Battle of the Bulge (1965)
Barbara Werle, Charles Bronson, Dana Andrews, George Montgomery, Hans Christian Blech ... (see more) , Henry Fonda , James MacArthur , Pier Angeli , Robert Ryan , Robert Shaw , Ty Hardin , Werner Peters
The German offensive in December 1944 became the basis for this all-star Hollywood take on the Battle of the Bulge. Henry Fonda is an officer who predicts the assault, Robert Ryan and Dana Andrews are Army brass skeptical of his intuitions, and Robert Shaw (his hair dyed yellow and his eyes glintin... (read more) The German offensive in December 1944 became the basis for this all-star Hollywood take on the Battle of the Bulge. Henry Fonda is an officer who predicts the assault, Robert Ryan and Dana Andrews are Army brass skeptical of his intuitions, and Robert Shaw (his hair dyed yellow and his eyes glinting with malice) is a German officer leading the tank attack. Shaw is certainly the most compelling thing about the film, especially in his philosophical debates with ambivalent underling Hans Christian Blech. Elsewhere, the movie jumps around to sidebar stories (cowardly James MacArthur becomes a leader, wheeler-dealer Telly Savalas falls in love) while messing around with the historical facts of the battle. There are interesting episodes, such as the Malmedy massacre of American POWs and the Germans' use of English-speaking spies, but overall Battle of the Bulge has the feeling of having been patched together from different scripts. On the physical level the movie comes up short, with the Spanish locations rarely suggesting the wintry misery of the battle, and the use of models and studio sets highly inadequate. A number of war films from this era are compelling on their own terms, but in the wake of Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, this one looks antique. --Robert Horton
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Unrated, 170 min.
Directed by:
Ken Annakin
Release Date: Dec 16, 1965
DVD Release Date: May 03, 2005
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Great cast ... Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Robert Shaw plays great Nazi Panzer commander...saw it as a kid in Cinerama...amazing technology for it's time...
Great Cast! A Lot of Big Stars of this Time Period! Robert Shaw (Quint-JAWS) is the Best! He plays the head German tank commander. Great Action! Some over the top stuff BUT that's all war movies though
A decent war film, that presents the subplots to show the conventional whole of the battle.
Surprisingly very very good - acting/plot/characters. The German commander was kind of deep. I always love Telly Savalas in these old war movies.
A pretty realistic war movie, for it's time. The "for it's time" is kind of important here, but in context, this was probably as good as could have been done. Robert Shaw was incredibly believable as a German soldier and while facts of the battle wer... (read more) A pretty realistic war movie, for it's time. The "for it's time" is kind of important here, but in context, this was probably as good as could have been done. Robert Shaw was incredibly believable as a German soldier and while facts of the battle were included like the massacre at Malmedy and the final stage, I'm not sure if the director got the complete feel of it. Robert Ryan was underused unfortunately. That all being said, it was an entertaining film and one worth seeing.
A ridiculous interpretation of the battle. For better accuracy, see "Band of Brothers" or even "Battleground".
I read somewhere that veterans of the Battle of the Bulge actually laughed when they saw this movie. It's not a bad film but I believe Ken Annakin did not capture the true feel of that last desperate offensive of the Germans against the US Army. My f... (read more) I read somewhere that veterans of the Battle of the Bulge actually laughed when they saw this movie. It's not a bad film but I believe Ken Annakin did not capture the true feel of that last desperate offensive of the Germans against the US Army. My father fought in the Battle of the Bulge and it was nothing like this! Robert Shaw's portrayal of Colonel Hessler is loosely based on SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Joachim Peiper, the commander of Kampfgruppe Peiper. Hessler is regular army and single while Peiper was waffen SS, married with children. both were fervent Nazis while they portrayed Hessler as an obsesser of tanks especially the new King Tiger Tank. In truth Peiper put the King Tiger Tanks to the rear of his panzer spearhead because they were too slow. In the movie the Tiger tanks are actually American M-47 and M-48 "Patton" tanks painted earth gray with the German cross and other ensignia. Despite all that I like the film. I remember they broadcasted this movie in two parts on the CBS station in Chicago when I was a boy. I recall that the Americans were losing and bad in the film. I was awestruck by the film back then. See it for the entertainment not for the accuracy!
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