Friday 6 June 2014

Movies: D-Day Special

There's probably some other films out there about D-Day. You can tangentially include Where Eagles Dare where the mission is to rescue an army brigadier before he faces interrogation the invasion, but I can only think of two movies that are specifically about D-Day.

It's hard not to recommend both Saving Private Ryan and The Longest Day. Apart from both being really good films, they both tell the story of the events in different ways.

Saving Private Ryan is more personal. It's war from the perspective of the soldiers who fought and spares nothing trying to portray the hell of landing on those beaches and the lives of those men.

On the other hand, The Longest Day is more of a "big picture" film about D-Day, showing all the various people involved from British paratroopers, to GIs, to French civilians in the resistance and German generals.

7 comments:

JohnM said...

"D-Day the Sixth of June" 1956?

Tim Almond said...

eh?

Lola said...

It struck me today, that when the successor to the BBC runs the 100th anniversary of D-Day special, I will be 92....

JohnM said...

> The Stigler

There was a film released in 1956 called "D-Day - the Sixth of June"

It had Robert Taylor and Richard Todd so it wasn't a small affair. A lot of love interest bollocks if I recall and not a lot of fighting. I can't recall the lead actress.

Derek said...

Not long until the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I.

Graeme said...

the thing about The Longest Day was that it was just about the last WW" film made that had people who actually participated in the events depicted (or had close relatives involved)...it gave it a gritty, unglamourised quality.

Tim Almond said...

Graeme,

Yup. Richard Todd played his own commander and fought to secure Pegasus Bridge.