Review of The Longest Day (1962) by Kenny S — 05 Aug 2009

I'm not a fan of cheezy lines and overly slow and dramatic deaths, but since The Longest Day is a classic, I had to check it out. Besides the typical war movie style of the older generation as mentioned above, the movie ended rather abruptly and the Omaha beach scene looked like a cake walk compared to Saving Private Ryan (the sfx doesn't compare, but it seemed like barely anyone died with the rangers storming the beach as opposed to being shot in the boat).

Tactics also seem rather poor despite the amount of military consultants. That being said, this must be the most comprehensive D-Day film ever made with the emphasis on weather, the panzer division, and Hitler sleeping through Normandy, all major factors of D-Day missed by most movies.

The scale of this film is grand ranging from Point Du Hoc, Gold, Juno, Omaha, Utah, Pegasus Bridge, Germans, French resistance, massive cast and extras, and the overhead pan of the battlefield.