I watched both these movies this weekend...

Robert Shaw at his finest...

Col Hessler and Quint...two characters miles apart but both done very well!

Shaw as Colonel Hessler is literally the only redeeming thing in that ridiculous "Battle of the Bulge" film.

One of the worst, and most historically inaccurate, big budget war movie of all time.

It was so bad that Dwight Eisenhower (retired 5 Star General and former President) came out of retirement just to hold a press conference to denounce the film.

What Rogue said. I did find it interesting that it was a reunion of Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews from The Oxbow Incident.

"Sing. Louder!"

The Panzerlied:

"If it storms or snows, if the sun smiles on us,
The day burning hot, or the ice cold the night.
Dusty are our faces, but joyful is our mind, yes, our mind. Our tank roars there in the storm's wind.

With thundering engines, as fast as the lightning,
Towards the enemy, sheltered in the tank.
Ahead of our comrades, In the fight all alone, yes all alone. So we push deep into the enemy lines!

When before us a hostile tank appears,
Full throttle is given and we close with the enemy. What does our life matter for the Reich's army? Yes, Reich's army. To die for Germany is our highest honor.

With barriers and tanks the foe blocks our path,
We laugh about it and don't drive upon them.
And even if their hand shakes morosely and furiously, yes their hand. We search for ways, that no one else found.

And if we are abandoned by treacherous luck,
And if we don't return home again,
If death's bullet finds us, and fate calls us away, yes, us away. Then our tank shall become an honored grave!"

Apparently the song was banned in 2017 by the German female Minister of Defense.......

Watched some of it and in one scene there's a foot of snow in the movie and before you know it the ground is bare and not a tree in sight in the Ardennes yet.

quote:

Originally posted by satch:
Watched some of it and in one scene there's a foot of snow in the movie and before you know it the ground is bare and not a tree in sight in the Ardennes yet.

When the movie came out, Eisenhower came out of retirement to denounce how historically inaccurate the film was.

I love movies like this, warts and all. It's like a lot of older movies, "Wow, you went through all this trouble and you still did it this badly?"

You can almost visualize them being made. Some studio guy making all these discussions while staffers and technical advisors keep saying "but.. but..."


"Oh don't worry, they won't know any better, it'll be grand, it's movie magic!"

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
It was so bad that Dwight Eisenhower (retired 5 Star General and former President) came out of retirement just to hold a press conference to denounce the film.

Thanks for clearing up which Dwight Eisenhower you were talking about.

Hey, you never know with kids these days...

I have to say that watching "Battle of the Bulge" as a kid is what got me interested in military history and tanks, hobbies I've kept ever since. I went right out, the day after that was on TV, and bought John Toland's "Battle, the Story of the Bulge" and went on from there.

Of course, as I came to know a bit more about both topics, it became apparent that a lot of poetic licencing had been practiced in that movie.

But, hey, no Tigers were harmed in the filming!