online, accessed 22 May 2024</ref>

Richard Todd considered the film as one of his favourites of all those that he appeared in, and went on to appear at many Dambusters-themed events.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Diamond anniversary of the Dam Busters|url=https://www.borehamwoodtimes.co.uk/news/11776755.sitting-next-to-dam-busters-star-richard-todd-as-he-watched-the-film-and-meeting-the-raf-veterans-who-flew-in-the-raids/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Borehamwood Times|date=6 February 2015 }}</ref>

===Awards===
The film was nominated for an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] for [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Special Effects]],<ref name="Oscars1956">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1956 |title=The 28th Academy Awards (1956) Nominees and Winners |date=19 February 2015 |access-date=31 May 2019 |publisher=Oscars.org ([[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]])}}</ref> and was also nominated for [[BAFTA]] awards for Best British Film, Best Screenplay and Best Film From Any Source.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.sirbarneswallis.com/DamBusters.htm | title=Sir Barnes Wallis – "The Dam Busters"}}</ref>

===Box office===
The film was the most successful film at the British box office in 1955<ref>"'The Dam Busters'." ''Times'' [London, England], 29 December 1955, p. 12 via ''The Times Digital Archive''. Retrieved: 11 July 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/Screen_Volume_32_Issue_3/page/n17|magazine=Screen|page=259|volume=32|issue=3|title=The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry|first=Janet|last=Thumim}}</ref> but performed poorly at the US box office, like most British war movies of this era.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/details/variety203-1956-08/page/n70/mode/1up?q=%22sea+shall+not%22|newspaper=Variety|date=8 August 1956|page=7|title=British War Themes Disappoint}}</ref>

According to Richard Todd in 1993, a resident of [[Little Ponton]], the film was not a success in the US, as audiences were not informed that it was a true story. If audiences knew that it was a true story, Todd thought it would have been a great success. Audiences in the US in 1955, however, thought that to hit a dam with a bomb that bounced was total fiction.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}