The Longest Day

Rating:
Summary: Not Saving Private Ryan - but it wasn't supposed to be
Review: This is not Saving Private Ryan. And those who compare it to that movie are comparing apples to oranges. This movie tells the story of the Normandy invasion - not the human side of war - and was made 35 years before SPR. It was purposely filmed in b&w to give the movie a documentary style. TLD is truly a classic and accurately portrays the great scale, importance, and desperation of the entire invasion from both sides. If you want to better understand D-Day or SPR then you should see this movie. If you just want to see people get blown away then see an Arnie flik.

Rating:
Summary: Lotsa stars do not rate five!!!
Review: World War II as a football game (C'mon boys, let's go!). Sure, it's loaded with big names, but most of them just make hammy cameos, if not truly abhorrent performances (John Wayne, Sean Connery, Richard Beymer and the guy who keeps hearing "Hold until relieved!"). The French act better, but they get to wear those silly berets. No one dies bloody and many deliver long corny speeches that after a while you start rooting for the Germans! Made in 1963, it's "look-son-look-what- daddy-did-in- the-war!" kind of movie that, personally, I don't buy. Neither should you.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This movie provides a good overview of the Normandy invasion, including the events leading up to it. Many of the episodes in "The Longest Day" actually happened, and are based on accounts that survivors gave to author Cornelius Ryan for his excellent book. The movie does not try to be graphic, like "Saving Private Ryan," and while it doesn't show all the gory details that undeniably happen in battle, "The Longest Day" is a better movie and still shows the tragedy, loss and heroism of war. It depicts combatants and civilians on all sides with fairness, showing the dedication and sacrifice of the Allies and the French civilians, and also showing that not all of the Germans were bad. The preceding negative reviews were very false and poor descriptions of "The Longest Day." Amazingly, there WERE individual Allied soldiers who, amidst much death and carnage, walked along the beaches and helped spur the Allied push inland.

Rating:
Summary: A D-Day compendium,using true vignettes rather than fiction.
Review: I first saw TLD in Paris, when it was released in Europe in 1963. Although the movie was made less than 20 years after the events it depicted took place, for many people in the audience this was the first visual depiction of this specific day. Until then, an oral history of the "debarquement" was what most French men and women had been exposed to, and, like most other members of the audience, I will never forget the German bunker scene when the early morning fog finally lifts to reveal the allied invasion force. It seemed like the entire movie theater had held its collective breath only to release it when the naval guns came alive. The power of the movie, for me, resided in its myriad of small, true vignettes which eventually help paint the larger picture and its ability to seamlessly switch between sides and ranks; from the agonizing hours before the final green light was given, betting the invasion on the accuracy of the weather forecast to the doomed and useless strafing sortie of the two German fighter planes. In conclusion, by today's standards, the acting might have been sometimes crude, the special effects not realistic enough, but the tone was never jingoistic or overly simplistic. The movie managed to convey quite effectively the message that D-Day's ultimate success was due to a combination of blind luck, careful planning, tangled execution and countless individual acts of valor and selflessness. That afternoon, in a dark Champs Elysees movie theater, all of it came to life; and for that I am grateful to Mr. Zanuck and company...

Rating:
Summary: BRILLIANT!
Review: The Longest Day tells the whole story of D-Day. Naturally people will compare it to Saving Private Ryan, but I think The Longest Day comes out on top. Saving Private Ryan is in your face, bloody, harrowing, and violent and has some extraordinary scenes. But what I don't like about it is the war is hell feeling you get in every scene. We know war is hell, we have seen it before in all those Vietnam films. The Longest Day is a classic war film ( so is Saving Private Ryan ) which has some sad, heroic, happy, scenes. And for all those people who say it shows the German's in a negative light but I am sorry to say the German's were the BAD GUY'S.

Rating:
Summary: OMAHA, UTAH, JUNO, GOLD, SWORD
Review: Star studded, Daryl F. Zanuck produced D-Day epic ( three directors and 43 International Stars ) John Wayne ( " Move it out ! ") , cigar suckin Robert Mitchum and Henry Fonda ( with walkin stick ) lead the Yanks, Richard Burton and Kenneth More the Brits. Astonishing beachead recreation punctuated by funny/ sad / heroic/ vignettes, with huge names often getting about two lines ( Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan).

Rating:
Summary: One of the best to date.
Review: This movie has it all, the stars, action and tells the story of one of the most important days in our history. A must for any fan of war movies. The wide screen is just a favorite of mine. Not as graphic as Saving Private Ryan but is a real deep story. Although no movie or book can do justice to the job done by our fearless troops on June 6, 1944. Our vets of that era are getting on in years and our thanks can never be enough compared to the price they paid. When these men were young they saved the world. The Longest Day takes you there, in the trenches.

Rating:
Summary: Go see "Saving Private Ryan"!
Review: This is crap! When they invade the beach...that's some sad acting! I hate this movie because it makes the americans always come out winners! It's like they kill Germans non-stop, and they never get hit! THIS MOVIE SUCKS! I also know for a fact (I can't remember what it was) but I read somewhere (maybe it was an Ambrose book) that this movie isn't even accurate! The ending was wrong. That wasn't how Normandy was won! Geez, I mean it's bad when the facts about an epic invasion aren't even accurate! Saving Private Ryan isn't all about the Normandy campaign, but it is a lot about what men wen't through. The beach in SPR wasn't a bunch of John Wayne's running up the beach never getting hit, killing Germans! SPR was the americans getting slaughtered! They eventually won the beach, but the cost of human life makes you wonder if it was worth it! In SPR people are dropping like flies. What are they doing in Longest Day? They are running up the beach like they're getting Nerf darts fired on them! IF IT WENT TO ZERO STARS, THAT'S WHAT I WOULD GIVE IT!

Rating:
Summary: An epic war film.
Review: I watched this film after doing a tour of the beaches in Normandy and it was amazing. Even though Saving Private Ryan was more realistic, I thought this was a far greater film because it told the D-Day story on a larger scale.

Rating:
Summary: longest day
Review: writing this again as i forgot 2 put name of movie....well not 2 happy with this movie as u only seen paul about 2-3 x and for about 4 seconds, he should have had a bigger part in the movie