Watching LONGEST DAY as 6 June approaches

[John Sukey]

People like us tend to ruin these movies for other folks, ie;
Those buttons are wrong
That web equipmwnt is wrong
They NEVER had those rifles

My contribution
Chard and Bromhead were using revolvers that didn't exsist until 1915
It was NOT a Welsh regiment at the time, though there were several Welsh soldiers in it
If they were singing "Men of Harlech" it would NOT have been in english
Sgt major Bourne was known as "the Kid" and he certainly would not have beem old enough to have grown those whiskers
The parson actualy helped build the defences but he had a wife and several children so his leaving before the attack is quite understadable
The soldier shown as a drunk was actualy a teetotlar and a good soldier
Then there was the "Blue Max"
They used the Irish arny for the battle scenes and to play the germans they only changed helmets! All the rest of their equipment was British, uniforms, rifles.
Not to mention the experimental fighter that Stachel was killed in at the end, was a FRENCH Morane from the 1930's

[Griff Murphey]

How about the 1970's ships they hammered in PEARL HARBOR... Plus, the rusty candy stripe control tower at Hickam, which was then a brand new facility.

I could live with the M48 Tiger Tanks in PATTON because it was such a damn good movie... And of course AT-6s have not only played "Jap Zeroes" but P-47s in PATTON and even RAF Typhoons in BRIDGE TOO FAR. BTF took a few shortcuts but they rounded up a lot of good hardware, too.

Have to agree the No. 4's in Blue Max were possibly the most egregious cheapskate ersatz war guns ever faked by Hollywood, unless we want to get into the Myriad Winchester 94's and 92's that armed nearly every cavalry blue coat in the Indian War flicks.

[Rick the Librarian]

Unfortunately, there are a number of war movies today that get (most) of the equipment right, but are totally lousy. If I had to choose between "Tora, Tora, Tora" from 1970s with some of the equipment, and that travesty they called "Pearl Harbor", made about 12 years, ago, the choice is not difficult. "Tora", every time!

[Guamsst]

We like to think they were hindered by the lack of CGI and make excuses for them. But, a Late war or post war sight on a rifle or a wrong emblem on a button is a far cry from some of the stuff they did. What bugs me is that had Ed Wood Jr. made a war movie where each side used the same tanks and they spliced in stock footage, he would be made fun of for his incompetence....and he was, for exactly the same crap that big studios, big directors and big actors are forgiven for.

And Pearl Harbor was sad, just so damned sad....seemed like it was based on a short story by a 10yr old girl. A few great aspects were portrayed well, but REALLY? I bought it (used) based on a few scenes and some of the equipment as modeling references....and haven't been able to bring myself to watch it again.

When Trumpets Fade, Beneath Hill 60, The Greatest Raid, many good stories go unnoticed due to lack of budget.