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VINE VOICEon June 19, 2016
The history as presented here is accurate - indeed D-Day can be seen as the longest day. But the movie skitters from character to character too much. In a sense this is a jingoistic movie, making it seem a lighthearted day at times. I believe this is a cinematic technique, using wry or black humor to diminish the awfulness of that day's carnage. Of course, it made the Germans seem bumbling idiots, and the GIs and Brit soldiers as intuitive geniuses. Perhaps the only real scene is the very last one with Richard Burton as a now-crippled British combatant.
on March 29, 2016
The Longest Day is a quasi-documentary that attempts to portray the incredible D-Day invasion from a number of points of view. It seems to conflate a number of actual events to portray the sacrifice and dedication of the Allied invaders and the apparent incompetence of the German defenders. Unfortunately, it comes across as a jumble of stories without sufficient explanation of the strategic goals tied to each story. While doing so would make a too-long movie even longer, the movie may have just over-reached. As for the acting, the all-star cast does a very good job with the possible miss-casting of John Wayne as an over-age and over weight paratrooper: even the Duke can't make that role make sense.
on November 8, 2014
The movie itself is first class! I first saw it in the theater when it first came out. The one thing that didn't allow me to give it five stars is that the remastered versions of it put the sub-titles in the bottom black bar. If one expands their view on their TV, half of the words are off screen!!??! I have a VHS of the movie. Like the original in theaters, the sub-titles are at the bottom of the actual movie, NOT in a black bar.
The seller was prompt with delivery and the movie is in like new condition.
The seller was prompt with delivery and the movie is in like new condition.
on June 27, 2016
classic movie for history buffs. Will not hold the attention of most of our population any more. Enjoyed seeing some of the greats of hollywood again.
on August 28, 2015
Good synopsis of D Day in anticipation of a trip to Normandy, but not a good movie. Many great actors doing "their things" (Burton, Mitchum, John Wayne) but dialogue lacks substance, action is formulaic, and characters are one dimensional. Still, a decent panoramic view of an epic day.
on April 4, 2014
A war time epic. The telling of a story so large that it takes most of the stars in Hollywood to tell it. I bought this as the companion piece to Cornelius Ryan's other story, "A Bridge Too Far".
on June 29, 2016
Outstanding cinematography but flawed characterization by today's standards. But back when it was made it spared no expense on the camera work and effect. Wooden acting brings it down a bit. The inexcusable inaccurate "109"s bring it a bit more down
on June 6, 2015
On June 4, 2015, I watched a NOVA program called "D-Day's Sunken Ships," which originally aired on May 28, 2014. When I realized that the D-Day anniversary was only 2 days away, I decided to watch "The Longest Day" to commemorate the event and see how close the movie was to the details described in the documentary. While the details lined up pretty well, the movie as a movie wasn't that great. I was the young daughter of a career Marine during the '60s, so I have watched pretty much every WWII movie made during that time frame. "The Longest Day" is one of my least favorite. The primary problems with the movie are the direction, cinematography and staging. The film was treated as a stage production, which should be hard to do with a war movie. Stilted and flat are the two words that some to mind. As far as the acting is concerned, it is interesting to see the good actors and not-so-good actors side by side. Acting talent clearly isn't the criteria for how famous some people get. My personal favorites were Richard Burton, Red Buttons and a pre-Bond Sean Connery, primarily for the twinkle in their eyes. (For you Star Trek TOS fans, Captain Pike is in it; see if you notice him.) Finally, I can't believe how the international languages weren't more fully subtitled. I have no idea how they did releasing this film internationally if they subtitled English as poorly as they did the German and French. You get the drift of what's being said, but you don't get the depth. If you want to watch a much better WWII war movie that's based on reality, try "A Bridge Too Far." Or better yet, "The Great Escape."
on November 22, 2015
Holds up okay and good to see all the male stars of that era. Those raised on modern special effects will be disappointed.
