The Longest Day – The Greatest World War II Movie of all time?

The Longest Day (1962) – A DVD Movie Review

The Greatest World War II Movie of all time?  Vote Now!

by Tod Booth

“I sometimes wonder which side God is on.” During the course of The Longest Day, producer Daryl F. Zanuck’s 1962 star-studded three-hour recreation of the Allied invasion of Normandy, men on both sides of the war ask this question as they watch the day unfold.

This black-and-white Cinemascope epic, one of the last great World War II films, is in the old style of the big war procedurals (the last of which was probably Richard Attenborough’s 1977 A Bridge Too Far). It’s a step-by-step dissection of the entire operation from all sides, beginning on the morning of the invasion and continuing into the next day, from war-room meetings with the President to crap games in the barracks and, of course, the battles. The focus is on the movers and shakers of the operation, the officers, though there are plenty of grunt’s-eye-view vignettes, most of which are based on stories Cornelius Ryan who wrote the blockbuster book on which the film is based collected after the war. ……..

Zanuck chose to shoot in black-and-white to save money (its $10 million budget made it the most expensive B&W film of its time), but it turns out to have been a very wise aesthetic choice as well. Black-and-white Cinemascope is a rare and wonderful thing, and the new DVD is an absolutely pristine, sparkling widescreen transfer, as unblemished as the day it was released.
A Savage Battlescape
Probably the most impressive sequence follows a troop of French Commandos as they take the town of Oustreham back from the Nazis. The beginning of the battle as the commandos, under heavy fire, sweep into town, along a canal and across a bridge is a single shot done entirely from a helicopter an awesome, God’s-eye-view of tiny men rushing through a savage battlescape. It’s one of the simplest, most elegantly staged battle sequences ever done, certainly the equal of anything from the more personal visions of Saving Private Ryan or Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line.

Not Much Extra
As far as DVD extras go, there’s not much offered. The theatrical trailer is included, along with trailers for Patton and Tora! Tora! Tora! (two other recent DVD releases), but the trailer is from a very poor print, scratched and spliced. The DVD offers both Dolby Surround and 5.0 Surround in English, French dubbed in Dolby Surround, and Spanish subtitles (which appear in the black bar above the widescreen image).Thankfully, Zanuck’s emphasis on authenticity includes the actors speaking in their appropriate languages, with English subtitles appearing in the lower black bar. He may have fudged a few stories for the sake of drama, but at least the Nazis speak German. Whether you’re looking for a he-man war drama, or a thoroughly compelling lesson about one of the most important days in history, The Longest Day shouldn’t be missed.