D-Day, June 6, 1944: Favorite D-Day Movies

Vanity | June 6, 2010 | Vanity

[PROCON]

Last week, during Memorial Day weekend, we had fun telling of our favorite WWII movies .

On this solemn day, what are you're favorite D-Day movies?

[mware]

Favorite book about D-Day, Cornelius Ryan's, The Longest Day.

A very interesting way to present the fighting that took place that day.

The movie was well done, but not quite like reading about it, and giving yourself time to let each individual account sink in.

[unkus]

You nailed it very well. It was very bad.

[calex59]

I thought the German tanks were M46s, they had two drivers, the M48 series didn’t have a co-driver, only one hatch in the hull. M46 and M47 had two hatches. I may be mistaken about that as it has been a while since I watched Patton, but one thing I do know is the M48A1 and A2. I was in Germany when we traded out our A1s for brand new(at the time)M60s in the summer of 1961. Loved the new gun, M60 had a 105 MM with sabot for the AP vs the M48s 90 MM with large metal ogive covering the tungsten core AP.

[calex59]

Yes, I read the book just before I went to see the movie. The book was better, as is the case with most books and movies, but still they did a good job on “The longest Day”.

[Cincinatus]

Part of the problem with modern war movies like Saving Private Ryan is that they are cast with a lot of leftist creeps who, because you are so familiar with their idiotic ruminations about current politics, strike one as simply ludicrous playing the roles of heroic men.

Ted Danson as a D-Day company commander?!?? Give me a break!

John Wayne as Lt. Col. Vandy Vandervoort? Of course!

[ExGeeEye]

1994, for the 50th. Got pics and video.

(The video is part of a long-term project to digitize my old paper and slide pics and VHS-C home videos.)

[HereInTheHeartland]

I have a partial tape of the Today show live broadcast from there that day.
It must have have been a experience to have been there on the 50th anniversary.

[rfreedom4u]

My wife can’t understand why I watch war movies. She says they only glorify war. I tell her that they are a great example of the human spirit overcoming incredibly odds and the self-sacrifice that true patriots make so that others may enjoy the freedom that they cherish so much more than life itself.

One of my favorite movies is Patton. The best quote from it is, “No poor dumb bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making some other poor dumb bastard die for his.”

[trisham]

“Patton” was a great movie.

[Craigon]

"I suspect that most of the real Panzers and Tigers ended up in pretty sad shape by the end of the war. Probably pretty hard to get hold of them."

True. But one thing about these panzer III/IV and Tigers is that it would seem to be simple to model/replicate them due to all the right angles. While I would never want to be in one while in battle, I love the way Panzer IV’s look! I bet if those two movies in question (Patton and Bulge) were made with today’s technology, they could shoot scenes with some of today’s repliacted or surviving panzers (and Sherman’s) in action and replicate them digitally for large battle scenes.

I recalled some authentic tank scenes in Band of Brothers and did a quick google on that subject. They did not have large tank battles to deal with, but they did recreate a cool replica Tiger and StugIII as explained here:

BandOfBrother Replica Ger Tanks

There’s a bunch of static Panzers and Tigers in museums and a few actually running:

Surviving_Panzer_IV

Surviving_Panzer_III

Surviving_Tigers

[Craigon]

"I thought the German tanks were M46s, they had two drivers, the M48 series didn’t have a co-driver,..."

Ah, I see. You may be right on that. I'll have to check out the dvd. I had read about the 47/48's on some web site. But I’ll definitely defer to you if you were in the military working with or around them...I wasn’t!

[Lmo56]

Nope but been the the American Cemetary in Luxembourg City and have seen Patton with his troops.. Very moving.. And Bastonge is cool to..

I saw a documentary on PBS the other night - American high school teachers and students visiting Normandy, etc.

They had interviews with actual French survivors describing the events - very moving ...

One of the most interesting things was that they visited a concentration camp in eastern France - only one on French soil. Was mostly a work camp, since the Germans wanted the nice red granite from the nearby quarry in order to build their monuments in Germany.

So, not many people were killed at that camp - although they did kill some Jews and undesirables ...

I never knew that there had been a camp on French soil ...

[meyer]

Interesting information - thanks!

You’re right - the Panzers look better (especially the IV). I had thought that the Tiger II was a better looking tank that this. It appears that they went for “ease of manufacture” and a big gun. Perhaps a result of the reduced production capability the Germans experienced at the hands of US and British bombing attacks as the war progressed. (I’m certain that the RAF took great pleasure in bombing the snot out of German facilities after having been on the receiving end of German bombing attacks in 1940).

I followed a cool link to a Russian web site that tested the Tiger’s resistance to various types of anti-tank weapons and artillery. Kind of interesting...

http://www.battlefield.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=282&Itemid=123&lang=en

[PROCON]

I tell her that they are a great example of the human spirit overcoming incredibly odds and the self-sacrifice that true patriots make so that others may enjoy the freedom that they cherish so much more than life itself.

You know, that very accurately describes why I, An American Patriot, like yourself, watch these "War" movies, some, over and over and over again; we admire the sacrifice of the All-American heroes who overcome great obstacles to complete their mission, even at the jeopardy of their own life.

Well said!

Thanks FRiend!

[dfwgator]

Nope but been the the American Cemetary in Luxembourg City and have seen Patton with his troops.. Very moving.. And Bastonge is cool to..

I would like to go to Oradour-sur-Glane, where the massacre that was described at the beginning of "The World at War" took place.

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from June 2010. Thanks PROCON.

"*This* is Tunis."

I still love the movie "Patton" (the real Patton was about eight times more interesting than George C. Scott's great performance), but I watch TBR1 a couple times a year, and it knocks me out every single time, as if it's the first time I'd ever seen it. Rarely does a movie hit me like this.

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The Big Red One - The Reconstruction (Two-Disc Special Edition) (2005) starring Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Caradine

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[AppyPappy]

I was in theater with a guy who was in Big Red One. Oddly, it was his only movie role.

[AppyPappy]

I am so jealous.

[xone]

Did it? Don’t seem to remember them saying that.

14?

[grey_whiskers]

I think John Wayne’s roll in “The Longest Day” wasn’t up to par for him. I didn’t care for the roll he played in the movie.

"One click, is to be answered with two clicks..."

LOUD AND CLEAR, SIR!