Storming Juno

Dedicate yourself to viewing a war film or documentary over the course of the Sept 11th Remembrance Holiday W/E. Canada is a modest nation in terms of population, temperament and the size of our film and doc industry. Our story is unique, and it's been too long overshadowed by our American neighbor's mega-industry. Recently, there have been some excellent Canadian films about this nation's contributions in various wars. STORMING JUNO (2010) is one not to miss. An excellent docudrama depicting events on the D-Day invasion when Canadian troops landed at Juno Beach. The director eerily captures the Canadian personae: boys hardly men, of quiet strength, determination, ability and courage; also fear, trepidation and naiveté going to battle, with their remarkable performance against grueling odds. Veteran survivors - now octogenarians are interviewed following the dramatization. Their emotions span pride, shame, sadness, nostalgia and a sort of bewilderment. STORMING JUNO enacts specific events of the men who served in the various divisions: the amphibious tank team, the beach landing team, the paratrooper team, all set on achieving their objectives in a gripping minute by minute story.

Unlike the misconception that Americans don't appreciate the contributions of our neighbors to the north, I (and countless others) fully understand the sacrifices made to keep the hope of freedom alive in this world.

As a long-time USAF Airman, I've worked and played alongside some of the great men and women of Canada. And would trust my life, and protect theirs, any day if necessary.

Thank goodness for stumbling upon this movie, and reminding myself that we have the greatest neighbors right next door. We all aren't the narcissists that are depicted. We are truly blessed. God Bless Canada. But please come get all your geese...they're everywhere. Haha.

How can we express our thanks and recognition to those Canadian youngsters who gave their lives for us Europeans, and French in particular. I was only 3 years old in June 1944. I was with my parents one of the few lucky ones not really exposed to the harshness and monstrosity of the filthy German IIIrd Reich. We were the lucky ones to have escaped occupation of Egypt thanks to Monty and his army. What would have happened if El Alamein had not been his victory? The Egyptian government was pro German, few know that.

As someone wrote above, the USA have been up to now considered practically the only one who won the war. When you speak with US citizens and Republicans in particular they just look at you Frenchmen like small fry. They never mention that the Canadians were there, that Commandant Kieffer and his men represented the French on D-Day and many lost their lives. They forget that the French Resistants were also there and helped them prepare that day. They always think they know best and other should keep quiet.They always think they are the best of the best...

But here at last Canada has been remarkably presented and the movie sounds so true that all the parts which have been dramatized merge completely with the news reels. It is terribly moving and unless you have a stone instead of a heart you just can't keep from crying at different moments.

This movie is far more impressive and real than all the Hollywood's super productions of the Spielbergs and Co. It's a must see and I'm astounded that there are only five reviews. How unjust!

Canadian troops storm Juno Beach on D-Day. This is more History channel than a narrative movie. It probably has aspirations of being Band of Brothers. It seems to be more dedicated to historical accuracy and veteran service than an exciting thriller. It uses some historical footage. The production is limited and the style is old fashion. I really don't like the low energy narration. The acting is also limited and non of the characters stand out. It makes any narrative rather problematic. There are some war action that tries to replicate the actual action but they aren't the exciting thrilling type. This feels like a modern TV movie made by historians and TV filmmakers. There is value in this especially as a service of remembrance.

Everybody knows about Omaha Beach on D Day, the Sixth of June, 1944, because that was where the landings were truly blunted. But we don't hear much about the landings by the Canadians are Juno Beach, just down the road.

This lacks the lavish budget and dramatic screenplay of "Saving Private Ryan" but generally does a convincing job of showing true -- not fictional -- events on and behind the flat sands of Juno, though the film was shot on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Instead of staged combat, newsreel footage of the historical events is inserted -- effectively. And the incidents shown have the virtue of being reenactments of real events.

It's not a long film and it lacks the perspective of "The Longest Day." And it's usually confusing to hear narration by two participants -- a tank commander and a paratrooper -- using voices so similar that it's hard to distinguish them. "I did this," says one voice, and we see a tank commander shouting orders. And without notice, we hear what appears to be the same voice saying something similar and we're way behind the lines with a tiny group of infantrymen.

An earlier attempt was made to show some of the sacrifices of Canadians in "Dieppe" -- the story of a disaster -- but again was hobbled by a low budget, so that much of the story was confined to military leaders arguing over the planning.

It's not a bad film. It resembles a TV documentary using reenactors.