Battle of the Bulge
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Movie Reviews of Battle of the Bulge
Movie Review: true history on film
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great historical film. It shows how closely fought
the battle against evil was in WWII and how our greatest
generation responded to it.
The film stars Henry Fonda as an all-american Lt. Col. He
is hard working and dedicated. But his superiors are not.
They are chair-warming politically ambitious regular army
types who usually got undeserved promotions to general. Henry
Fonda gathers up the intelligence to show that the germans are
planning a sneak attack, but the generals don't believe him.
On the other side is General Von Killowitz. The traditional
bloodthirsty prussian officer who loves war and death more than
anything. He is the same sort of German who the Romans guarded
their frontiers against 2,000 years ago. Savage, without
culture and only loving war and pillage. Killowitz is given
huge tank army and told to go capture the gasoline of the
American army. Killowitz isn't expected to win the war, but
to get Germany enough gas to keep it going until they finish
their rockets, jet fighters and WMDs. Once the WMDs and the
other new weapons are finished, the germans will destroy all
freedom and conquer the world.
Because of the general's incompetence, the US Army is caught
by suprise by the sneak attack. The germans take advantage
of the situation and revert to their usual barbarism. They
kill prisoners and everything else you would expect. But
after the attack, Fonda manages to find a fighting General and
using his intelligence reports on the german plan, they plan
a strategy to stop the germans.
Henry Fonda knows that Von Killowitz is in charge of the german
army and that the germans are running out of gas. So the
general carefully plans to win by destroying his own gas
supplies before the germans can capture them.
While the Germans have the upper hand for a little while,
they just end up culling out the poor soldiers from the
American Army. Then the real battle starts with the
real americans who have been hardened by war into pure
fighting machines.
Telly Savalas plays a tank commander whose brilliant leadership
and understanding of german tank tactics allows him to destroy
lots of enemy tanks. He was a real soldier. In those days,
men fought with what they had (even if it was a wrecked tank).
Things are really different today when soliders whine about
not having every vehicle armoured in Iraq. But thats what you
get with a so-called professional army.
The movie comes down a final showdown. Von Killowitz's secret
american-speaking patrols have captured a large supply depot
and while Killowitz is racing there to refuel, Henry Fonda
shows up and discovers their plan. After killing all the
Germans, they improvise an attack on the germans. With real
American initiative, they use the very fuel the germans want
to capture as rolling weapons against the Tank Army of Von
Killowitz. He slows and then halts the advance of the german
tank army. The tanks are slowed just enough that they use
up their remaining fuel. Von Killowitz and his dreams of
war are stopped just short of victory by a handful of GIs.
Von Killowitz burns to death in his tank. Killed by the gas
that might have given Germany the world. His remaining army
has no choice but to abandon their tanks and march home to
germany. We then see Von Killowitz's closest follower turn
his back on war and german militarism by throwing down his
weapon.
The film ends with a dramatic shot from the air of the
battlefield. We see how close Von Killowitz came and how
his dreams ended in a mass of burning and out of gas tanks
covering the dry arid lands of Belgium.
This is great for history fans and as an educational resource.
I would recommend in addition "Patton" which shows the other
half of the battle. Battle of the Bulge doesn't tell the story
of how the fighting of the war was messed up by Montgomery. Or
how Patton was held back from finishing Germany off. All that
fuel the germans were going after was fuel that was kept back
from Patton and just piled up in supply dumps because Montgomery
was more interested in his own glory that working as part of a
team.
A++++ (five stars)
Movie Review: One of the best WW2 epics, beautifully restored
Summary: 5 Stars
Battle of the Bulge is probably the least accurate but most enjoyable of the spot-the-star WW2 roadshow epics. When Samuel Bronston's Spanish production empire crashed, his head of story Philip Yordan teamed up with former combat photographer Milton Sperling and picked up the slack with a slew of Spanish-lensed epics of his own backed with blocked US funds - Custer of the West, The Royal Hunt of the Sun and this lavishly mounted affair that took full advantage of all that WW2 Nazi hardware that found its way into Franco's possession. It's dominated by Robert Shaw's disillusioned but still fanatical eternal warrior with the rest of the characters fairly standard issue, although the individual scenes are far better written than is the norm in the likes of Anzio or Midway. Like the Bronston films, the script is a surprisingly intelligent affair, establishing an interesting set of battle lines, with Germany reduced to rubble, its people vanished and its armies living underground while the over-confident Americans are virtual tourists in liberated territories, more interested in the menu for Christmas dinner than intelligence reports of a possible offensive. Not that it is without problems: the geography, like the `history,' is more than somewhat suspect. Indeed, you can even catch a glimpse of the Forum Romanum set from The Fall of the Roman Empire in the background of the "It can be done!" scene as Shaw inspects the tanks. Add to that the fact that the production was plagued by good weather, so sequences are prone to go from blizzard to parched, and the result should be a mess, but it works well both as widescreen spectacle - especially the incredibly impressive final shot of hundreds of abandoned tanks - and as an archetypal Hollywood war movie.
Unlike the previous video and laser disc releases, this DVD is fully restored to its original roadshow length, and also features the original trailer, featurette and 1965 interviews with Robert Shaw and Milton Sperling. The striking overture and entr'acte from Benjamin Frankel's excellent score are also included.
Movie Review: A Great War Movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent war film. It is one of my favorite films and I look forward to seeing it whenever its on. I highly recommend this film and for this reason, I'd like to take a moment a clarify a general misconception about this movie.
The critical comments from previous writers to this review page claim that this film, The Battle of the Bulge, is not historically accurate. These critics then go on to site the numerous historical errors in the film such as the misrepresentation of the massacure of American POWS during the battle. I will state quite frankly that these critics are all correct. This film is full of historical errors. You military historians can now rest on your lorals knowing that you are correct about the historical errors in this film and that I have admitted fully to those errors and justified your position.
Now, it is time for a little reality check.
This film was made by Hollywood. Hollywood makes ENTERTAINMENT, not historically accurate films. So called "Historically accurate films" are seldom historically complete as claimed and seldom bring in the big money at the box office. If you want historical accuracy, watch PBS or the History Channel. The Battle of the Bulge is pure hollywood. That means it is pure ENTERTAINMENT; and entertain is what it does beautifully. For 170 minutes, the viewer is glued to the screen, drawn up into the story and its strong characters, the excitement and tragedy of the battle, and the awesome tank battle scenes. What more can anyone ask for?
This movie is great entertainment and deserves a five star rating. Viewing it as an "historical document" is both unfair and unrealistic. See the movie for what it is, entertainment, and enjoy.
Movie Review: A CLASSIC WAR FILM
Summary: 5 Stars
Ken Annakin delivers yet another classic like 'The Longest Day.' Made in 1965, this film stands as unique in showing the German Panzer tank division and some breathtaking shots of the goings on inside a tank. A well written script that gives you the viewpoint of both the nonchalant war weary American troops as well as the never-say-die Nazi arrogance. The fuel depot at the River Meuse in Belgium is the crux of the story where Colonel Hessler's planning fails and he runs out of fuel for his tank column. Otherwise, the American Shermans were blasted like tennis balls by the German Panzers. Henry Fonda is superb as Colonel Kiley whose cockeyed hunches deliver at the crucial moments. Robert Shaw is mesmerising as Colonel Hessler. Ably supported by Robert Ryan as General Grey, Charles Bronson as Major Wolenski and Telly Savalals as Sergeant Guffy. Benjamin Frankel has done a magnificent job with the New Philharmonia Orchestra of London for the music score. This DVD will allow the viewer to absorb the Overture, Intermission and Exit music compiled by Frankel in this special Director's Cut. War films don't come like these any more. It is a classic that was made in 1964.Movie Review: MORE INFLUENTIAL THAN YOU KNOW
Summary: 5 Stars
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE was a remarkable achievement back when it was released in the mid-1960's. For all the historical inaccuracies, it tells a compelling tale that is true in spirit if not in fact. Such an epic could not be filmed today. Though SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is in many ways a superior film, you see the budgetary restraints (one Tiger tank, reused in different shots, one German halftrack used in three different scenes). In BATTLE OF THE BULGE, director Ken Annakin opted for action and spectacle and the result is indeed epic and spectacular. This film might be more influential than you know. George Lucas cited the World War II films he watched growing up as the single biggest influence on his STAR WARS series. Compare the action in BATTLE OF THE BULGE to the Hoth scenes in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK--very similiar, with the Imperial Walkers doubling for German tanks. And is it any coincidence that the director of BATTLE OF THE BULGE shares his name--Annakin--with a certain fallen Jedi? I think not.