June 6 is the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. One way to commemorate this historic day is to watch a movie about it. Here are a few recommendations.
Ike: Countdown to D-Day
This 2004 movie, which originally aired on the A&E Channel, stars Tom Selleck as General Dwight Eisenhower. Instead of the day itself, this movie tells the story of the three months leading up to it. Operation Overlord was quite an undertaking. The weather, other leaders, and sheer luck seemed to be against this invasion ever succeeding.
The Longest Day
If you want a bullet-point detailed list of events that occurred on D-Day, The Longest Day is the movie for you. Filmed in 1962 and based on the book by the same name written by Cornelius Ryan (the book is well worth a read, too! Ryan's sources include eyewitness accounts, journals and diaries, and lots of official records), this epic movie covers the big picture while at the same time giving enough personal vignettes to make the story personal. Plus, just about every body who was anybody in Hollywood appears in this movie.
The Big Red One
This isn't a movie about D-Day per se. Rather, it follows one sergeant of the First Infantry Division through World War II, including its landing on Omaha Beach. Lee Marvin plays the sergeant, and Mark Hamill, fresh off attaining stardom in Star Wars, plays a private whose conscience forbids him from killing the enemy. This epic war film was Samuel Fuller, whose Hollywood bread and butter was B grade movies, and it shows.
Saving Private Ryan
 | This 1998 movie is also not about D-Day, but the invasion comprises its opening scene. Much more graphic and realistic than the three movies above, this one supposedly left veterans in its screening audience in tears. I can't say that it won't give you nightmares, but watching the first half hour of this movie will make you appreciate what our soldiers and sailors went through that day in a way that the others won't. |
Did I miss your favorite D-Day movie? Tell me about it and I'll add it to my list of movies to watch next D-Day.
Jennifer Bohnhoff is an educator and writer. Her novel Code: Elephants on the Moon is set in Normandy at the time of the D-Day invasions. You can read more about her book and the trip she took through Normandy to research it on her website.
