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The Longest Day

The Longest Day

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: movie ok
Review: i was not 2 happy with is movie because u only seen paul about 2 or 3 times, and only for about 4 seconds, he should have had a bigger part and be shown more

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Normandy epic that stands the tests of time and Hollywood
Review: It's automatic to compare this movie to "Saving Private Ryan" if you've seen them both, but even though both movies feature the Normandy landings, they're two very different movies. Whereas Spielberg wanted to slap you in the face with the "horrors of war" in "SPR", "The Longest Day" tells a more full and complete story of D-Day, especially the roles of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. While I'll no doubt buy a copy of "SPR" as soon as they become available, if someone asks me to recommend a movie on D-Day, I'll always point to "The Longest Day" first.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This movie was awesome!
Review: This movie was very moving, because it showed the lengths to which our men went to make freedom possible for everyone! My favorite actor in this movie was Roddy Mcdowall (Private Morris) he is the BEST actor ever, he did not apear in this movie alot, but the little bit that he was there, he made that small part seem so large, and it just capyures the eye of the beholder, although he is not with us anymore, he is entertaining angels in heaven, we will all miss him!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Detailed and historically accurate
Review: This is a classic that has endured the test of time. I recently saw "Saving Private Ryan" again and then came home and watched this one. Try it. Even without the special effects, it still measures up. It is historically accurate in the detailed depiction of the planning that led to D-Day and balances the story with the heroic efforts of the French underground, British pilots and the frustrations of the local German commanders. My only criticism is that the actors who played the paratroopers, Gen. James Gavin (Ryan) and Col. Ben Vandervoot (John Wayne) were way too old for people they portrayed. This movie is a keeper.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This movie was very good because it gave me a full picture of the Normandy Invasion. I have studied it before on my own (I am 8) and I recommend it for children who are interested in why the allies won the war. My favorite actor was Robert Mitchum.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A brilliant true-to-history reconstruction of D-Day
Review: While "Saving Private Ryan" has caused a younger generation to realise the horrors faced by those who fought in the Second World War, it was a work of fiction and did very little to place the Normandy landings in their true historic context. "The Longest Day" provides the historical background necessary to understand fully why June 6th, 1944 was such a significant date in the history of the 20th Century. This film shows the role played by all of the nations involved in the Normandy landings. Backed up by a stellar cast, it is definitely worth watching.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent depiction of the Normandy D-Day Landings
Review: Having recently spent 4 weeks holidaying in Normandy and retracing the events, and visiting the sites of the D-day landings I could hardly wait to get home and look at this video.I was not dissappointed. It matched very well all of my observations at Normandy and my readings while there of the landings. It was a revalation to me to see the huge role the USA played it freeing the world from Hitler. This is a great historical learning for our children. The young people who died, average about 23, deserve the current 23 year olds time out to see this video and reflect on the sacrifices that have been made for them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Redeaming Value to war that Saving Private Ryan did not have
Review: Where Saving Private Ryan had no redeaming value to the efforts of 10 members of the Squad thatwere sent in to retrieve him, The Logest Day redeamed itself in the single line of Robert Mitchum when it was suggested that they retreat. He said "there are only 2 types of men on this beach... those that are dead and those that survive. This movie has captured the real essence of war. Saving Private Ryan was another Spielberg exploitation movie of the "grunt" soldier just as was "The Color Purple", and "Schindler's List". Any condition that can be exploited; Spielberg will exploit it. PAD

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Depiction of How a Battle Is Really Planned and Fought
Review: Based on Stephen Ambrose's "D-Day" masterpiece,Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" - especially thefirst 25 minutes - will give you a better idea of what combat is really like... but "The Longest Day", based on another masterpiece (the book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan), illustrates better than any Hollywood picture how war is an organizational effort, won - or lost - not by a handful of superheroes but by a combination of armies, units, and individuals, along with healthy doses of planning, determination, and luck.

P.S. A note to the person complaining that none of the main Allied characters getting killed in the movie: Since the film recreates the real-life experiences of soldiers on June 6, 1944 - as told in hundreds of interviews after the war to journalist-author Cornelius Ryan - it stands to reason that every single one of the interviewees obviously - obviously! - survived Operation Overlord (and, indeed, the war). And if one observes closely, none of the characters played by the major German actors is actually killed either, and that for the same obvious reason.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Only a Partial View of D-Day and Operation Overlord
Review: Although this film is certainly worth watching, the viewer who has little idea of what Operation Overlord was about won't learn very much about it. Of course, we see many examples of heroism, but so much was left out that one can easily get a distorted view of things.
(1) Contrary to the impression that the Hollywood movie industry gives, the Americans and British did not defeat Germany alone. Three-quarters of the strength of the German Wehrmacht was destroyed by the Soviet Union. I realize that this film was made a the height of the cold war, but still some mention should have been made of their contribution to victory.
(2) The most impressive part of Overlord were the meticulous preparations made. Some mention of it was made, but more of it should have been shown, such as the various special weapons and ships that were made to ease the assault on the fortified beaches. Archive film could have been easily procured to show the various devices used to clear mine fields and barbed wire.
Most crucial was the development of the "Mulberry" artificial ports.
(3) This film used several Germans as advisors such as Blumentritt who were in the Wehrmacht High Command. They use this film as a vehicle for pushing the now largely discredited line that "if only Hitler had let the Generals run the war, they would have won it for him", and the also the myth that they opposed Hitler and held nothing but contempt for him (von Rundstedt calls Hitler "that Bohemian Corporal" in the film). In reality they were all very loyal to him and they really strongly supported him and his criminal policies when they were winning the war.
(4) The importance of the deception campaign making the Germans think the assault will be at the Pas de Calais and not a Normandy was very important and continued even after the landing on D-Day to make the Germans think Normandy was just a diversion.
This was not mentioned. A whole "virtual army" was created with fake radio traffic opposite Calais. This could have been shown as well.
(5) Although I have nothing personal against the man, John Wayne is a very poor actor and I have no idea where he got his reputation as one of Hollywood's leading men!


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