It is only justice that the BEST WAR FILM EVER MADE describes what was the most crucial battle in all modern history of humanity. Below, more of my impressions, with some limited SPOILERS.
As far as I understand the history of World War II, allied landing in Normandy on 6 June 1944 and its immediate aftermath all the way until the success of Operation "Cobra" and the battle of Falaise Pocket, were THE decisive campaign of the whole conflict. The landing itself was the most crucial and the riskiest moment - and considering the disasters at Dieppe and in Dodecanese campaign and the close calls allies got at Salerno and Tarawa, there was always the possibility that the landing forces are rejected back to the sea...
The consequences of such defeat would be considerable, because it would take at least a couple of months to make another attempt - and in the meantime, on the Eastern Front, things could develop in many ways, few of them pleasant for Americans and Europeans. Hitler could avoid the great defeat in Belarus during Operation "Bagration", stabilize the front and maybe in time sign a separated peace with Stalin - or Red Army could win in Operation "Bagration" anyway and continue its march to the west. In the latter case, the time the allies make a second landing, let's say in September 1944, Soviet troops would have advanced already well into Poland (as it happened in real history) and as a result, in summer 1945 Red Army and allied forces would meet not on Elbe, but on Rhine... The Cold War could have later turn quite differently with Soviet empire controlling ALL Germany as well as Austria, Netherlands and Denmark and maybe also Finland, Sweden and Norway, not even talking about the dreadul damage communism would do to those countries...
Once this possibility is considered, it is clear that on 6th of June 1944 on the beaches of Normandy it was not only Hitler who lost - but also Stalin was defeated and as the result had to satisfy himself with a much lesser loot than what he could expect in the best-case scenario... And with two of most evil dictators of all time defeated on the same day, Normandy landing can claim to be possibly the most crucial battle in ALL MODERN HISTORY!
This black and white film was made in 1962, when thousands of veterans were still alive and could give advice - that included some important players, like generals Gunther Blumentritt and James Gavin, allied special forces and commando officers Lord Lovat, John Howard and Philippe Kieffer and German major Werner Pluskat, the first German officer to spot the allied fleet. Luftwaffe ace Josef "Pips" Priller was also consulted for the needs of this film but he died before its release.
Adapted from a brilliant book by Cornelius Ryan (a recommended reading!), this film takes its name from a sentence pronounced by Rommel to his officers when inspecting the Atlantic Wall in months preceding the landings: "We must stop and defeat the invasion here - on the beaches! Both for allies and for us, the first 24 hours of invasion will be the the longest day".
The film is very dramatic, from the very first moments, even if initially it describes mostly waiting and waiting. But even then there is a feeling that something absolutely enormous, of monumental size and importance, is approaching. Then, once Eisenhower takes the decision to proceed even if weather is unfavourable, events start to accelerate and from that moment on there is no respite, until the final credits. At 3 hours this is a long film, but I guarantee that you will not even feel this time passing!
The quality of filming is incredible and the music written by Paul Anka is extremely powerful, with the final song being posibly the best military march I ever heard (and I heard a lot). It is possible to buy this film in coloured version - but I always preferred the black and white original and I purchased at purpose such a copy.
Although this film doesn't describe all the important aspects of D-Day in Normandy (it would have to be 10 hours long at least to do it), it still includes a great number of most famous and most significant episodes: the diversionary landings of "Ruperts" in Pas-de-Calais, the night air drop of three allied airborne divisions over Normandy (including the horrible drama at Sainte-Mère-Eglise village), the attack of Pegasus Bridge by gliders, the sabotage attacks by French Resistance, the landings themselves, with the bloodbath at Omaha Beach being particularly well covered, the incredible attack of US Rangers against Pointe-du-Hoc, the Free French commandos attack against Ouistreham, etc.
The cast is simply incredible: Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Curd Jurgens, Gert Fröbe, Sean Connery, Robert Wagner, Peter Lawford, Kenneth More, Paul Anka, Mel Ferrer, Jeffrey Hunter, Sal Mineo, Rod Steiger, Richard Todd, John Robinson, Tom Tryon, John Gregson, Leslie Phillips, Eddie Albert, Roddy McDowall, Peter van Eyck, George Segal, Steve Forrest, Bernard Fox, Bourvil and Arletty, just to name the most known ones. And they all give a great show!
It is also worth noticing that many of actors served in allied armed forces during WWII - this was the case of Henry Fonda (US Navy), Richard Burton (RAF), Robert Ryan (US Marines), Kenneth More (Royal Navy), Rod Steiger (US Navy), Richard Todd (British Army - 6th Airborne Division), John Robinson (British Army - Royal Armoured Force), Tom Tryon (US Navy), John Gregson (Royal Navy), Leslie Phillips (British Army - Royal Artillery), Eddie Albert (US Navy, decorated with Bronze Star for his actions during battle of Tarawa), Peter van Eyck (US Army), Steve Forrest (US Army) and Bernard Fox (Royal Navy).
The case of Richard Todd, who plays Major John Howard, is particularly interesting, as this actor took REALLY part in D-Day landings and participated in fight for Pegasus Bridge, under the orders of REAL Major John Howard - and in this film he is himself played by another actor (sadly uncredited)!
The intensity of battle scenes, the drama and the tension, the shocker scenes, the nasty surprises - all of this gives a uniquely powerful war film. And there is also humor amongst all this tragedy - I will certainly never forget the scene picturing one of British beach-masters and his dog Winston and I almost died laughing during the appearance of "traitor" pidgeons...)))
Bottom line, this film is an IMMORTAL MASTERPIECE, which can be watched as many times as you want - and it never gets old... One of few films in history which reached PERFECTION, together with "Star Wars" (the first one), "Gone with the wind", "Seven samurai", "Excalibur", "The man who shot Liberty Valance", "Harakiri" and "Alien". To buy, watch, keep, re-watch and never give away. Enjoy!
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Wrong disk 2!!
Great movie! But, they gave me a regular DVD for disk 2 when it should have been a Blu-Ray.
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2013
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- ms b c pearceyReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 25, 2021
The best WW2 film ever made.
