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The Longest Day [1962]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

After seeing Saving Private Ryan, this epic tale about the Normandy invasion will look sanitised. But in its re-creation of events leading to the epochal battle, The Longest Day is captivating and grand, and the parade of famous actors who cross the screen naturally give the already charged action even more of a boost. Three directors worked on it: Ken Annakin (Battle of the Bulge), Andrew Marton (Crack in the World) and Bernhard Wicki (this film being his only credit). --Tom Keogh

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

The Longest Day is Hollywood's definitive D-day movie. More modern accounts such as Saving Private Ryan are more vividly realistic, but producer Darryl F Zanuck's epic 1962 account is the only one to attempt the daunting task of covering that fateful day from all perspectives. From the German high command and front-line officers to the French Resistance and all the key Allied participants, the screenplay by Cornelius Ryan, based on his own authoritative book, is as factually accurate as possible. The endless parade of stars (John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, and Richard Burton, to name a few) makes for an uneasy mix of verisimilitude and Hollywood star-power, however, and the film falls a little flat for too much of its three-hour running time. But the set-piece battles are still spectacular, and if the landings on Omaha Beach lack the graphic gore of Private Ryan they nonetheless show the sheer scale and audacity of the invasion. --Mark Walker

Still a classic
Review date: 2008-06-02 Rating: 8 out of 10

Still a classic after all these years. Cornelius Ryan wrote two great books about single actions - The Longest Day and A bridge Too Far - both based on the extensive research involving many of the real people who appeared in the movie. In the Longest Day there is the additional plus that Richard Todd who plays Major Howard in the assault on what became known as Pegasus Bridge was actually Howard's second in command in the real assault.

It's star studded and full of little cameos but perhaps the heroics of John Wayne and Robert Mitchum are a bit overblown for today's tastes.

One little aside - my father, who went over the beach at Arromanches well remembered the bearded beachmaster with the bulldog called Churchill and he always said that he was just like the portrayal in the film.

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Reviews


"MOVIE STAR" VEHICLE
Review date: 2008-05-08 Rating: 2 out of 10

I HAVE TO SAY THAT I FOUND THIS TO BE A FLAWED MOVIE. THE SCENES SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN SHOT INDIIVIDUALLY AND THEN STUCK TOGETHER IN A HAPHAZARD WAY.
THE NAIL IN THE COFFIN FOR THIS FILM HAS TO BE THE POPPING UP AT EVERY TURN OF A "MOVIE STAR" WITH SOMETHING HEROIC TO SAY OR DO.IT LOOKS LIKE A PROPAGANDA MOVIE

I rate this as the best war movie EVER!
Review date: 2008-04-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

I know history I know some parts of D-Day make saving Private Ryan look like a Sunday School picknic but I have never seen a movie deal with any battle better. The film mentions most of those involved be they American, British, French or German. Sure there are a few mistakes such as the attack on the Point du Hock where the US Rangers attacked guns on the top of cliffs, the attack but find he gun housing empty. the section ends there but inreality two rangers found the guns nearbye and destroyed them. OK the production values are not up to todays but it stands up as the best war film ever due to it's large story and brilliant scenes like the French attack on the Casino.

epic- and dated
Review date: 2008-02-05 Rating: 6 out of 10

this film coming some 20 odd years after the actual war end no doubt packed a punch with an all star line up. told from both points of view and in black and white. but regardless of the star wattage it is incredibly outdated and told from a romantic point of view which absolutely does not address the sheer blood and carnage of war. you have big name actors making long winded speeches at every juncture, almost as if theyre writing a book. smaller name stars show up in the scenery without anything to do, just so 60s audiences can point a finger and say 'hey look its...' if strictly historical, no one knew of the outcome of the d day landings. but here they know everything in hindsight. almost as bad as pearl harbor where during the bombing of pearl harbour, a soldier picks up the phone and says 'i think world war 2 has started!' i mean some the dialogue is that bad.

The Best War Film of All Time
Review date: 2007-06-21 Rating: 10 out of 10

This fantastic movie watches almost like a docu-drama. The events are are all given a 'Time/Location' subtitle on the screen, the officers who play a key role all get named in the same way, and because of this you come away having learned something, as well as having been entertained. Filmed on location in Normandy (the Ouistreham scene (where they destroy a casino) was filmed in Port-en-Bessin, and, yes they actually blew up that building for real (it was a hotel), and The Ste. Mere Eglise scene was filmed in the actual town etc.) that, allied with facts such as Richard Todd (Maj. Howard), actually landed at Pegasus Bridge on D-Day, and is playing his own C.O all lends authenticity and realism that no amount of realistic gore and SFX can ever match. On the downside, I think casting John Wayne was a mistake. Though I am a huge John Wayne fan and his performance is as polished as everybody elses, you can usually forget that you are watching a particular actor 'playing' a character, and become absorbed in that character, but John Wayne the man, is always 'John Wayne' the character, and I don't think he will ever convince anyone that he is 'Gen. Benjamin Vandervoort'. Still maybe thats just me. All round this is (probably) the best war film ever made. Buy it! NOW!!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Richard Burton
Robert Ryan
John Wayne
Robert Mitchum
Henry Fonda

Creators:
John Wayne (Primary Contributor)
Robert Ryan (Primary Contributor)
Cornelius Ryan (Writer)
David Pursall (Writer)
Jack Seddon (Writer)
James Jones (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036017343
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: Box set, Black & White, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen,
Release date: 2004-05-31
Number of discs: 2
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 168 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1962-10-04
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: German (Original Language)

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