Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Kirpianuscus far to be easy to write something reasonable about it. for the fans of war films, it is a must see. for the admirers of actors - a good stone for define the filmography. for the admirers of the films from the 6-7 decades, it is a film under each expectation. because it represents only a meet of cast, sketches of characters, the story as pretext for dialogues and humor not real inspired. a film who gives the portrait of brave American soldier only as an unfinished drawing. sure, this is an option. but, maybe, not the most inspired.

sddavis63 A few years before this was released, there was "The Longest Day" - a movie version of the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944. That was a very good movie with a star-studded cast. I'm guessing that "Battle of the Bulge" was an attempt to unofficially follow up on that movie. It's not as star-studded (although there's a bit of cross over in the cast, most notably Henry Fonda.) Truthfully, though, this movie is nowhere near as good as "The Longest Day."It's supposed to be an account of The Battle of The Bulge, which took place in December of 1944. It was the last significant German offensive of the war, intended to break through the Allied lines and re- capture the port city of Antwerp, Belgium - thus throwing Allied supply lines into chaos. The movie gets some things right. The Germans did, indeed, get troops disguised as American MPs behind the American lines, and they were able to cause confusion and chaos. The Germans were also woefully short of fuel, and had targeted an American supply depot which would have given them access to a huge amount of gasoline for their tanks. The famous demand for the surrender of Bastogne, and the reply of the commanding American general to that demand - "NUTS!" - is accurate. But there are also a lot of problems with the historical accuracy of the film. First is that all of the characters are just that - characters. Composites, perhaps, but there's no portrayal of anyone who actually fought in the battle. There's also no mention at all of General George Patton's 3rd Army dramatically saving the besieged Americans at Bastogne. That's one of the better known incidents of the Battle of the Bulge, and why you wouldn't even mention it is beyond me. Many, of course, note the problem that the tanks used in the movie were of a much later vintage, and were't an accurate representation of the tanks that would have been used.At best, I'd say that this movie was OK. Terrible if you're thinking that you're learning much history from it, but OK as a movie that's somewhat dramatic, and I thought it was a reasonable portrayal of the ugliness of war - the Malmedy massacre (the cold blooded murders of Americans who had been taken prisoner by German SS troops) was portrayed, for example. I'd definitely say that if I were going to watch either again, I'd take in "The Longest Day." It's the better movie. This one gets a 5/10 from me.

wes-connors It's December 1944 and World War II will soon end. Not this film, however; after what feels like three hours, we get an intermission. You're more than half way to the finish line, though. British and American forces are on the threshold of victory, but Germany still hopes to turn things around. They've got some fine new equipment. Faster jet planes, deadly rockets and rougher, tougher "tiger" tanks are going to help the Axis defeat the Allies, they hope. Robert Shaw (as Hessler) is determined. But the Germans are unable to get the petrol (fuel) needed to run their war machine. So, it looks like German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and the Nazis will lose the war, as expected...The "Battle of the Bulge" has some big names in the cast, with some potential for interesting relationships. They get lost in a ponderous, overblown spectacle. Since we know the outcome, the story should be about how the characters relate to the war and each other. They have a few moments, but not even Henry Fonda is able to create a convincing character. Nicely seasoned Robert Ryan and big mustached Dana Andrews have little to do, but James MacArthur and Telly Savalas see some action. "Bulge" uses the wide-screen fully, but to no great effect until the explosive ending. This is when several of the characters come together and we become interested in them, finally.***** Battle of the Bulge (12/16/65) Ken Annakin ~ Robert Shaw, Telly Savalas, James MacArthur, Henry Fonda

jlthornb51 If the title means this is the story of the actual Battle of the Bulge, the horrendous offensive Hitler attempted in the west in 1944, then it is entirely in error. Just wrong and wrong in a manner that is an insult to the veterans of that bloody battle and to history itself. President Eisenhower described this ridiculously filmed garbage as obscene upon seeing it upon first release. It is certainly blasphemy. Not only is it totally and completely inaccurate in just about every way possible, it is poorly made. The special effects are simply terrible, below the standards of a Japanese Godzilla movie. The cinematography is awful, the locations ludicrous, and the acting wooden, if how the stars play their parts can even be described as anything close to acting. The worst aspect of this production is the script which seems to have been written by hacks who knew nothing of the Second World War in Europe except the Germans and Americans were somehow involved in a big battle before the final surrender. They must have read part of the newspaper headline back in December of 1944, not bothering with any details. This is trash. And not trash that is in some perverted way entertaining, humorous, or fun. This film stands as a towering monument of shame, a tribute to the stunning arrogance and incredible ignorance, the ugly insensitivity and utter indifference of Hollywood. The shocking moral bankruptcy of the producers, director, and screen writers is forever recorded here, in a horrendous film that reflects their collective contempt for the American heroes who turned back the fascist hordes that made one huge blunder in attempting to reassert Nazi evil in Western Europe. Thank goodness for motion pictures such as Battleground and television productions like Band of Brothers, made by people who cared about the dignity of the surviving participants who sacrificed so much for our freedom and honor them and history. There is little to be said regarding "Battle of the Bulge" other than this unholy film is a total abomination with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.