The Longest Day (1962)

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.

This movie has survived the test of time as still the best WWII movie. For a 3hr movie holds you all the way.

A film about just one day, but an important day. The film gives sometimes brilliant, sometimes anecdotal accounts of the 6th of June 1944.Thanks to the personal focuses, involving many personal stories, forgotten details, important decisions, and many other insights, the film manages to fascinate.The film is epic in its scale, with a lot of scenes in which many resources were invested. It is not epic in the sense of heroism, and that's a good thing. All levels of command are portrayed, each one with their own tough decisions to be made.Another bonus is the absence of moral judgment, thanks to the often-lacking German points of view in WWII films. The inclusion of the French resistance is also noteworthy.Acting is great, and history-lovers will have a great evening watching this film. I wish I could say this was the day that decided WWII, but I'd rather refer to the more recent film 'The Imitation Game'.

I hadn't got around to watching THE LONGEST DAY before now; I knew little about it, other than it featured an all-star cast and was about the D-Day landings. Having just watched it, I've been blown away by what I consider to be one of the most confident, assured, WW2 films I've ever seen.THE LONGEST DAY is to D-Day what TORA! TORA! TORA! is to the Pearl Harbour attack. It covers the build-up and events of the day in minute detail in such a way that it never feels slow or overlong; indeed, there's so much going on here that this lengthy production requires the viewer's attention throughout. No time for nodding off as you'll be lost otherwise! The all-star cast makes it a highly attractive proposition as a film, but really this movie would have worked just as well with an unknown cast, as it's so well written; exciting where it should be, tragic in places, and unexpectedly funny in others. Watching John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and the rest of the familiar faces wading their way through one of the most important days in 20th century history is a sheer delight. Needless to say this blows Spielberg's mawkish SAVING PRIVATE RYAN clean out of the water.