Bastogne

Original title: Battleground

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

8.3K

YOUR RATING

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Action Drama History War

True tale about a squad of the 101st Airborne Division coping with being trapped by the Germans in the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944.True tale about a squad of the 101st Airborne Division coping with being trapped by the Germans in the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944.True tale about a squad of the 101st Airborne Division coping with being trapped by the Germans in the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

8.3K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 2 Oscars
- 8 wins & 5 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 1:57

Official Trailer

Photos40

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User reviews106

7.48.3K

Featured reviews

8brownsfan337

Terrific Classic About WWII

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.

10acerimmer308

Most underatted and forgotten movie of WW2 ever...

Before "Band of Brothers" came out, I considered this the best, most accurate depiction of an infantry unit in action ever, and I still think it has an edge over "Saving Private Ryan" and "Patton" as the greatest World War II movie(not mini-series) yet made.

The entire cast is not only fun to watch, but very believable in their individual roles, and as a veteran, I can attest to the fact that the swings between humor and deep thoughts in their conversations are dead on accurate. Anybody who's ever served in an infantry unit will tell you that for all the bickering back and forth, members of a squad, platoon, or company will always look out for each other. "Battleground" captures this perfectly.

One of the saddest things for me about this movie is how few people know of it. Except for the occasional airing on AMC or TCM, it rarely shows up on TV and that's a shame. It's well worth the time and effort to find this one.

Cthulhu-7

The best movie about World War II

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.

didi-5

impressive war movie from MGM

MGM made one of their large studios into a freezing, war-torn hell, and let many of their young stars loose within it for this staggeringly realistic dramatisation on the Battle of the Bulge. As war movies go, this one does everything but pile on the glamour; these boys really did have to do some serious acting!

The cast is headed by a surprisingly good Van Johnson, proving he can do more than just romances, musicals, and various takes on 'the boy next door'. With him are some impressive co-stars: Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, and John Hodiak the most memorable; also James Whitmore, Don Taylor, and Leon Ames.

This movie is more than just boy's own stuff; there is a genuine story here and you do care about the characters and what happens to them. It all seems so hopeless and yet you want to keep on watching. This production caused a lot of friction at MGM as Mayer really didn't approve of the starkness of it all in the midst of his family pictures. He was wrong, 'Battleground' is one of the studio's best.

10NativeTexan

An accurate and fantastic film without too much gore.

This is my favorite film about the Battle of the Bulge. The characters are absolutely real, and the story and screenplay are the actual experience of Robert Pirosh who was a member of the 101st Airborne and also the author and screenwriter of the film. Without getting lost in blood and gore, you nonetheless understand the death and carnage going on all around, and you feel you actually know these men. Robert Pirosh and Director William Wellman manage to bring the celebrated American sense of ironic humor to the film. That sense of humor, graveyard though it be, is one of the things that helps us, as Americans, get through times like those, and like these.

Most touching scene: The utter sadness when Pvt. Layton learns that his buddy, Pvt. Hooper, was killed by a mortar shell. William Wellman filmed Marshall Thompson from the back. The fall of his shoulders and head when they said "We didn't even find his dogtags" is an eloquence beyond words.

Most memorable repeated phrase: Pvt. Holley's "Oh, no!"

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Battleground

Trivia
James Arness (Garby) served in World War II and is the most decorated of the actors in the film. He received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze campaign stars, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge for his service.

Goofs
At the beginning of the movie Holley (Van Johnson) enters the tent wearing a class A uniform. Although currently worn above the ribbon rack, at the time the film takes place, the Combat Infantryman Badge was worn on the left breast pocket, below the ribbons.

Quotes
[last lines]
Holley: [as they begin marching from the battlefield, passing their replacements as they enter] Hey, Kinnie - what ever happened to Jody?
Sgt. Kinnie: All right, come on! Come on! What do you want these guys to think, you're a bunch of WACs? Alright, alright pick it up now. Hut, two, three. Hut, two, three, four. Hut, two, three, four. You had a good home but you left...
I Company: You're right!
Sgt. Kinnie: You had a good home but you left...
I Company: You're right!
Sgt. Kinnie: Jody was there when you left...
I Company: You're right!
Sgt. Kinnie: Your Baby was there when you left...
I Company: You're right!
Sgt. Kinnie: Sound off!
I Company: One, two
Sgt. Kinnie: Sound off!
I Company: Three, four.
Sgt. Kinnie: Cadence Count
I Company: One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four!
Sgt. Kinnie: Your baby was lonely - as lonely as could be...
I Company: 'Til Jody provided company!
Sgt. Kinnie: Ain't it great to have a pal...
I Company: Who works so hard to keep up morale!
Sgt. Kinnie: Sound off!
I Company: One, two
Sgt. Kinnie: Sound off!
I Company: Three, four.
Sgt. Kinnie: Cadence Count
I Company: One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four!
Sgt. Kinnie: You ain't got nothing to worry about...
I Company: He'll keep her happy till I get out!
Sgt. Kinnie: But you won't get home 'til the end of the war...
I Company: In nineteen hundred and seventy-four!
Sgt. Kinnie: Sound off!
I Company: One, two.
Sgt. Kinnie: Sound off!
I Company: Three, four...