The Longest Day (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

This movie was based on a hit 1959 book of the same name. It came out in 1962, only 17 years after the war ended. That would be like the movies being made now about the first Gulf War. It was so recent that many of those soldiers being portrayed by actors in the film were not only advisors in the film, but given bit parts on screen, as well. There are so many stars in the film (most of whom would be unknown to those under 40 or so unless they are film buffs) that you can have fun playing a kind of "star bingo". Because so much material is covered in this film, nearly all of the roles are small with some being no more than cameo appearances. But hey, they got in the biggest film about the biggest event of their lifetime!

Remember, this film captures the triumphalist spirit of the allies that I knew growing up. It was pre-Kennedy assassination, pre-Vietnam (we were just getting into it as "advisors"), pre-Watergate, and pre- the kind of pervasive cynicism our culture suffers with today. Nor was it burdened with the faux sophistication of constant irony (you know, so you can avoid being accused of actually believing in something).

This is a very intelligently done film. It captures the massiveness of the invasion and actually mixes in a bit of footage from the war, and is intense enough to get the idea across without the fear of traumatizing the kids you want to teach about the war. Sure, "Saving Private Ryan" has more intense fighting sequences, but is it a better movie? I don't think so. And I still fear showing that open half hour to even my older children. This movie, though three hours long, moves quite rapidly. I also enjoyed that the Nazis are not portrayed as stereotypes. All the characters speak in their own language as appropriate (with subtitles). That is, there are times when they do speak English when English is called for.

I recommend this film to anyone who hasn't seen it and that those familiar with the events, watch it with their kids and grandkids. Feel free to pause it along the way to talk about what is happening, because they won't pick up on everything. Remember, the film was done for the generation that lived through it, so the movie didn't need a lot of exposition. You will have to provide some of that for the younger generations.

Excellent.

The story of the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944, this 1962 black and white war classic sprawls across the screen and across its three hours with such intensity and realism that it is hard to maintain any kind of viewer objectivity about it. Considering that World War Two had ended only seventeen years prior to its release (and D-Day had occurred only 18 years earlier), the film has a kind of "You Are There" immediacy that is simply lacking from World War II films nowadays.

THE LONGEST DAY stars everyone, or perhaps it's more appropriate to say everyone appears in it---42(!) actors are credited on the theatrical poster, but the real "star" is D-Day itself. A tremendous ensemble cast of British, French, German and American film stars, ranging from the about-to-be-famous Sean Connery, Gert Frobe (later the Goldfinger of GOLDFINGER), teen idols like Fabian and Tab Hunter, war film stalwarts like Bernard Law and John Wayne, and diverse performers like Red Buttons and Robert Mitchum, make up the front line of THE LONGEST DAY, along with about 10,000 extras. The film required four directors, one each for each nationality represented.

A little sanitized for viewer comfort, this film nonetheless does succeed in encapsulating June 6, 1944, its horrors and its heroics. The "easy" landings on Gold and Juno Beaches are counterpoised to the near-disaster that was Omaha Beach; the American paratroopers' exection deaths at Ste.-Mere- Eglise are rendered honestly but not gratuitously; the fear, shock and dire realization of the Germans is palpable; the moments of irony (such as a Frenchman appearing on the beach to toast the liberators with champagne) lighten the mood at random moments.

Is it perfect? No. For one, THE LONGEST DAY is really not long enough. A series of snapshot-newsreels, it examples the day but can't capture it in depth (but could any film do that?) For another, this huge project stops so abruptly that it causes the viewer vertigo. Day's over---Film's over! A ten second crawl describing the subsequent liberation of Europe would have anchored the film in real time.

These small flaws hardly detract from this gargantuan effort, which is a classic of its genre and a valuable history lesson, to boot.

What can I say that hasen't already been said.

This is the classic movie of the Normandy invasion.

A must see for everyone.

While I enjoy watching this movie, I prefer the colorized version that was released on VHS a number of years ago. While "purists" may want to see it in black and white, I've gotten used to seeing it in color and I wish it was available that way on DVD.

"The Longest Day" is a miraculous movie. Folks who compare it unfavorably to "Saving Private Ryan" miss the point. "SPR" was not a story of D-Day, it was a fictional story, based on a germ of history, that had a slice of D-Day in it. "The Longest Day" is a docudrama retelling of D-Day involving all its theaters, putting the story of the Normandy invasion together like a huge jigsaw puzzle. It presents solid history wrapped in solid entertainment for a winning combination. Sort of like a Reese's, with the history being the peanut butter.

The movie was based on a history of D-Day, of the same title, by Cornelius Ryan. Ryan interviewed as many D-Day survivors as he could (royalty, generals, foot-soldiers, civilians, you name it) and used their words to patch together a narrative of the events of June 6, 1944. Like the movie, the Ryan book shows the humor and human interest in the battle, as well as violence and tragedy.

Like D-Day, the movie "The Longest Day" was a massive undertaking. Like the subject, the movie was embattled. The studio was pouring all its money in the bloated "Cleopatra" and had only a pittance to spare for the story of D-Day (the story of this struggle between the movies is well told in a two-hour feature in the extras of the three-disk DVD of "Cleopatra" -- it's a shame an in-depth feature on the behind the scenes wrangling for "TLD" should appear on the extras of another movie!)

Ryan's sprawling book necessarily made a sprawling movie. "Saving Private Ryan" presented D-Day as a simple-minded dumping of clueless men off carriers onto beaches; but accurately detailing the story of the battle as a whole meant covering the army, the navy, the paratroopers, the special forces and OSS, the generals, the underground -- even the weather guys! Not only that, since the makers of this film wanted a balanced portrayal, they had to show the human German reactions to the invasion.

The decision to cast familiar faces in even the smallest roles has been much criticized, but it was vital. Casting might have started as a publicity gimmick; but it proved to have a utilitarian purpose. The average movie-goer might have difficulty in keeping track of all the varied pieces of the huge jigsaw that was D-Day. But when the viewers see Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda and Kenneth More the leaders at their respective beaches; John Wayne heading the paratroops; and youth heart-throbs Robert Wagner, Paul Anka, Tommy Sands and Fabian amongst the very young-looking Rangers, everyone knows where they are. Some of the on-screen troops were lost and confused about where they were, but the famous faces are landmarks to ward that confusion away from us, and it works!

Ironically, some of the faces of then-big stars have faded in the public memory while new faces risen from this movie (watch for Sean Connery and George Segal in early roles). Even more ironically, one of the most vivid performances in the movie was given by beautiful newcomer Irina Demick, who was (not coincidentally) the producer's girlfriend.

The movie follows the book fairly faithfully, but keep in mind this isn't a lecture on D-Day, it's an entertainment. Even so, "TLD" was made fewer than twenty years after D-Day. Participants of the battle who attended the movie would notice egregious errors. Some studio executives had themselves been in the invasion. Many of the ranking participants in the real battle are listed in the credits as historical advisors. Even some of the actors were in on D-Day (this from the director's commentary: actor Richard Todd actually was involved in that part of the battle where he now plays the leader, and he was able to give the director some useful tidbits).

That said: yes, there are inaccuracies. For instance, in real life the "Ruperts" looked more like burlap bags. Yet even with its scattered inaccuracies or composite characters, this is the movie to see if one wants to understand D-Day in an entertaining yet substantive way. And "TLD" still holds up as good movie-making after nearly half a century. Today's directors can learn a lot from Ken Annakin's long helicopter shot of Ouistreham.

Such a good movie deserves better bonus features. The two-DVD set has two commentaries. One is by Ken Annakin, the movie's sole surviving director. Having heard Annakin's commentary on "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" I knew his style: long silences broken by scattered useful details. Curiously, Annakin falls into the trap of often telling us exactly what we're seeing acted out on the screen; this seems a strange fault for someone who should be accustomed to letting film speak for itself.

The other commentary is extremely odd. The less said about it the better.

The model to follow in movies of this scope is "Around the World in 80 Days." In that commentary, a chap with a pleasant voice, who has done his research and obviously has his notes before him, explains who the actors are (for those who might not recognize Stuart Whitman, Tom Tryon or Leo Genn); then he could say a little about the historical characters they are portraying, and any historical details that might not have been covered well in the movie (such as the lay of the French countryside).

To put it bluntly, the two commentaries in this set are lousy. And the 2nd-disk features aren't great. They consist of a series of featurettes, mostly puff pieces done for the lowest common denominator. Nevertheless, this is what they have, and there is some extremely good information tucked away here (such as Red Buttons repeating what was said to him when he met the fellow he portrayed onscreen)

"TLD" is a great movie for what it does. It's not a "war movie" in the sense of "The Dirty Dozen" or "Saving Private Ryan" in telling a fictional yarn of combat. "TLD" is an entertainment with a sound script based on an excellent history, presenting before us the plain facts of what happened and in what order, with a cast so familiar we're never confused about where we are. As a movie, "The Longest Day" achieves all its objectives.