They used m24 light chaffee tanks to represent our m4 medium sherman tanks and m47 patton tanks to represent the tiger ii tanks. Today is the anniversary of the battle of the buldge. Armored fighting vehicles in the bulge panzerblitz. It was not an open tank battle in clear weather that changed the fate of the ardennes battle. It took place in the ardennes forest in france, luxembourg and belgium and lasted from december 16, 1944 to january 25, 1945. The director of the movie was ken annakin and it was released on the 21st anniversary of the battle in 1965. The battle of the bulge, also known as the ardennes offensive, was germanys last great tank offensive in world war ii and the largest combat action in us military history.
Hitler believed that the massive tiger tanks and the v1 and v2 rockets could turn the. This tank gunner had a frontrow seat to the battle of the bulge. The battle of the bulge took place in december 1944, after adolf hitler launched a surprise blitzkrieg against allied forces in northwest europe. 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. Battle of the bulge is a 1965 american widescreen epic war film produced in spain, directed by ken annakin, and starring henry fonda, robert shaw, telly savalas, robert ryan, dana andrews, and charles bronson.
The original screenplay was based on the work of john melson, but his original work was rewritten by other screenwriters. Battle of the bulge 10 historically inaccurate movies. Tiger tanks and panther tanks were used in the battle of the bulge by the germans. Heres what it looked like when gis battled two enemiesthe germans and a savage winterto recover belgian ground lost to blitzkrieg. Tank battle of battle of the bulge songerika no vocals. The dialogue in the movie is laughable and so is the acting. The battle of the bulge was primarily a tank battle, and historians find the tanks in the movie laughably inaccurate. The 1965 movie the battle of the bulge is generally considered by war. This movie and tell highly fictionalized but entertaining version of the brave men that fought to stop the nazi winter attack. Plan your trip to the ardennes in belgium and luxembourg to visit all these tanks. Battle of the bulge is an american classic war movie, it was made in spain and hit the screens in 1965. This film was a joke and not historically accurate. The ghost armys sonic illusions, in this case, were so convincing that they fooled axis sally, the radio propagandist, into reporting that an entire allied division was preparing for battle in a.
Overview of battle of the bulge, 1965, directed by ken annakin, with henry fonda, robert shaw, robert ryan, at turner classic movies. At the end, since the germans failed to procure the allied fuel, the germans had to simply abandon their tanks and walk back to germany. Dec, 2015 todays movie is the second of two that pay tribute to the americans that fought in the battle of bulge december 16 25, 1944, 71 years ago this month. They were doing this in good order, marching in a column along a road. The battle of the bulge, 194445, american war correspondent larry newman was shown such maps by.
Battle of the bulge internet movie firearms database guns. The battle of the bulge shows this conflict from the perspective of an american intelligence officer as well as from a german panzer commander. Jan 17, 2019 it is rare to see a cinematic amalgamation of 1940s war film lingo, 1980s action movie heroics, and the historical reality of one of the most costly battles in world history. I just finished watching the 1960s movie the battle of the bulge. The battle of the bulge took place entirely in the ardennes forest. Eisenhower came out of retirement to denounce the film as historically inaccurate. Battle of the bulge is an american classic war movie, it was made in spain and. 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. Battle of the bulge 1965 film, an american widescreen epic war film. Beautifully shot war movie with an allstar cast and great battle scenes. Early in the movie, henry fondas character visits the up front front. Battle of the bulge internet movie firearms database. Not a single tiger tank in this film battle of the. Hitlers alternate scenarios, an alternate history anthology.
Army europe public affairs office february 25, 2009. Soldiers of the us army huddle around a campfire in the bitter belgian winter during the battle of the bulge battle of the bulge. Errors in movie battle of the bulge henry fonda version. The 1965 movie the battle of the bulge is generally considered by war movie buffs to be the most inaccurate war movie ever made.
Never mind that kampgruppe pieper, which hesslers command is loosely based on, actually used mark iv and panther tanks. On january 16, 1945, the battle ended as the allies took control of the line and eliminated the bulge. Mar 28, 2020 this tank gunner had a frontrow seat to the battle of the bulge. Improving weather which allowed the american planes to attack german tanks. Apr 07, 2020 artillery, tanks, and infantry troops that came to reinforce the allied forces signified the failure of hitlers counteroffensive attack. The working title of columbias movie was 16th of december. Awakened by the noise of german tanks, wolenski and his. The few museum examples wouldnt be released for movie work, and certainly where, some 20 years after the war, would one find a brigades worth of running tiger ii tanks. This is a common problem in depicting german tanks. The feature was filmed in ultra panavision 70 and exhibited in 70 mm cinerama. Eisenhower came out of retirement to denounce the movie battle.
The battle of the bulge was so historically inaccurate. The starring cast included charles bronson, telly savalas, henry fonda, robert shaw, dana andrews, and robert ryan. It stars henry fonda leading a large cast of fictional characters though fondas lt. I have wanted to do a short story on the psyop of the battle of the bulge for a few years. Or perhaps you know where the producers of battle of the bulge could have found a mass of konigstiger tanks and sd. Now in a battle that could decide the outcome of the war, victory or defeat depends on fuel, without which the german tanks are powerlessand the fate of the world hangs on the outcome of one small, determined fight for a single fuel depot. The german tiger tanks and american sherman tanks were actually. The film was made to be viewed on a curved cinerama screen using three projectors. Tank that helped end battle of the bulge takes place in.
Battle of the bulge is a 1965 american widescreen epic war film produced in spain, directed by. Wunderland, but it ultimately impresses as a halfbaked film school project over a completely realized movie. Panzerlied with subtitles the german tank song youtube. The myth that german tanks ran on diesel is probably the result of karl malden, playing general omar bradley erroneously saying so in patton. This hodgepodge of lightly connected scenes is set against the onset of the battle of the bulge and follows a mishmash of fictional characters. I have a collection of the movie in 3 video formats, like vhs, vcd and dvd. The battle of the bulge was so historically inaccurate, that.
Hollywood loves to make movies about adolf hitlers last desperate bid to oust american soldiers dug into the snowswept ardennes as the last year of world war ii approached in 1945. 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. Joachim peipers battle group smashed into the american tanks and tank. Tank that helped end battle of the bulge takes place in army history. Battle of the bulge 1965 movie mistakes, goofs and bloopers. Not a single tiger tank in this film battle of the bulge. The battle of the bulge is an enduringly popular american war movie. Battle of the bulge 1965 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. 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. Actually, the german offensive was stopped by three factors. Dec 22, 2010 a scene from a panzer tank attack in this movie. To prevent this occurrence, hitler orders an all out offensive to retake french territory and capture the major port city of antwerp.
Yet another movie made not too long after ww2 that only has allied tanks as a source for tanks. Problem is, most of the tanks are american m47 patton tanks that were not. Locations of restored and surviving battle of the bulge 1944 tanks. The battle of the bulge was a major world war ii german offensive in 1944. 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. Tank that helped end battle of the bulge takes place in army. However, we really dont know exactly what leaflets were specifically dropped during that battle and as a result there is really not a lot of product to depict in a story. Jun 07, 2011 the movie itself portrays the fight between the us and germans in 1944. That is the end of its historical accuracy, even the name is utterly wrong because the battle of the bulge was really the pattonmonty offensive that took place after the german offensive had created the bulge, which is not really covered in the movie. But the germans counterattack, pushing the american army back in a bloody offensive. German king tiger tanks in this movie are actually american m47 patton tanks, and the m4 sherman tanks are actually m24 chaffee tanks. How historically accurate is the movie the battle of the bulge. 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.
It was not hard to get swept up in the grandeur they achieved a grandeur that cannot be achieved again in any practical sense when those 10, 20, 30, 40 functioning panzer and sherman tanks are rolling by on that big ass screen. This 65 war movie was so bad that eisenhower came out of. Movie battle of the bulge page 2 axis history forum. The attempts by the germans to do so are an established historical fact about the real battle.
It said that columbia pictures had long had an epic movie in the works about the battle that had the cooperation of the defense department, as well as many of the generals who had been involved, including eisenhower and bernard l. Eisenhower came out of retirement to denounce the movie. Armored fighting vehicles in the bulge by greg moore germans by december of 1944, pz iii tanks are virtually extinct in the west, having been expended in the battles for normandy and the disaster at falaise, in which most of the panzer divisions in france were effectively destroyed in an ill conceived counterattack. 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.
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