Battle of the Bulge
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Movie Reviews of Battle of the Bulge
Movie Review: WW II Action Drama of the 1944 Ardennes Counter-Offensive
Summary: 4 Stars
Warner Brother's 1965 epic war movie that portrays the German Ardennes Counter-Offensive in December of 1944 during WWII. "Battle of the Bulge" depicts Adolf Hitler's gamble that committed three German armies to attack west to Antwerp, Belgium, and halt the Allies to force a negotiation for peace. Producer Milton Sperling and Director Ken Annakin created a movie of grand scale, but apparently chose big-screen action over historical precision to maximize box office revenue. Long relegated to infrequent television play and a chopped video tape edition, it returns on DVD restored for movie fans who like tanks and a screenplay that borders on camp by contemporary standards.
The movie depicts this historic battle through several fictional characters that eventually meet in a climatic battle that seals the Germans' fate. Henry Fonda is Lieutenant Colonel Dan Kiley, an American intelligence officer whose warnings of the coming attack fall on deaf ears. Robert Shaw is Colonel Hessler, the charismatic German Panzer (tank) commander who leads the armor spearhead towards Belgium. Charles Bronson is Major Wolinski, a tough American commander fighting the German onslaught to the last man. Telly Savalas is Sergeant Guffy, a jaded American tanker who is in the thick of the battle facing superior German tanks that relegate his to a tin can. James MacArther is Lieutenant Weaver, a slack infantry leader who survives a massacre of Allied prisoners by German soldiers. Sperling and Annakin appear to have chosen this simpler screenplay to create a few heroes who fight to overcome a seemingly invincible villain-forgoing a complex storyline as used in 20th Century Fox's 1962 "Longest Day." It works OK, certainly not on the level of "Band of Brothers," and lends a somewhat campy appeal for this 1960's action flick.
The movie does portray actual events with German paratroopers disguised as American soldiers who disrupt Allied operations, the Malmedy Massacre, and the siege of Bastogne. Their depictions contain a lot of artistic manipulation, and the relatively simple storyline faults the German defeat to depleted gasoline reserves-setting the stage for a climatic battle when Kiley, Guffy, and Weaver find themselves face-to-face with Hessler at a gasoline dump. Another gross oversight is a massive tank battle in the latter part of the movie that was apparently filmed during the spring-summer season in Spain-deplete of snow.
As long as viewers don't mind these faults-this is an entertaining movie. The M24 Chafee and M47 Patton tanks rented from the Spanish Army serve well as facsimiles for American Sherman and German Tiger tanks, and the live sets look great on the wide screen. Robert Shaw is the most charismatic in this feature and the Panzerlied chorus near the beginning of the movie is rousing.
I've always enjoyed this movie and I'm pleased with the DVD edition's restored imagery and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, particularly the restoration of footage that I've not seen in years.
Movie Review: Enjoyable Movie; Horrible Account of History
Summary: 4 Stars
When it comes to the film "The Battle of the Bulge", I feel one should seperate the generally epic and enjoyable film from its horrendous telling of history.
On the positive side, "The Battle of the Bulge" is a truely epic war film complete with a very suitable musical score and some talented actors. Robert Shaw gives a very memorable performance as a German tank officer who enjoys battle while Hans Christian Blech does a fine job as his older, combat weary aide. The actors portraying the Americans (Fonda, Bronson, Ryan, etc.) do a generally good job though overall Shaw and Blech steal the show. While lacking the realistic gore of "Saving Private Ryan", this film does have some impressive battle scenes. The massive tank battle near the conclusion is overall a superb example of filmaking. While some models were employed in shots of tanks exploding, a lot of the action was filmed with an impressive number of actual tanks. There is also a memorable scene of a German tank brigade advancing through a snowy forest just before the first battle scene. Also, this DVD has some scenes that had been cut from a video version I had previously had and also has contemporary interviews (including Shaw), a theatrical trailer, as well as a featurette.
While the movie is fun to watch, its depiction of history is particullary bad. As there were very few Tiger II tanks left and M-4 Shermans may have been hard to find, I see little problem with the film using M-47 Pattons and M-24 Chaffees respectively in their place. In fact, some M-24 tanks saw service in Europe before the war ended. That said, it was laughable to see one of the people interviewed say that they were using the tanks which actually fought in the battle (he should have known better though a very few M-24s may have been in the Ardennes fighting). Also, tiger tanks (whether I or II) never formed brigades. Battalions were the largest formations they comprised (the 501st was the unit that supported Piper's spearhead's breakout on December 17th). Also, most German tanks in the Ardennes were either Panzer Mark IV tanks or Panzer V Panthers and not Panzer Mark VI Tigers. Also, why don't the allies have air support in the final tank battle since the skies are plainly clear (the terrain in the scene is incorrect as well though I can see why the filmakers would want to film a tank battle on open country)? To create suspense, the film makes it appear the Germans had a chance at possible victory. In truth, their plan was almost surely doomed though they could have inflicted more allied casualties if some events had been changed around.
Anyway, if you like epic war movies, I recommend this one. Just don't expect it to be historically accurate. For those interested in a popular level discussion of the battle, I would recommend the original Osprey Campaign Series book on the Ardennes and a later book in the same series dealing with the Northern Front of the battle (I don't own the book dealing with the southern Ardennes).
Movie Review: Exciting, star-driven epic portrayal of WWII battle
Summary: 4 Stars
Battle of the Bulge is an exciting WWII movie depicting the famous 1944 battle that makes up in action what it lacks in accuracy. In December 1994, the Allies believe the war is all but over and are preparing to go home. The Germans are planning one last offensive that will hopefully turn the tide of the war. The German army breaks through the unsuspecting Allied lines in the Ardennes, but can the outnumbered American divisions hold back the the German advance? The history here may not be the most accurate, but as the movie states, time has been compressed. Overall, the battle sequences are very well done on an epic scale with the exception of a few scenes during the tank battle where some very obvious miniatures are used. Not the most accurate WWII movie, but they got the idea right with American troops standing their ground in hopes of stopping the German advance.
In a cast full of big names, Henry Fonda gets top billing as Lt. Colonel Dan Kiley, an intelligence officer who is convinced the Germans are planning a major offensive. The versatile Robert Shaw plays Colonel Kessler, the ruthless German commander of the armored spearhead. Robert Ryan and Dana Andrews star as General Grey and Colonel Pritchard, two Allied officers who don't believe what Kiley tells them. The huge supporting cast includes George Montgomery and James MacArthur as Sgt. Duquesne and Lt. Weaver, two soldiers who escape the Malmedy massacre, Ty Hardin as Lt. Schumacher, a German paratrooper disguised as an American MP, Charles Bronson as Major Wolenski, Hans Christian Blech as Corporal Conrad, Hessler's aide, and Telly Savalas as Guffy, the tank driver/entrepeneur trying to make a buck. The DVD includes the widescreen presentation of the movie, an unusually long theatrical trailer, and "The Filming of the Battle of the Bulge" and "History Recreated," two excellent featurettes made during the filming of the movie that contain some great cast and crew interviews. A long overdue DVD that is a must have for fans of the movie.
The best part of the DVD is that the movie clocks in at just under 170 minutes. For the longest time, the available versions cut a lot of footage that have been reinserted back into the movie for the DVD release along with intro music, an intermission, and exit music. After seeing the movie several times with almost a half hour cut, it is really great to see the movie as it was originally intended. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Old School War Movie
Summary: 4 Stars
I was a kid when I first saw this. It amazed, even in the trucated 2-part presentation on CBS years later. Since then I have always tried to catch a presention, late night, or on WTBS or AMC. Bought the tape, on Beta no less. However, it didn't have those Ultra-Panavision shots I remembered. Hell, it was missing whole sequences. Much later TCM presented a letterbox version that took me back to those childhood memories, though it was still missing stuff. You know, those ugly, sudden, obvious cuts that even throw off the music. Then I got the LaserDisc (remember those?) though it turned out to be the same version presented on TCM.
Now, I know now that the flick is historically crap, but a soft spot always remained. All those tanks, nobody believing Fonda, that creepy yet rousing Panzer song, Ryan playing the old guy we all wanted to grow up to be, and Savalas keeping his contract to be in every WWII movie made in the 60's. It is Hollywood crap, but it is cool Hollywood crap.
So here we are now in a new century and The-Powers-That-Be have finally gotten around to releasing this classic on the still viable DVD format. Complete with Entrance and Intermission music, complete with most of the missing sequences. Shaw argues with Bronson, Hardin freaks Shaw out, Montgomery argues more with MacArthur. All in decent Surround sound, too. It's not Cinerama, but, until that Cinerama theater in Seattle decides to present it on the curved screen again, I think those of us that hold fond memories of this flick will finally be happy. Until the longer HD-DVD version is released, that is...
BTW, the astonishing Benjamin Frankel score is also available on Amazon. It is not the Original Soundtrack, but, it too rocks.
Movie Review: A very watchable big battle spectacle.
Summary: 4 Stars
I originally saw The Battle of the Bulge at Cinerama when it was released in the 1960s. The DVD just became available, and I must say that I have enjoyed it thoroughly. This is a great World War II battle spectacle, with good acting from Telly Sevalas, Henry Fonda, and others.
This was a pretty high budget film, and it shows. The sets and tanks are very realistic, and the German Panzer brigades look real. The battle scenes are fairly realistic, although as a former tank commander myself, I could spot a few inaccuracies (World War 2 tanks almost never fired their guns on the move--they were not gyro-stabilized and thus could not hit anything if the tanks were moving). No matter, the battle scenes were very enjoyable and very well done.
The storyline is only roughly accurate, and departs significantly from the historical facts of the real Battle of the Bulge. This is unfortunate, as the real story, with General Patton wheeling three divisions 90 degrees to head north and relieve the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, is an even more heroic story of American arms than this story is. Nevertheless, this film is a fine story and very good entertainment.
This is a big Hollywood spectacle that was designed to be solid entertainment, and it succeeds. The DVD is an excellent value, with very good Dolby sound and crisp, bright colors. It looked and sounded terrific on my home theater system. Enjoy.