The Longest Day

'The Longest Day' is perhaps the greatest dramatic record of one of the defining moments in world history. After the intimacy of 'Saving Private Ryan', many critics have accused it of being a 'sanitized' version of the Normandy Invasion, but it is a different kind of film, entirely! While Steven Speilberg's aim was to personalize the horror facing the first wave of troops to hit the beach, Producer Darryl F. Zanuck, a D-Day vet, himself, wanted to create a mosaic of the myriad of personalities, events, and experiences that shaped the day. It is a film that looks objectively at all the forces who fought this epic battle, wisely casting major stars of each country to portray actual and fictitious characters. This was a bold move at the time, as subtitles are used extensively, giving the film has a uniquely international flavor. This is not your usual war film with 'American actors doing funny accents'!

There are many standout performances; a few that deserve particular recognition are Richard Burton's war-weary RAF pilot, the last survivor of his original squadron; Dietmar Schönherr as one of the few remaining Luftwaffe pilots, faced with the impossible order of stopping the invasion with two airplanes; Jeffrey Hunter, a young sergeant who is 'Dear John'ed and faces the horrendous Omaha landing; a pre-James Bond Sean Connery as a cocky Irish infantryman; Red Buttons, as a paratrooper whose chute snags on a church tower, and is forced to view the carnage as Germans annihilate jumpers dropping into a French town square; and John Wayne (himself a war film icon), as Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort, the Airborne commander, who impatiently waits for the 'Go' order, then breaks his ankle jumping into Normandy.

Filled with drama, humor, and pathos, 'The Longest Day' works on many levels, and is never dull! Over forty years after its initial release, it's semi-documentary style still seems as fresh and engrossing as ever, and works equally well viewed by itself, or paired with 'Saving Private Ryan'.

It should be an essential part of your film library!

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 an important, interesting movie depicting the Overlord operation with monumental logistic and means of effecting the Normandy landing , the most difficult campaign of war . The picture brings to life the famous images of WWII and splendidly the most sensational military operation of the history in an Allied hard-fought effort . The film develops the previous days to the D-Day invasion , such as the landings and the advance over France . The film is magnificently produced in big budget by the great 20th Century Fox producer Darryl F. Zanuck . Evocative cinematography by Jean Bourgoun and catching song by Paul Anka with musical score by Maurice Jarre . Excellent casting by a great plethora of stars . Special mention for John Wayne as Lt. Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort , he's top-notch as a tough , valiant officer in this believable war film and terrific acting by Richard Todd as Major commanding Us paratroopers dropped to protect the flanks of the invasion and taking strategic bridge . Furthermore , known Generals and officers played by prestigious players , as Germans : General Gunther (Curt Jurgens) , Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (Hinz) , Field Marshal Von Rundstedt (Paul Hartmann), and Allied : Brig. General Theodore Roosevelt Jr (Henry Fonda) , Brig. General Norman Cota (Robert Mitchum) , General Haines (Mel Ferrer) , Brig. General James Gavin (Robert Ryan) , General Raymond Barton (Edmond O'Brien), Lt General OMar N Bradley (Stuart) , General Bernard L Montgomery (T. Reid) and General Dwight D. Eisenhower played by Henry Grace . Grace was a famed set designer , while he worked extensively for many films , his only appearance was an uncredited performance as Eisenhower ; despite not being an actor , he was cast for his uncanny resemblance to the General . This famous event from how was orchestrated the dangerous , risky landing maneuvers was professionally directed by a magnificent trio of directors , Ken Annakin , Bernhard Wicki and Andrew Marton.

Adding more details along with the well developed on the movie , the events that happened on June 6, 1944 were the following ones : Shortly after midnight on June 6, about 23.500 US and British paratroopers landed along the edges of the landing beaches . Their mission was to seize vital bridges and communications centers. They also had to hold off any Germans counterattacks until they were relieved by the amphibious forces. The Airbone landings were largely successful. Some US troops missed their target and end up scattered over the countryside. The main amphibious landings took place after an artillery bombardment from some 200 Allied warships at German positions also came under attack from Allied medium and heavy bombers. They were part of the 11,500 aircraft committed to D-Day. They bombed the Germans on and behind the five landing beaches. US troops landed on Utah beach. Strong currents and inaccurate navigation meant that they were a little away from their precise target. They landed about 1 mile (1,6 km) south. The beach there was relatively undefended. The troops soon knocked out the only concrete gun position guarding the beach.Demolitions teams cleared paths through the obstacles the beach and the first tanks crossed the Atlantic Wall. They fanned out into the countryside to link up with the paratroopers. By nightfall of D-Day some 23,000 men and 1,700 vehicles had gone ashore. The beach had been highly congested for much of the day. Utah was a triumph ,however Omaha beach was nearly a disaster, the fight was the most difficult. The Us troops were unable to get off the beach to make room for later waves of invaders. There were better defenses there than on the other beaches, and the German defenders were positioned on high ground, from where they could pour fire down on the attackers.The allies also made mistakes. The naval bombardment ended too soon, and the bombers missed their targets and launched landing crafts and amphibious tanks too far out from the beach, may were sunk. When the first assault wave landed ,it faced a bar-rage of fire , some men were thinking of evacuation. However small groups began to make it off the beach to the high ground beyond. By dusk, some men were ashore, most were still crowed on the beach. The high ground beyond was only thinly held by exhausted survivors waves. Some 2300 US troops had been killed in the landings. The operation had come close to disaster. The three Anglo-Canadian beaches-Gold, Sword and Juno stretched fore some 25 miles. They were wide and open and ideal for amphibious landings. The British on Gold and Sword quickly crashed though the Atlantic wall. Their success was due partly to a range of specially developed armored vehicles known as Funnies. The Canadians at Juno had a tougher time. They faced rough seas and alert defenders .By late morning ,they were also pushing inland. Despite the horror of beaches , overall Allied losses were far lower than expected. Some 6000 US personnel were killed, wounded, or missing, along with 4300 British and Canadian troops. German losses totaled between 4000 and 8000. By the day's end ,some 128000 Allied soldiers were ashore and many more were on their way.

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!!!!