By Tom Snyder
There are many war movies and dramas depicting or discussing the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Imperial Japan and its immediate aftermath, but there are few movies about the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day.
Many people would place Steven Spielberg’s 1998 movie, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, among the best of those few movies. However, the violence, especially in the first 30 minutes, is unnecessarily extreme. Also, the movie contains at least 88 obscenities and profanities and a crudely comical recollection by the title character of his bullying of a fat teenage girl. It’s the movie’s worst scene. Not funny!
So, MOVIEGUIDE® picks these three movies as the best of the world’s movies about D-Day. They’re good movies for parents to watch with their older teenagers, not pre-teen children:
- THE LONGEST DAY, 1962, Quality: ****; Acceptability: -1
THE LONGEST DAY is THE classic 1962 movie depicting the assault on Normandy on June 6, 1944 by American, British, French, and Canadian soldiers against the German military in Occupied France. Scenes switch back and forth between the German forces, French Resistance fighters and the Allied forces. Based on the bestselling book by Cornelius Ryan, THE LONGEST DAY features an all-star cast led by John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and Richard Todd. It details paratroopers trying to take a town, British soldiers holding an important bridge, the landings on the beaches, French soldiers attacking a German artillery placement at a French casino, and the confusion among the German officers frustrated by Adolph Hitler’s irrational command.
THE LONGEST DAY is a magnificent achievement and wonderful tribute to the Allied forces that landed in the countryside during the night and stormed the beaches that morning. The movie is filled with thrilling, dramatic, fascinating, amusing, ironic, and tragic moments. THE LONGEST DAY has multiple positive Christian references to God and faith. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children because of war violence and 25 light obscenities and profanities.
MOVIEGUIDE® review: https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/the-longest-day.html
- PRESSURE, 2026, Quality: ****; Acceptability: -1
PRESSURE is a gripping, terrific war drama about the 72 hours of intense decision-making on the timing of the D-Day Normandy invasion in June, 1944. Britain’s top meteorologist James Stagg leaves his pregnant wife to join Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower’s staff as chief meteorological officer. However, Stagg clashes with Eisenhower’s American meteorologist, Colonel Irving Krick, who’s been with him throughout the Allied African campaign. Stagg predicts a virulent storm on June 5, the date for the invasion, but Krick says the weather will be clear. Things come to a head when General Eisenhower must decide whether to postpone the invasion for two weeks and risk losing the element of surprise.
PRESSURE is a superbly structured, acted and directed patriotic movie about the Allied D-Day invasion of Normandy. The invasion spelled the beginning of the end for Hitler’s National Socialist Germany. PRESSURE is a gripping, terrific, must-see historical drama. It has a strong moral, patriotic worldview with an inspiring church scene. However, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and young teenagers because of strong violence, five strong profanities and six obscenities. PRESSURE is now playing in theaters.
MOVIEGUIDE®’s review: https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/pressure-2026.html
- CHURCHILL, 2017, Quality: ****; Acceptability: -1
CHURCHILL is an absorbing drama about British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s misgivings about the D-Day invasion in June 1944 during World War II. Churchill tells King George VI, General Eisenhower and Field Marshall Montgomery days before the invasion that they should call it off. He’s worried the plan is too risky and will lose too many lives. The two soldiers are upset about Churchill’s qualms. They and President Roosevelt overrule him, and the King agrees. This makes Churchill angry and depressed. Can they and his wife, Clementine, make him see reason?
The screenwriter behind CHURCHILL, who’s also a historian, admits she shortened the historical timeframe for the movie. In reality, Churchill overcame his qualms about the invasion by April, though it’s true he still thought the invasion would kill too many Allied soldiers and too many French citizens. Despite the heightened drama, which seems melodramatic in a couple places, CHURCHILL is still a powerful, well-scripted, inspiring drama about the greatest amphibious assault in history. Brian Cox delivers a superb performance as Churchill. CHURCHILL does have nine strong profanities, however. So, caution is advised for older children and younger teenagers.
MOVIEGUIDE®’s review: https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movies/churchill.html
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