cerveloguy wrote:
JSA wrote:
racin_rusty wrote:
I've absolutely watched the longest day, it is not however representative of typical American movies.
You're kidding, right??? Ok, let look at American movies re D Day.
1. Saving Private Ryan (1998) - Not really about D Day, but there is the opening scene during which we hear mention of British troops. The sole focus is on Omaha beach, for which the Americans were responsible. So, you cannot knock this movie.
2. The Longest Day (1962) - Discussed above.
3. Where Eagles Dare (1968) - Staring Clint Eastwood. Focuses on a British commando unit rescuing a US General with detailed knowledge of the Normandy invasion. It focuses on the British troops.
4. Eye of the Needle (1981) - Staring Donald Sutherland. Sutherland is a German spy in London. The story focuses on a Royal Air Force Pilot and his wife. So, again, the focus is on British troops.
5. The Americanization of Emily (1964) - Staring James Garner and Julie Andrews. Set in London, Garner falls in love with Englishwoman Andrews who has a brother fighting WWII. Most of the military in the movie are British.
We can throw in Patton and Ike, both of which heavily feature British soldiers.
Then we have The Great Escape and The Dirty Dozen, both of which feature a number of Brits.
Not to piss off the Forge, but the big heroes on film are always the stars and stripes boys. The Brits are usually sideline characters in these movies. Love you guys to death, but you sure love to blow your own horn even if its sometimes a distortion of facts. There is always the Hollywood version and then what really happened. Even on "Bridge on the River Kwai" William Holden played a major character despite the fact that there were no Americans in the Burma prison camps.
But to regress - The Canadians took Juno Beach which was then the second heaviest defended beach after Omaha and pushed into France the furthest of any troops by the 2nd day. That continued and Canada should have lead the parade into Paris as our troops had advanced the furthest but were ordered to hold back and let the USA go in first for reasons of politics. And in the "Longest Day", Canadian troops are not even fucking mentioned. But we Canucks are just to polite to make an issue of it. :-)
The Australians and New Zealanders played a significant role also, especially in the Pacific and how much credit does Hollywood ever give them?
Approximately Zero.
And while we're at it. How often is Australian involvement in Vietnam mentioned? What about the Commonwealth's involvement in Korea. FFS The PPCLI even won a Presidential citation there while every US unit around them ran away.
Last edited by:
racin_rusty: Jul 23, 17 18:30