Battle of the Bulge Reviews

A WWII story that is interesting more for it's characters rather than the visual spectacle of the battle itself. Several sub-plots are interlinked involving Nazi spies posing as allied soldiers, a race against time to prevent the germans reaching a fuel depot, a self centred operator's redemption and philosophical musings about the nature of war and the individuals who fight it. The many stories don't quite hang together as a whole, but Robert Shaw steals the movie as the cold-hearted professional soldier who commands the german tank column.

While not quite in the same league as the greatest war epics (such as the brilliant Patton), Battle of the Bulge is still a solid all around showing. Historical inaccuracies aside, the cast is strong, and the characterizations are especially well done, particularly with Robert Shaw's character, showing a willingness of the film to try and show some complexity of the conflict. This, combined with clever humor and good action make it a strong classic war film.

Beautifully shot war movie with an all-star cast and great battle scenes. I thought Henry Fonda was miscast in his role, as he wasn't very believable. However the rest of the cast were great, super tough guys Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas and Robert Ryan fitted the bill perfectly, and Robert Shaw is excellent as the German Commander.

Superb war film. Hasnt aged a bit.

In the 1960s it seemed to be all the fashion for a host of big name actors to appear in World War II movies. From THE LONGEST DAY to THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, THE DIRTY DOZEN, THE GREAT ESCAPE and BATTLE OF BRITAIN every big name actor made his appearance in big epic war pictures commemorating a war that, at that time, was still fresh in the memories of many.
From the extremely realistic (as much as Hollywood will allow) such as THE LONGEST DAY, BATTLE OF BRITAIN and (to a lesser extent) THE GREAT ESCAPE to the more Hollywood-ized versions of the war represented by THE GUNS OF NAVARONE and THE DIRTY DOZEN the quality of the movies was unquestionably epic in nature with varying degrees of historical accuracy.
Somewhere in-between the examples above falls BATTLE OF THE BULGE (1965) which purports to illustrate the events of the winter of 1944 in which the Nazi powers sought to separate the American frontlines from their supplies and reinforcements. The movie works well as far as mindless action entertainment and we have some truly great performances by Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Telly Savalas and Charles Bronsan, but it seems as though the script writers threw the history books in the trash and decided to write the battle as they would have liked it to have played out.
The result is some truly shocking historical inaccuracies. Firstly, the movie suggests that the Germans were running low on fuel and were desperate to capture Allied fuel depots. In fact the Nazi's had enough fuel for the offensive but suffered due to supply lines that were constantly being bombed by Alied aircraft.
The Malmedy Massacre is portrayed here as an organized slaughter of American GI's. In fact, this was not the case. The massacre certainly happened, but it was more of a spontaneous affair.
Another historical inaccuracy is in the portrayal of the German armor. The movie gives the impression that the assault was carried out exclusively with King Tiger tanks when in fact many more Panzer tanks were utilized in the offensive. Germany it appears did not have an overabundance of King Tigers.
Compounding the movies historical difficulties is the creation by the movie makers of characters to lead the German and American divisions. Most blatently obvious is the character of Col. Hessler (played by Robert Shaw). In fact the officer in charge was a Col. Joachim Peiper. The movie makers also created a fictional character - Lt. Col. Kiley - for Henry Fonda and a Gen. Grey for Robert Ryan and totally ignores the role of Gen. Patton in the struggle.
Where the movie gets it right is in the Battle of Bastogne, the use of English-speaking German special forces behind Alied lines to mess up logistics and the fact that the American forces were hopelessly overextended.
However, if you are not looking for a history lesson and instead would just like a comic-strip style action movie, then you can do a lot worse. Growing up and seeing this movie on television I found it exciting and exhirating. Taking top honors in the acting department is Robert Shaw as the cold and grittily determined Hessler. The scenes between him and his subordinate Cpl. Conrad (played by Hans Christian Blech) show the deep conflict in 1940s-era Germany between the fanatical Nazi's determined to carry on the fight and the regular citizenry who, although patriotic, wished only for an end to the conflict. The scenes are poignant and revealing and represent some of the best scenes in the movie.
Overall this movie is flawed, but its still enjoyable and thought provoking.

?Swiss Family Robinson? director Ken Annakin orchestrates some massive combat sequences in his sprawling, big-budgeted epic ?Battle of the Bulge? with 80 tanks loaned to him from the Spanish Army. Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan, Dana Andrews, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Ty Hardin, and George Montgomery are among the stars in this name-dropping cast. This traditional World War II opus depicts the eponymous battle from the perspectives of both the United States Army and the German Wehrmacht. The officers here are all honorable men who deserve to be in command and nobody wants to kill them because they are either cowardly or incompetent. Moreover, ?Battle of the Bulge? divides the villainous Germans up into two groups: the regular army troops and the murderous S.S. troops who murder 50 American G.I. that they capture in Malmedy. Mind you, despite its superb production values and all those tanks, ?Battle of the Bulge? is not a classic, but it ranks as a good, solid war movie. The principal shortcomings are obvious, even at first glance. Henry Fonda?s protagonist isn?t your ordinary Army officer. Instead of being a regular combat officer in the front lines, like Charles Bronson?s Major Wolenski, Fonda plays a Lieutenant Colonel who spends his time trying to convince his superior officers that the Germans have one last battle left in them. Our self-sacrificing hero witnesses the approach of the enemy tanks and then later flies over enemy country in a spotter plane. Nevertheless, despite clocking in at 169 minutes, ?Battle of the Bulge? is pretty exciting stuff with good performances, and tanks galore. Unfortunately, you can spot the miniature model tanks, even though they look really good. The best thing about this big war movie is the Allies don?t turn the tide until the last half-hour when the U.S. Army commander comes up with a strategy to defeat the Germans.

Annakin and scenarists Philip Yordan and John Melson focus on five groups of characters in this explosive, weather-ravaged historical escapade. The Battle of the Bulge proved to be Hitler?s last desperate gamble to reverse his waning fortunes after the Allies had landed at Normandy and broken through Fortress Europa. The Germans discovered a chance to counterattack against an American army that thought they would finish the war by Christmas. Over the battlefield gathered clouds and the German High Command took advantage of all this cloud cover to launch a spearhead against Allied troops and divide the Allies in two while making a thrust to the port of Antwerp. Initially, the attack was a colossal success and the German Army not only caught Uncle Sam by surprise, but it also struck panic in the soldiers. In the first set of relationships, Lieutenant Colonel Kiley (Henry Fonda) has to prove to an incredulous General Grey (Robert Ryan of ?Billy Budd?) and Colonel Pritchard (Dana Andrews of ?The Devil's Brigade?) both that the Germans still have enough fight left in them. Kiley is the only officer who believes that the Germans pose a threat. Second, imperious German tank commander Colonel Hessler (Robert Shaw of ?Custer of the West?) and his batman Conrad (Hans Christian Blech of ?The Longest Day?) have a contentious relationship. Hessler is a clench-jawed Teutonic warrior from head to toe, while Conrad is a peace-loving subordinate who frets about the future of his children under an aggressive madman like Hessler. Third, veteran U.S. Army Sergeant Duquesne (George Montgomery of ?Masterson of Kansas?) struggles to protect his young, naïve superior officer, Lieutenant Weaver (James MacArthur of ?Hang?em High?), from himself and the enemy. Fourth, German Lieutenant Schumacher (Ty Hardin of ?P.T. 109?) and his U.S. Army military police impostors screw up the Army?s retreat. Fifth, a U.S. Army tank commander, Sergeant Guffy (Telly Savalas of ?Genghis Khan?) divides his time between his tank crew and his black market girlfriend, Louise (Pier Angeli), who wants to go into business with him permanently. None of these relationships are particularly memorable. The best two occur between officers and their immediate subordinates: Sergeant Duquesne and Lieutenant Weaver as well as Colonel Hessler and Conrad. The enmity between Kiley and Pritchard never sizzles like it should have. One of the most atmospheric scene is a chorus of young German tank commanders singing and stomping their feet to a war song.

Ultimately, ?Battle of the Bulge? succeeds as a big-budget war film because Annakin puts everything on the screen. The sight of all those tanks?even if they are technically too modern for the 1940s?is what makes this movie work. Annakin takes advantage of the Cinerama process for some scenes. The best scene involves an American artillery piece being hauled by rail at breakneck speed to the Allied forces. The train rushes headlong through the landscape and we are literally perched on the front as the locomotive charges down the rails. A German tank awaits the fast-moving train at the end of a tunnel and blows it up. Annakin was no stranger to big-budget war movies since he has been one of the several directors on "The Longest Day." The speech that Bronson's Major Wolenski delivers to Kiley about how his men feel that Germany should be turned into a pasture for buffalo represented the way some of President Franklin Roosevelt?s cabinet felt about the future of Germany after the war. The scene where Colonel Hessler reprimands his superior officer for the behavior of S.S. troops is good, too. Composer Benjamin Frankel provides an atmospheric score, and lenser Jack Hildyard makes it look like an extravaganza.

I saw this movie with my father, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. It is fair representation of the battle, although fictionalized.
There are a lot of tank scenes and they even include the famous "Nuts" reply to surrender to the Germans, by Gen.McAuliffe.

cannot honestly remember if this was one of the thousand flicks my AP US history teacher showed us...

Maj. Wolenski:Where are you going?
1st Cook: To the shelter.
Maj. Wolenski: Grab your rifles and come with me.
1st Cook: But we're cooks!
Maj. Wolenski: Lunch is over! Grab your rifles!

A movie that could have been better if it were not fictionalized and thus not historically accurate.

Personally, I thought it was a good war movie, but had a big problem with the fictional liberties it took with the movie's climax with the fuel dump. They made it look like that sequence was the difference in the allies winning and losing the battle, which is complete garbage.

Great war flick showing another side the german forces. If you enjoy tank battles like I do...this is the one. Telly Savales turns in a nice performance.

like most old war movies, it drags with artificial suspense. however some of the action scenes are quite impressive for the time

good accurate movie on the accounts of what happened. holly wood could learn about making war movies from this.

One of my all time favorite war films about one of my all time favorite battles. Robert Shaw is the star,in my opinion. His performance steals the movie.

It's a war film from the 60's. That is, nothing *terribly* special, although it does boast a few epic tank battles. Also a fine performance by Robert Shaw.

The contrast between Henry Fonda and Telly Savalas' roles make the movie. This is exciting. We almost lose!

While flawed, I love this movie

The plot of this war epic is coherent and engaging without succumbing to simplicity. The landscapes, from snowy forests to desert dunes, are beautifully-filmed. The sets--especially the town of Ambleve, which I was surprised to learn was constructed--are convincing. The characters, whether German or American, officer or enlisted man, all pop without straying too often or too completely into war movie archetypes. Telly Savalas and Robert Shaw are particularly effective at conveying a range of motivations and emotions. This is the best WWII movie since "The Longest Day" (1962), also directed by Ken Annakin.

Great War Movie ; Very Realistic