In the 19th century era, World War movies based on World Wars were indeed a pure classic to everyone. Well some are in black and white, they portrayed the sense of pure recreation of the wars and definately made an amazing experience to fans. The Longest Day is a 3-hour-long 1962 war film with a very large cast, based on the 1959 history The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, during World War II. It won Best Cinematography, Black-and-White and Best Effects, Special Effects, and was nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Film Editing and Best Picture at the 35th Academy Awards.
Directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton and Bernhard Wicki. Its shocking to see three directors, directing a three hour long movie about World War Two. They achieve the impossible by making it that long. This might be the longest movie since Lord of the Rings and Perer Jackson's King Kong. They put good used in a three hour film, unlike other World War One or Two films, they showed the Americans, French, British and "even" German perceptives and created a masterpiece. Its just absolutely astounding to see what were the Germans were doing when the Allies attack Normandy and parachuted in the France countryside.During the filming of the landings at Omaha Beach, the American soldiers appearing as extras did not want to jump off the landing craft into the water because they thought it would be too cold. Robert Mitchum, who played General Norman Cota, became disgusted with their trepidation. He jumped in first, at which point the soldiers had no choice but to follow his example. The Rupert paradummies used in the film were far more elaborate and lifelike than those actually used for the decoy parachute drop (Operation Titanic) which were actually just canvas or burlap sacks filled with sand. In the real operation six Special Air Service soldiers jumped with the dummies and played recordings of loud battle noises to distract the Germans. At $10,000,000, this film was the most expensive black-and-white film made until 1993, when Schindler's List was released. Many of these things are just a taste for what, amazing this film was. In the day before D-Day, when they parachuted off around France, you see that no one is perfect, most of the airborne divisions are either lost or dropped in German occupying territory, manifested with Germans. But the Allies brilliantly drop dummies to distract the Germans. In the first half, much attention is focused on the weather, as the troops... American, British, Irish, Canadian and French are poised on board their boats and ships, waiting for the rain to stop... In the key scene when Gen. Eisenhower (David Grace), makes the decision to go ahead with the invasion on June 6, more than 5,000 ships moved to assigned positions... The importance of time is emphasized by increasing the ticking of a clock... On the other side of the channel, the German generals, who know the invasion is imminent, see the same nasty weather and decide to take some time off for war games...French Resistance fighters receive their coded instructions from BBC radio and increase their sabotage activities... Much of the early going is also devoted to some of the Allies' more unorthodox ideas, the kinds of things that make more sense cinematic ally than militarily: the use of metal clickers by paratroopers for identification, and parachuting mechanical dummies loaded with firecrackers behind German lines to create confusion...The film reaches its peak when the two sides in the battle are finally engaged...
The first assault wave hit the Normandy beaches at 6:30 A.M. on June 6... The soil of France looked sordid and uninviting... Planning has been as complete as possible, but in the vast confusion of invasion under enemy fire, so many men fell uselessly when they left their landing craft, and stepped into water... Others fell into underwater shell craters and drowned...
Y the first half, much attention is focused on the weather, as the troops... American, British, Irish, Canadian and French are poised on board their boats and ships, waiting for the rain to stop... In the key scene when Gen. Eisenhower (David Grace), makes the decision to go ahead with the invasion on June 6, more than 5,000 ships moved to assigned positions... The importance of time is emphasized by increasing the ticking of a clock... On the other side of the channel, the German generals, who know the invasion is imminent, see the same nasty weather and decide to take some time off for war games...
French Resistance fighters receive their coded instructions from BBC radio and increase their sabotage activities... Much of the early going is also devoted to some of the Allies' more unorthodox ideas, the kinds of things that make more sense cinematic ally than militarily: the use of metal clickers by paratroopers for identification, and parachuting mechanical dummies loaded with firecrackers behind German lines to create confusion...
The film reaches its peak when the two sides in the battle are finally engaged...
The first assault wave hit the Normandy beaches at 6:30 A.M. on June 6... The soil of France looked sordid and uninviting... Planning has been as complete as possible, but in the vast confusion of invasion under enemy fire, so many men fell uselessly when they left their landing craft, and stepped into water... Others fell into underwater shell craters and drowned...
The Allied air bombing that was to have knocked out German beach defense guns had not been accurate, especially on Omaha Beach where the bombs had been laid down too far inland to do much good... As a result, the gunfire that met American troops there was more murderous than anything they had been prepared for..
Today it is difficult to watch the invasion scenes and not compare them to the opening of Steven Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan,' but that really is unfair... Zanuck manages to display the image of thousands of young soldiers who were killed fighting to liberate France... A long aerial shot from the point of view of a German pilot Josef 'Pips' Priller (Heinz Reincke) strafing Normandy Beach reveals a shore-line of successive waves of men running for their lives trying to secure Omaha Beach... This awful waste and destruction of war: scores of trucks and boats hit by shells, or sunk by mines with their crew lost... Trucks overturned and swamped, partly sunken barges, and many jeeps half submerged... Field Marshal Rommel set to work to do everything possible to make the beaches if not impregnable, very uninviting indeed... 'The war will be won or lost on the beaches,' he states... The German command was slow to react to the invasion... They had been misled by the weather and the Allied deception plan that Normandy was a diversion and the main landing would be at Pas-de-Calais...
The Allied air bombing that was to have knocked out German beach defense guns had not been accurate, especially on Omaha Beach where the bombs had been laid down too far inland to do much good... As a result, the gunfire that met American troops there was more murderous than anything they had been prepared for..Today it is difficult to watch the invasion scenes and not compare them to the opening of Steven Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan,' but that really is unfair... Zanuck manages to display the image of thousands of young soldiers who were killed fighting to liberate France... A long aerial shot from the point of view of a German pilot Josef 'Pips' Priller (Heinz Reincke) strafing Normandy Beach reveals a shore-line of successive waves of men running for their lives trying to secure Omaha Beach... This awful waste and destruction of war: scores of trucks and boats hit by shells, or sunk by mines with their crew lost... Trucks overturned and swamped, partly sunken barges, and many jeeps half submerged... Field Marshal Rommel set to work to do everything possible to make the beaches if not impregnable, very uninviting indeed... 'The war will be won or lost on the beaches,' he states... The German command was slow to react to the invasion... They had been misled by the weather and the Allied deception plan that Normandy was a diversion and the main landing would be at Pas-de-Calais...
The movie was adapted by Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall, Cornelius Ryan and Jack Seddon from the Ryan book. It was directed by Ken Annakin (British and French exteriors), Andrew Marton (American exteriors), Gerd Oswald (parachute drop scene), Bernhard Wicki (German scenes) and Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited).
Many of the military consultants and advisors who helped with the film's production were actual participants in the action on D-Day, and are portrayed in the film. The producers drew them from both sides. Among them are Günther Blumentritt (a former German general), James M. Gavin (an American general), Frederick Morgan (Deputy Chief of Staff at SHAEF), John Howard (who led the airborne assault on the Pegasus Bridge), The Earl of Lovat (who commanded the 1st Special Service Brigade), Philippe Kieffer (who led his men in the assault on Ouistreham), Pierre Koenig (who commanded the Free French Forces in the invasion), Max Pemsel (a German general), Werner Pluskat (the major who was the first German officer to see the invasion fleet), Josef "Pips" Priller (the hot-headed pilot) and Lucie Rommel (widow of Erwin Rommel).One thing that sets the film apart from most films set in the Second World War is that all characters speak in their own languages, with subtitles in English wherever the characters speak either French or German (however the trailer has the Germans delivering their lines in English). The usual Nazi stereotypes are avoided, and most German characters are portrayed as human beings. The words "Sieg Heil", for instance, are not uttered even once in The Longest Day, although they are seen written on a bunker wall in Ouistreham.The film, one of the very few 1960s epics made in black and white, features a large ensemble cast including actors such as Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Peter Lawford, Paul Anka, John Wayne, Rod Steiger, Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Wagner. Several of these actors played roles that were virtually cameo appearances.
Overall, The Longest Day is a complete classic, World War Two movie. With a three hour long presentation and a huge ensemble cast with famous celebrites such as John Wayne. You couldn't agree more. With all the dynamic effects and visual effects, its just eye-popping to observe and experience the true horrors of the war. Its just a pure messenge to war fans that everyone's not perfect, parachuting in the wrong area occupied and manifested by Nazis. The end of the movie, is just like the end of the D-Day landings in Steven Spielberg's film "Saving Private Ryan." Some scenes were also shown like the parachuting landings in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks's "Bamd pf Brothers" and the popular World War Two video game, "Medal of Honor:Airborne and Company of Heroes." This is truely and arguably, one of the most best and powerful movie out there. Taking you to places unknown and the excutation is pretty well. Its a superb and astounding film you can't miss and its cool. Fans and World War buffs should purchased this movie. Its really a blast to watch it. 9.8/10
