The Longest Day

I love this film, I can watch it all over again and I have watched it many times, a full star cast, you have a perspective from both sides.

The best movie of the DDAY.

One of the best war movies of its time

Epic telling of probably the most important day of recent times. If D-Day had failed, the Russian attack from the east may have faltered and Hitler may have gotten his greedy hands on the Soviet oilfields. With such resources he may have been unstoppable.With a huge cast of international stars, a very large budget, plenty of impressive hardware and at least four directors filming different aspects of the invasion, you certainly get your money's worth with The Longest Day. Yes it may be romanticised and to a certain degree the awfulness of war sanitised for general audiences, but in the main the facts about the build up, the sheer numbers of men and materials and the enormous amount of effort needed to undertake the mammoth task of invading mainland Europe is presented quite clearly. And although not a history lesson by any means it is quite clear that a lot of care was taken to try and get things at least historically as correct as is possible. Using Cornelius Ryan's best selling book as a base for the screenplay was a very good start. Considering that the real invasion involved three million men, four thousand ships and over ten thousand planes the production manages with a some skill to convey the sheer scale of the exercise rather well. Something Christopher Nolan failed to achieve in his recent film of the Dunkirk evacuation.Filming the invasion from both the Allies and the Germans perspective simultaneously and the use of skilful editing and intercutting was a master stroke that gives the film a non linear feel even though you are literally watching the hours tick by chronologically on screen. Cause and effect in real time does give the film a certain documentary feel at times, allied soldiers doing one thing and the Germans reacting to the new situation as best they could. The black and white image, rather than colour, works very well and actually helps to sell the documentary and slightly grimy feel successfully.The acting although often a tad cheesy is at least watchable. Fonda, Wayne, Mitchum and a very underused Richard Burton all playing real people put in terrific performances that really sell the desperate situation of the men parachuting behind enemy lines and those attempting to get off those deadly beaches under ferocious German fire. Many many other notable and recognisable character actors put in sterling performances. Watch out for a pre bond Sean Connery in a couple of numerous beach scenes.The sets, especially the German beach defences, the costumes and general art direction is first class and everything looks right. The regular back projection shots, usually inserts picked up during the editing process, are pretty ropey even for 1962 and look rushed to be honest. The DVD picture quality on this two disk version is not brilliant. The grain shows through and I suspect the Blu Ray will be much crisper, however these little annoyances are nothing compared to the general production values that are very high indeed. At a little less than three hours you would think the film would have slow points or unnecessary scenes, but you would be wrong, the run time really does fly by. Although a big financial success it was overlooked at the Oscars winning just two awards.The Longest Day is not meant to be a history lesson, it is a film designed to entertain and entertain it does. However even if you never read a single page of D-Day history you will come away with a working knowledge of what happened and how it was done. Seven years later the same producer made the equally good Tora, Tora, Tora about the attack on Pearl Harbour using the same technique of telling the story from both sides of the conflict.Tremendously entertaining.

An excellent WW2 war film, based on historic events on the night of the 5th and day of the 6th June 1944 - D-Day, the allied landings in Normandy.

The Longest Day a brilliant film quick delivery for the DVD.

The first thing to be said about this set is that there has been no tidying up of the prints of each film; artifacts abound. This is not a complaint; such things don't bother me so long as the film remains watchable, which all three are. I mention it for what it is worth, in case, Dear Reader, it matters to you!Of The Longest Day and Bridge, there is little to be said. They are both classics of military movie making, both 5* films in their own right. In neither is the authenticity perfect, but it's as good as you'll ever see. If they were made today, Hollywood would no doubt take all sorts of liberties with history in the interests of making a "better" film. As it is, they stand the test of time on all levels. All-star casts who perform as you would desire; direction & production that does justice to the subject matter. Tension, drama, even though you (probably) know how the film ends. Even in little details, trouble is taken to cleave close to what really happened - for one example, on D-Day (The Longest Day), Piper Bill Millins really did spend a lot of time playing his pipes under fire!The weak film of the three is Patton, despite a towering performance from George C. Scott. Patton is a somewhat controversial figure in history; Scott does a good job of bringing that out. The trouble is that the film just doesn't really convince. Patton is an enigmatic character. He left little in the way of personal memoir. The biggest problem with the pic is that Omar Bradley was the chief advisor. It's well known that Bradley detested Patton, personally & professionally. Yet, in the film, their relationship is presented as rather cosy & friendly for the most part. That grates, and there are other things that, for me at least, feel equally awkward. Patton is a decent enough film, worth 3*, but is the least of three. Having said that, two 5* & one 3* films for under £8 (at the time of writing). Not remastered, no extras, nothing special about the package at all. Who cares? Definitely worth 5*!

Probably one of the best war movies ever made

very good movie, dvd came in a timely manner and plays well

Habe ich als Geburtstagsgeschenk gekauft , ist sehr gut angekommen

À conseiller super film

Très bonne qualité.

Seeing the movie was going back to school memories. I had missed watching this movie then. Don't remember if the film was ever screened in the theaters after that.