Oscar winner Jackson flies in for second look at The Dam Busters

Published on Friday 1 September 2006 11:47

OSCAR-WINNING movie director Peter Jackson is to remake the Second World War classic film The Dam Busters at his New Zealand studios, he said today.

Jackson's confirmation that he will produce the 26 million classic ended months of speculation that he would remake the daring mission in which Royal Air Force bombers destroyed German dams using bouncing bombs. Based on the book The Dam Busters, the 1954 British film of the same name was made when many details of the raid were still closely guarded secrets.

"It has since been declassified by the British government, making the dynamics of the story and the people involved even more intriguing," Jackson said.

"That, combined with our ability to harness state-of-the-art computer-generated visual effects, will enable us to bring the events of these desperate days of 1943 to life in a very visceral way," he said.

Jackson said he hoped the story would inspire and inform a new generation about the sacrifices made in what he calls one of the most remarkable true stories to come out of the Second World War.

The Dam Busters chronicles the story of Operation Chastise, a top-secret RAF bombing mission designed to strike a decisive blow against the Nazi war machine at the height of its aggression.

A "bouncing" bomb that could skip across water to destroy a huge dam was developed by British scientist, Barnes Wallis.

To be effective, the bomb had to be dropped from close range and at very low altitude, giving the mission little chance of success.

Film maker Christian Rivers, who has worked with Jackson for more than 17 years, will make his director's debut on the remake.