caseyt-48511 It's hard to beat a classic war epic. And this movie is one of the better ones. The Longest Day(I jokingly call it the longest movie) is a dramatic depiction of D-Day. It features several stories interconnected during the hours before the invasion. It features a great ensemble cast including John Wayne, Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda and Robert Ryan. Keep on the look out for a young, pre James Bond, Sean Connery. You can't miss him. The film features some amazing cinematography and the Germans actually speak their own language in the film. The battle scenes are well staged and exciting. Even though the movie drags at times, it's an entertaining and insightful experience that has been copied several times. If you've seen A Bridge too Far you know what I mean.

evanston_dad "The Longest Day" is a small miracle of a movie. Despite being directed by a handful of different men, it manages to be more coherent and more consistent in tone across its considerable running time than many films directed by a single person. This is not an episodic film in the sense that each director gets his own moment to shine before handing another section of the movie over to someone else; no, all of the variously directed segments are interwoven into a seamless narrative about the events leading up to and taking place on the day of the American invasion of Normandy during WWII.Released in 1962 and produced by an artist of the old school, Darryl F. Zanuck, "The Longest Day" sits somewhere between the patriotic WWII films of the 1940s and 50s, to a greater or lesser degree all propaganda films, and those of the 1970s and 80s, which would downplay the heroism of war and instead focus on its barbarity and its toll, physical and mental, on those who fight them. This film leans much more toward the former, but it does dip its toes in the water of the latter by including a couple of moments that ask us to reflect on the sheer horror of what it must have been like to see combat during the World War. Of course, compared to a film like "Saving Private Ryan," its version of the Normandy beach landing looks quaint, but taken as a whole this film is better than Spielberg's, because it rejects the maudlin and sentimental story around which Spielberg anchored his film and replaces it with a much more objective, journalistic style. The film looks jaw-droppingly amazing, a marvel of sheer physical scale. If this were made today, CGI effects would do at least a half of what real actors and physical locations do in this film.The film stars everybody and his mother. OK, so actually it doesn't feature anyone's mother, since only one role in the movie out of hundreds, that of a French resistance fighter, is played by a female. But it's a who's who of male talent, some of them -- John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan, Eddie Albert, Sal Mineo, Richard Burton -- already superstars when the film was released, and others -- Sean Connery, George Segal, Rod Steiger -- about to become so.But the real star of "The Longest Day" is Samuel E. Beetley, the film's editor. This is a movie entirely made in the editing room, and it's one of the best examples of the art form ever committed to screen. Beetley was rightfully nominated for an Oscar nomination, but had the misfortune of seeing his work go up against that other little movie from 1962, "Lawrence of Arabia," which won just about every technical award it could. That would have been a tough choice, but I'm not so sure that, much as I love "Lawrence" and think it's overall by far the better film, I wouldn't have given Beetley his due.The film did win Oscars for its black and white cinematography (thankfully "Lawrence" was in color) and its special effects. In addition to editing, it received nominations for Best Picture and Best Art Direction (B&W), which is also phenomenal.Oscar trivia: "The Longest Day" was one of three films in 1962 (the other two being "The Music Man" and "Mutiny on the Bounty") that managed to be nominated for Best Picture without receiving nominations for directing, acting, or writing, the only time that's ever happened in a year with only five Best Picture nominees.Grade: A

utgard14 The epic war movie to end all epic war movies, The Longest Day is producer Darryl F. Zanuck's salute to those involved in the Invasion of Normandy. It's a riveting film that recreates the events leading up to D-Day for the Americans, the British, the French, and the Germans. It's told in great detail with more historical accuracy than is usual for a movie based on real people and events (then or now). It helps that it was filmed on location in many of the real places and used military consultants, both Allied and Axis, who had actually been involved in D-Day. The cast features many big names such as John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, and so many others it'd take the whole review just to list them. I can honestly say that, despite the huge cast, every actor involved does solid work. No one was phoning it in or hamming it up in this one. The special effects and beautiful black & white cinematography both deservedly won Oscars. It's a remarkable film that holds up very well after all these years and stands as the premier war movie of its kind. One of the last great WWII movies made by people who lived through it, the greatest generation.

ofpsmith I love US History. Especially World War 2. And this is a really good retelling of the D-Day invasion. It represents the Allied and Axis points of view of the battle. This same kind of thing would later be done in the studio's later film Tora! Tora! Tora! They got tons of big names in here too. John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, the big people in 1962. If you know anything about World War 2 you'll probably know the premise. The epic D-Day invasion of Nazi-Occupied Normandy, France on June 6,1944 by US and British forces, commanded by General Dwight D Eisenhower. The film does a fantastic job of showing us everything on all scales and on every setting of D-Day. That's probably why it's almost 3 hours long. The massive battle scenes are fantastic, the acting is good, and it's an overall fantastic representation of D-Day. As I said before, it's a log movie but if you get some extra time on your hands, give it a watch.