D-Day 6.6.1944 (2004 TV Movie) User Reviews (5)

Small-scale production tells large-scale story

[Libretio · 5/10 · 3 March 2005]

D-DAY 6.6.1944

Aspect ratio: 1.78:1

Sound format: Dolby Stereo

The BBC's contribution to an international 60th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings takes most of its cues from the success of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) and BAND OF BROTHERS (2001), though Richard Dale's ambitious film rings the changes by combining documentary interviews with veterans of the conflict and dramatized reconstructions of events surrounding the Normandy landings. Andrew Bampfield's script emphasizes the petty bureaucracy which frustrated the efforts of front-line Germans, all of whom anticipated a large-scale invasion but were unable to equip themselves against such an eventuality because of Hitler's obsession with the ongoing conflict in Russia. Much is also made of a clever subterfuge in which the Allies managed to convince German authorities that the initial D-Day landings were little more than a diversion, the precursor of a much larger invasion.

The testimony of real-life survivors adds poignancy to the drama, especially during the film's closing stretch, when the toll on all sides becomes vividly clear. Few of the battle scenes are as visceral as those depicted in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, but Dale and his production team work small miracles on a tenth of that film's budget, merging CGI and in-camera effects with near-seamless integrity. The documentary footage is directed by Kim Bour, Pamela Gordon and Sally Weale.

(English, German and French soundtrack)

Poignant and breathtaking

[jvdesuit1 · 9/10 · 22 May 2014]

I find the other reviews very mild in their appraisal of this documentary. What were they waiting for? A Cecil B. De Mille production? A Spielberg one full of blood to make it as gore as possible?

I think this documentary as always all the BBC produces,gave a just balance between realism and testimonies of people who actually were part of the event.Moreover it can be viewed by a public of all ages and when I write this I think of the younger generations who were born well after the end of the war and who are moaning and always complaining for their so difficult life! My God they are lucky and do not realize it.

When you see in the movie what was left of Caen after the invasion, you understand what it was.

When you listen to those veterans who were adolescent when thrown into this nightmare, you wonder how you can sleep again after what you went through.

That's what makes this film a great documentary. No fiction, no stupid love affair mixed in the middle of the script to satisfy the sexual appetite of some viewers. This is real, even if some scenes are taken from different great movies by Spielberg or others.

I watched it, and I wept many times admiring the courage of those men facing the inevitable when they landed on the beaches. I'm 72 and being born in Cairo, I remember our anguish at the time of the Battle of El Alamein, I was just only one year old but I clearly remember how frightened I was by the light of the aerial defense in the sky from my bedroom. And I consider myself to be a lucky one as we never really suffered from the war in Egypt. Thanks, Monty!

Yes this is a very good documentary to be showed regularly so that no one should forget what can happen when extremists whether from the right or the left wing take power.

D-DAY 6.6.44 a Semi Documentary Movies

[pura-1 · 24 February 2005]

D-DAY, the greatest and famous military invasion during the World War II, is still a great story to tell. There's so many movies, documentary, literature, have been made to honor the men and women who sacrifice their life, for the name of freedom. D-Day tells the epic story of the preparation and execution of the Allied invasion of Normandy. It tells the story of the defense of the Western Front by the forces of the German Empire, and of the complex and deadly secret war fought by the men and women of France and mainland Europe. D-Day brings to life the dramatic and astounding tales of courage and sacrifice, joy and despair, love and betrayal.

D-DAY 6.6.44 brilliantly produced By Richard Dale (The Human Body, Walking with Cavemen, Teachers). Narrated by Ian Holmes, this semi documentary movies, trying to dramatic the preparations, and the execution itself. If you see this set of DVD, it will remain you the format of "Band of Brothers" mini series. There are stories that tell by a few old man/woman, which actually lived as a real actor on the D-DAY.

The war scene is good enough, if you don't compare them with "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers", to describe and tells what happened on the hours of the D-DAY. The actors are really well chosen, e.g Rommel actors is very look a like the real person.

Maybe a little cons for the story is, it's only mention the landing of the troopers at the beaches, and lack of story which paratroopers who parachutes, and dramatically scattered on landing, in all over the Normandy area, where no one has the right point landing at the early morning of D-DAY. The portion for this story is very little, which only mentioned the British 9th parachutes regiment. There're no story about the famous US 101 Airbourne paratrooper landing.

But above the all, if you a World War II histories lovers, this DVD set is a must to you. This is another well done D-DAY story.

unjustly forgotten production,very watchable.

[ib011f9545i · 8/10 · 8 May 2020]

This was produced by the BBC/Discovery channel and a French company,so it must have been shown around the world but only 4 reviews on IMDB? I don't understand why this production is not better known or more respected. Perhaps the reason for its obscurity is Saving Private Ryan which people think is all they need to watch about D Day? But this is a good production,good acting by non star character actors,good script and history seems sound. It is not a Hollywood film,so it does not just cover the American war effort. I think this is still available on dvd so check it out,you will be educated and entertained.

Redeemed by Interviews

[YohjiArmstrong · 3 May 2011]

D-DAY 6.6.44 is a big-budget docu-drama by the BBC. The film mixes archive, dramatic scenes and interviews to tell the story of the Normandy Landings. There are two great problems with this docu-drama. The first is that it isn't very good. The second is that the history on display is very thin.

Docu-dramas are extremely difficult to get right. The dramatic scenes usually suffer from a paucity of money whilst the documentary aspect usually ends up being rather basic. This is precisely what happens here. The CGI is cheap and often quite obvious. The actors are mostly hammy and uniformly fail to get the small details about clothes, hair and voice right. The history is an extremely basic narrative that ignores the last two decades of academic research in favour of highlighting a few moments (Omaha, Merville, Operation Tiger) in order to dramatise them. The dramatic scenes are generally uninteresting, acting as expensive wallpaper.

The problem is that decent drama builds up character and narrative. A docu- drama like this has to juggle numerous narratives and lacks the time to really build up characters to make them compelling. A lack of cash means that the technical aspects also fail to be compelling. So the docu-drama fails dramatically against the hyper- technical combat scenes of BAND OF BROTHERS or the emotional impact of a film like ATTACK. Yet at the same time it lacks the historical knowledge to be a decent documentary. Instead it becomes an over-long hodge-podge. The only redeeming factor are the interviews, several of which are excellent. The researchers also deserve credit for finding a number of rare interviewees.

P.S. If you want how a docu-drama should be made then have a look at Peter Watkin's THE WAR GAME.