The Longest Day - Movie Review Example

The Longest Day is an American movie which revolves around war, and it was released in 1962. It was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck as the homage to the allied military that fought in the Second World War against the Normandy Invasion. The film showed in June 1944, Allied ships, aircrafts, and men going to France alongside the hopes for the defeat of Nazis. They were also aware that a failure would imply more years of war. The film portrays the struggles of the allies in winning the fight against Normandy. It likewise depicts the ground battle for Normandy. Hence, this document discusses the plot summary of The Longest Day, its strengths, weaknesses as well as an overall evaluation of the film.

As indicated earlier, the film focuses on the preparations for Allied invasion of the occupied France. An unassuming break in the extreme climate that had been constraining troops to wait for locally available ships in England permits Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (played by Henry Grace), the commander of the Allied forces in western part of Europe, to settle on the challenging situation to dispatch the operation. The Germans are aware of the attack that is coming their way, yet Adolf Hitler has miscounted that the Allies will arrive in Pas-de-Calais, France, rather than the shorelines of Normandy. When the oversight has been acknowledged, German Gen. Erwin Rommel is unable to summon enough powers to repulse the Allies. The fight takes a tremendous toll on the two sides, and the contention is seen not just from military pioneers like Eisenhower but also through the eyes of ordinary officers. In the midst of huge slaughter and substantial misfortunes, the Allies secure a dependable balance on the shoreline, and the end of the Third Reich turns into a certainty.

Strengths

The movie efficiently portrays several themes including personal sacrifice and patriotism. It can be noted that these themes are often universal in the context of war. The Longest Day brings these themes by offering a sense of what is a typical foot soldier and how they felt regarding the battle. Both sides had to provide some sacrifice materials to emerge victoriously. The most significant strength of the film is the theme of patriotism of the French troops who are not afraid of the bullets, as long as they attain their objective of winning the war for their country.

Weakness

Other than efficiently portraying patriotism and self-sacrifice, the move is not able to capture well the massive elimination during the military operation. He films also do not create a real picture that can help individuals watching to understand the circumstances of World War II. For example, there is no a powerful depiction of the war. It can be noted that a lot of men lost their lives on the beaches, something which the movie does not demonstrate since it only shows a few deaths. Also, the film indicates that both sides faced less resistance. This is contrary to what happened as both teams suffered a lot of strength.

In summary, The Longest Day is a gripping movie that demonstrates a war between the France troops and the Nazis. The film portrays and honors the efforts of the soldiers. France embarks on a journey, with Normandy beaches being their focus. While the movie has a few weaknesses in portraying the massive deaths and resistance during the war, the director and producer of the film were able to use patriotism and self-sacrifice to make the audience understand the film more.

Works Cited

Gibson, Mark. "The longest day." Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies3.1 (1973):