While some war films are pure escapist entertainment (e.g The Guns Of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, The Dirty Dozen), others take themselves rather more seriously. The difficulty with "serious" war movies, especially ones that are based on real events, is that they owe a certain degree of accuracy to their audience. After all, we must remember that people actually DIED in these battles and their relatives may well be watching.... it must be rather a kick in the teeth if you lose your beloved during a war, then a few years later the cause and circumstance by which they died gets glamorised, or "Hollywoodised", for the sake of mass entertainment. In the case of Battle Of The Bulge, the production values and acting and narrative are all very expertly assembled, but the film is not worthy of a rating higher than 6. This is because it distorts the factual evidence about the battle and plays out in typically glamorised, exaggerated Hollywood fashion. It may be easy for us to sit back and enjoy the spectacular scenes of chaos and destruction, but I imagine that for those who lost husbands and fathers in the Battle Of The Bulge it must leave a sour taste in the mouth.
It is winter 1944 and the Allied troops in Europe believe they have all but secured victory against Germany. Many American soldiers are more concerned about how to spend Christmas than how to finish off their "beaten" opponents. One man who is still cautious of the enemy is Lt-Col. Daniel Kiley (Henry Fonda), an aerial photographer and strategist who insists that the Germans are preparing one final push against the Allied forces. His theories are repeatedly questioned and discredited by the Top Brass, especially Col. Pritchard (Dana Andrews) who thinks that Kiley is drastically over-estimating the German resolve. It eventually becomes clear that Kiley's predictions are correct, as a number of German tank divisions led by the dedicated Col. Hessler (Robert Shaw) smash into the Allied lines in the Ardennes with lightning speed and merciless determination. Caught off guard, the Allies find themselves in full retreat as the German assault makes incredible headway into their positions. After much chaos and confusion, Kiley realises that the one flaw in the German plan is that their fuel reserves are desperately low, and in a race against time he and a handful of Americans attempt to burn down the fuel depot crucial to the German supplies.
Battle Of The Bulge offers some enjoyable features, in spite of its lack of attention to historical fact. Shaw is a pleasure to watch as he goes into fanatical mode as the perfectionist Hessler; Fonda is solid and dependable as usual as the discredited tactician; James MacArthur has a good part as an inexperienced young officer who escapes an extermination camp and gathers a band of resistance fighters; and Telly Savalas plays the oafish hero with his usual panache (his loud-mouthed role here can be viewed as a practice run for the character he played later in Kelly's Heroes). The battle sequences are well staged with realistic destruction of buildings and vehicles, and rousing musical accompaniment by Benjamin Frankel. Tanks plough through forests, thousands of extras retreat through wintry terrain, and towns are reduced to rubble in a series of spectacular set pieces. It is just such a damn shame that the whole affair is more fictional than factual; like I said earlier, the best way to pay tribute to those who fought in this battle would have been to tell their story honestly and accurately. Although very watchable and entertaining, Battle Of The Bulge is also indecently romanticised.
It is winter 1944 and the Allied troops in Europe believe they have all but secured victory against Germany. Many American soldiers are more concerned about how to spend Christmas than how to finish off their "beaten" opponents. One man who is still cautious of the enemy is Lt-Col. Daniel Kiley (Henry Fonda), an aerial photographer and strategist who insists that the Germans are preparing one final push against the Allied forces. His theories are repeatedly questioned and discredited by the Top Brass, especially Col. Pritchard (Dana Andrews) who thinks that Kiley is drastically over-estimating the German resolve. It eventually becomes clear that Kiley's predictions are correct, as a number of German tank divisions led by the dedicated Col. Hessler (Robert Shaw) smash into the Allied lines in the Ardennes with lightning speed and merciless determination. Caught off guard, the Allies find themselves in full retreat as the German assault makes incredible headway into their positions. After much chaos and confusion, Kiley realises that the one flaw in the German plan is that their fuel reserves are desperately low, and in a race against time he and a handful of Americans attempt to burn down the fuel depot crucial to the German supplies.
Battle Of The Bulge offers some enjoyable features, in spite of its lack of attention to historical fact. Shaw is a pleasure to watch as he goes into fanatical mode as the perfectionist Hessler; Fonda is solid and dependable as usual as the discredited tactician; James MacArthur has a good part as an inexperienced young officer who escapes an extermination camp and gathers a band of resistance fighters; and Telly Savalas plays the oafish hero with his usual panache (his loud-mouthed role here can be viewed as a practice run for the character he played later in Kelly's Heroes). The battle sequences are well staged with realistic destruction of buildings and vehicles, and rousing musical accompaniment by Benjamin Frankel. Tanks plough through forests, thousands of extras retreat through wintry terrain, and towns are reduced to rubble in a series of spectacular set pieces. It is just such a damn shame that the whole affair is more fictional than factual; like I said earlier, the best way to pay tribute to those who fought in this battle would have been to tell their story honestly and accurately. Although very watchable and entertaining, Battle Of The Bulge is also indecently romanticised.