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

In 1962, legendary producer Zanuck spared no expense in bringing this long but gripping recounting of the D-Day Allied invasion to the big screen. This epic excels for its innovative camerawork and detailed restaging of events, but most of all, for its powerhouse cast: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan, et al. Most of the big stars appear in their own set pieces, but the cumulative effect is still powerful, bringing to life one of this country's most historic and heroic moments.

Of all the classic World War II films this is the best. Telling multiple stories at the same time it gives the best idea of the events that happened that day from the view of the people who experienced it.

This three-hour epic retelling of the D-Day invasion of Europe in WW II is told with a careful eye on details, but not so much on human drama. In fact, the movie is mainly a series of star cameos (the list is impressive: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton to name just a few), a movie very much representative of the Important Man take on history. The war scenes, for sheer grandeur and scale, are the best in film history prior to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (for WW II movies anyway), but I've often thought the movie might be better watched with the sound off: the words, the dialogue, the actors are required to speak to each other are cliche-ridden and empty. Knowing the story and its outcome ahead of time, it's hard not to be moved, even inspired, by the action, but as it stands it's an action-filled stunner with a mediocre script.

Great cast. Great story. Great war film. No computer graphics this.

My favorite World War II movie. Wonderful cast of characters. Shows all the nuances of the Battle of Normandy, God must have been with us.