Le Jour le plus long

THE LONGEST DAY is one of the if not the greatest World War II movie epics. However, it is unfair to compare it to Steven Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. To do so would really be comparing apples and oranges. Spielberg's movie was meant to convey the gore and horror of war and succeeded quite admirably. In THE LONGEST DAY, which was shot in semi-documentary style, Zanuck's intent was to show the monumental effort involved, on the part of the allies, in mounting a successful cross channel invasion. In that regard this film also succeeded quite admirably. It should be regarded more as a history lesson rather than as simply dramatic entertainment. The historical value of the film far outweighs any minor dramatic licenses taken by Zanuck.

The previous comments about Canadian participation in the Normandy invasion were significant - insofar as there weren't very many. One of the five Normandy beaches was Canadian (Juno), but there is almost no mention of this in The Longest Day, and I'm sure that one would be hard pressed to find many Americans (and not a whole lot more Canadians) who know this. Unfortunately, it is movies such as this and other popular media that shape the historic knowledge of people on both sides of the border. In the near absence of Canadian content, I find it ironic that a young Canadian (Paul Anka) not only played a part in the movie as an American soldier, but also wrote the theme music. I find it also ironic that the legendary rifle used by US soldiers during WW2 and shown in this movie was designed by a Canadian as well (Garand is a French Canadian name). The cruelest irony, of course, is the fact that thousands of Canadian soldiers were maimed or lost there lives on 6 June 1944 and the days thereafter, with virtually no acknowledgement in this movie. I have always enjoyed watching this movie, but it is unfortunate that I must use my imagination to see in it the heroic and selfless wartime effort of my father's generation, in similar fashion to viewers in the US and UK.

The Longest Day is one of the greatest war films ever. Bar none. The acting, the cinematography, the storline and the acuraccy are great. if any of you fans watch AMC watch the Backstory behind this movie. It's amazing that it was even made. This is Zanuck's greatest work. The perspective from the different combatants regardless of their rank is great. Like somebody else said it did not portray the Germans as cartoonish evil doers. It gave a good honest portrayal that I wish more war movies would have. As a history buff I love to see movies from other countries soldier perspectives. This captures it better than every other war movie. The only one that comes close is Tora, Tora, Tora. There is one drawback however and that is the rangers at Pointe De Hoc. They did find the big guns but,they were further inland and later destroyed before they could be used. Zanuck used this to show the futility and waste of war. Other than that is a classic with very few flaws. The comparison between SPR and TLD are well like comparing apples and oranges. Yes, SPR has gritty realism that stuns you, but like another reviewer said, this was 1962 and the movie was about the entire scope of the battle. It was not meant to be up close and personal like SPR. Many of us appreciate movies from different perspctives. This is not a movie you should not rent. You should own it as part of your video collection. This movie may appear to be pro-war and patriotic, but Zanuck himself said he wanted to make an anti-war film. I think he did so magnificantly. He captured the essence of the book where Cornelius Ryan said he wrote about the men,not the battles. That is why Zanucks film is so successful. He captured the men and their feelings, whether they were American, British,German's or French and what they were feeling going into one WW2's most decisive battle. This is a Four Star Classic!!!!

Invariably compared with "Saving Private Ryan" (SPR), this scores over the more modern work because of the focus on all the major sides of the action (British, American, French and German).

All languages are used (with subtitles as appropriate - eg the Germans speak in German, etc).

While true that the battle scenes are not gory as SPR's, and that the sounds of battle are muted during the dialog (unlike SPR's), it should be borne in mind that in '62, the audience rating of the time *was* a General Release ("G" in the US, "A" in the UK (I'm guessing for the UK, but it is now PG)) - which more detail would not have allowed.

I think part of the purpose of this film is to allow *everyone* to see what happened 18 years before!

This was an another one of these all-star casts that you don't see in more modern times, in which about everyone who was actor made an appearance....or it just seems that way. For those unfamiliar with this film, take a look back on the main page here and check out the famous names in this movie. Click the "more" under the cast overview and you'll see all the names. It's unbelievable. Some of them, to be fair, had very short roles in here, such as Henry Fonda, Rod Steiger and Roddy McDowell, but this is a real "Who's Who" of the acting profession in 1962. There are also a lot of German actors in here speaking German (with subtitles provided), perhaps numbering even more than the English-speaking stars. That's because the famous day of June 6, 1944, is seen from both sides of the conflict.

At three hours, it gives you plenty of D-Day World War II action. Almost two-thirds of the movie involves action from that famous invasion. In some spots, it just gets to be too much. Frankly, the whole film is too much and almost bogs down in too many areas....and it shouldn't, but it is a very technical film. And, for a film 45 years old, the action is pretty realistic. I thought the best shots were the overheads during one particular scenes when the Alies were going through a town.

I am anything but a WWII expert so how much detail of the infamous 'D-Day" here is correct, Since they went into such detail, I'll assume they were fairly accurate. I can't say but this movie educated me on the size of the task. I had no idea "D-Day" was this huge in scope: three million men and 5,000 ships??!!! Amazing.