Bastogne

"Battleground" is probably the best movie made about the Battle of the Bulge. After seeing "Band of Brothers", I bought "Battleground" and watched it for the fourth(?) time. I thought the characters were well done. I saw this movie for the second time when I was in the US Army, and it turned me off. I couldn't believe guys were measuring their chances of getting off the line by hoping for the million dollar wound, or some other malady. The third time I saw this movie, I had grown up and realized that, human nature being what it is, nothing about their behavior was abnormal. While I was growing up, Van Johnson was the model GI in all of his movies, as he is in this. I liked the entire cast in this movie. I think one of the best scenes was the Christmas gathering with the Chaplin. His "Was this trip necessary?" speech was one of the high points of the movie for me then and now. This movie, along with "Band of Brothers" are a must see.

I watched this movie all the time with my Grandpa growing up. He was a vet of the US Army in the Pacific and he told me that this was the only movie where a M-1 rifle and artillery actually sounded real. That is because both were the real sounds they made. The artillery was actually recorded during the war and used in the film.

The characters you can connect with. The circumstances were anything but ideal to fight a war in. You see Layton grow into a vet before your eyes. You see men scared, terrified, and there for each other. Until "Band of Brothers" came out this was my favorite flick about WWII, and it's definitely the best of the "old school" war movies.

There's not much I can add to all the comments I've already seen. Clearly, no one disliked the movie who bothered to comment. The cast, the direction, the battles--all top notch.

I think the only thing I can add to the praise is how this movie gets better the more war movies you see. As a kid, I didn't think too much about this this one. In fact, I'd easily have voted the "Battle of The Bulge" as a favorite and this one much further down. Now, using what (I hope) is a more critical eye. "Battle of the Bulge" is a stinker I hope never to sit through again and "Battleground" sits at or near the top.

This is the best movie ever made about a democratic society going to war against fascism. The movie perfectly captures the fear and courage of American soldiers in war, fighting not to conquer like the Germans or destroy civilization like the terrorists, but to defend their fellow man. There's no sunshine patriotism in this movie. No flag waving or false heroics. But the lofty ideas behind the nation that made men such as these is there hidden like the sun behind fog and clouds. And at the end, the glory embodied in the men blazes true and shines as brightly as the sun when the weather lifts.

"Battleground" is a curious film that came out of Hollywood in 1949. WWII had been over, so the public was not wishing for more war films at the time. Yet, MGM went ahead with this project and gave it to William Wellman, a veteran director who knew his craft. The film was written by Robert Pirosh.

The movie is a curiosity also because it was shot in Culver City, yet, at times, it gives the impression of having been shot on location in the Ardennes. The casting of some of the best acting talents MGM had under contract at the time contributes to give the film another dimension, as the viewer becomes involved with these men that are trying to survive during the worst possible conditions.

In spite of some of the criticism in this forum, the film has a real feeling because it stresses the dependency among the men that are caught in the conflict. Their every day lives back home is at the center of the conversation one hears the men talk about. Wives, children, sweethearts, parents, and even popular figures of the pop culture, like Bette Grable, are the basis of communication as the men idle away waiting to be called to fight the enemy.

Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Don Taylor, Leon Ames, and a wonderful James Whitmore, are seen as the soldiers around Bastogne. Denise Darcel is seen as the kind French woman who befriends the soldiers.

Ultimately, "Battleground" is William Wellman's tribute to the men in uniform.