The battle of the bulge was so historically inaccurate. Battle of the bulge is an american classic war movie, it was made in spain and hit the. Battle of the bulge is a 1965 american widescreen epic war film produced in spain, directed by. This film was a joke and not historically accurate.
Along the way, we encounter a number of characters including a green lieutenant in his first battle, the grizzled american tank commander who is worried about his black market operation and a group of german soldiers posing as american mps. Guffy telly savalas is attempting to slow the panzer division, but guffys tanks inadequate guns and thin armor make their defensive effort futile, forcing the american tanks to retreat. The filmmakers attempted to condense the ardennes counteroffensive, a world war ii battle that stretched across parts of germany, belgium and luxembourg and lasted nearly a. It stars henry fonda leading a large cast of fictional characters though fondas lt. Is the film the battle of the bulge starring henry fonda. The tank that fired wasnt even in the first row of the column. The dialogue in the movie is laughable and so is the acting.
Yet, at the very beginning of the initial advancement of the columns 49min. The battle of the bulge was so historically inaccurate, that. Peiper was a ruthless but extremely effective officer who had learnt his trade in death on the russian front. Robert shaw 19271978 battle of the bulge 1965 youtube. There is no trace of snow at all in the films major tank battle scene, and some battle scenes were fought in flat and bare territory, unlike the mountainous, forested and grassy nature of the ardennes.
As was customary for world war ii films of the time, this film features an allstar cast including henry fonda, telly savalas, charles bronson, and robert shaw the production was filmed in spain, which provided a large amount of armor and. A german war room tracks the progress of the tank commander, col. Martin hessler, a ruthless german panzer leader that loves a good war anywhere. Eisenhower and others veterans and critics both criticized virtually everything about the film, from its setting to its equipment to its timeline. Battle of the bulge internet movie firearms database. Eisenhower came out of retirement to denounce the film as historically inaccurate. The start is mostly henry fonda investigating the planned attack with a good side story of german col. Panzerlied with subtitles the german tank song youtube. View of german soldiers aboard a jagdpanzer iv70 tank destroyer from the 12th ss panzer division during the battle of the bulge starting with the invasion of sicily in july of 1943, and culminating in the june 6, 1944 dday invasion of normandy, allied forces took the fight to the axis powers in many locations across western europe. Tank that helped end battle of the bulge takes place in. Robert shaws character is based on kampfgruppe jochim peiper of 1st ss leibstandart adolph hitler, panzer division.
This product can expose you to some chemicals, which is known to the state of california to cause for more information, go to. In the film battle of the bulge, you can see a scene in. He could be at once supremely ruthless but also very fairminded, but in a cruel manner. He was chosen by generaloberst kohler to lead the armored spearhead that started the famous battle of the bulge using a group of newly built king tigers. The battle of the bulge is an enduringly popular american war movie. German tank commander in movie battle of the bulge. In addition to being unlike the real tiger and sherman tanks used in battle, the newer korean warera tanks employed arent even the appropriate color. Early in the movie, henry fondas character visits the up front front. A german tank commander is assigned to lead a surprise counterattack against allied forces as part of a last ditch. Hessler, seeing how young almost all of his tank commanders. A similar incident happened during the battle of the bulge. Colonel daniel kiley, a maverick american intelligence officer whose warnings of an impending largescale german attack are ignored by army brass. Peiper survived the battle and the war and although he was initially sentenced to death for his part in the malmedy massacre his sentence was commuted. When colonel hessler and conrad share a glass of wine prior to meeting the tank commanders, there is.
Twice the german grenadiers got close enough to pitch grenades. The battle of the bulge was a ground engagement in europe. A german tank commander is assigned to lead a surprise counterattack against allied forces as part of a lastditch. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Wolenski charles bronson commands a frontline position. And it is a cruel deception to describe the climax of the battle of the bulge as a ranging of german tanks against americans across a broad plain in the manner of a western movie cavalryand. Martin hessler, the ruthless commanding officer of a german panzer unit at the front. Not a single tiger tank in this film battle of the.
Battle of the bulge is a 1965 war movie about the famous world war ii battle of the same name, directed by ken annakin henry fonda as lt. The commanders were even sending reports back to headquarters confirming that no enemy opposition encountered. Army m36 jackson tank destroyers preparing to engage german armour near werbomont, belgium, during the battle of the bulge, december 20, 1944. From patton to fury, tank films that roll data desk.
The tank destroyer commander tracked his gun on the passing targets, jumped up and down on the firing treadle, swore volubly, and banged the firing mechanism with a hammer but to no avail. Asked in world war 2, germany in ww2, battle of the bulge. Pattons third army relieved bastogne on the 26th, and on january 3, 1945, the u. The battle of the bulge was primarily a tank battle, and historians find the tanks in. The 1965 movie the battle of the bulge is generally considered by war movie. German king tiger tanks in this movie are actually american m47 patton. Allied officers and a german tank commander have a tactical showdown in the ardennes forest, december 1944. How historically accurate is the movie the battle of the bulge. Brad pitt, shia labeouf and logan lerman star in the film directed by david. The battle of the bulge was a major world war ii german offensive in 1944. Patton was one of the first films to show tanks in combat. American soldiers of the 117th infantry regiment, tennessee national guard, part of the 30th infantry division, move past a destroyed american m5a1 stuart tank on their march to recapture the town of st.
They used m24 light chaffee tanks to represent our m4 medium sherman tanks and m47 patton tanks to represent the tiger ii tanks. Guffy telly savalas is a tank commander who is more concerned with wheeling and dealing. Battle of the bulge 1965 movie mistakes, goofs and bloopers. Oberst martin hessler was a panzer division commander during world war ii. Battle of the bulge, a 2012 ios historical wargame this disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title battle of the bulge. The film was made to be viewed on a curved cinerama screen using three projectors. Battle of the bulge 1965 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. In the movie, as i recall robert shaw hesslers orderly, conrad prior to this scene had been pointing out the staggering loses the germans had been taking since the start of the war.
Near the end an officer states that a german unit was within five miles of the meuse river. The 1965 movie the battle of the bulge is generally considered by war movie buffs to be the most inaccurate war movie ever made. Hitler believed that the massive tiger tanks and the v1 and v2 rockets could turn the. Certainly not a documentary, this film travels pretty far from the actual historical recountings of the famed battle. The battle of the bulge was primarily a tank battle, and historians find the tanks in the movie laughably inaccurate. Eisenhower ceding temporary command of two american armies to british. Tank that helped end battle of the bulge takes place in army history. Awakened by the noise of german tanks, wolenski and his. If you are looking for a historical movie to learn more about operation autumn mist battle of the bulge then skip this movie but if you like wwii movies and tank battles then this is a good watch.
Army europe public affairs office february 25, 2009. Battle of the bulge 10 historically inaccurate movies. Many historians have argued that the nazi attack on the. The original black panthers fought in the 761st tank. German tank commander in movie battle of the bulge actors name trivia question questions answer answers. Battle of the bulge had its world premiere on december 16, 1965, the 21st anniversary of the titular battle, at the pacific cinerama dome theatre in hollywood, california. Tiger tanks and panther tanks were used in the battle of the bulge by the germans. Panzerlied battle of the bulge with english intro youtube. Battle of the bulge is the 1965 world war ii film that focuses on the events of the famous battle that occurred during the german winter offensive of 1944. Martin hessler oberst martin hessler was a panzer division commander during world war ii. That is exactly what happened in 1965 when the movie the battle of the bulge was released, but instead of a major, the supreme allied commander in europe and 34 th president of the united states, dwight d. Martin hessler shaw, a fictional panzer tank commander loosely based on. Eisenhower came out of retirement to denounce the movie. This 65 war movie was so bad that eisenhower came out of.
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