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| Director: Ken Annakin
Actors: Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan, Dana Andrews, George Montgomery
Studio: Warner Home Video
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $1.48
You Save: $13.50 (90%)
New (7) Used (35) Collectible (8) from $1.48
Rating:  138 reviews
Sales Rank: 1759
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), German (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 167 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6300268748
UPC: 085391108634
EAN: 9786300268746
ASIN: 6300268748
Theatrical Release Date: December 16, 1965
Release Date: April 1, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 138
 A very watchable big battle spectacle. May 5, 2005
Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
I originally saw The Battle of the Bulge at Cinerama when it was released in the 1960s. The DVD just became available, and I must say that I have enjoyed it thoroughly. This is a great World War II battle spectacle, with good acting from Telly Sevalas, Henry Fonda, and others.
This was a pretty high budget film, and it shows. The sets and tanks are very realistic, and the German Panzer brigades look real. The battle scenes are fairly realistic, although as a former tank commander myself, I could spot a few inaccuracies (World War 2 tanks almost never fired their guns on the move--they were not gyro-stabilized and thus could not hit anything if the tanks were moving). No matter, the battle scenes were very enjoyable and very well done.
The storyline is only roughly accurate, and departs significantly from the historical facts of the real Battle of the Bulge. This is unfortunate, as the real story, with General Patton wheeling three divisions 90 degrees to head north and relieve the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, is an even more heroic story of American arms than this story is. Nevertheless, this film is a fine story and very good entertainment.
This is a big Hollywood spectacle that was designed to be solid entertainment, and it succeeds. The DVD is an excellent value, with very good Dolby sound and crisp, bright colors. It looked and sounded terrific on my home theater system. Enjoy.
WW II Action Drama of the 1944 Ardennes Counter-Offensive May 19, 2005
D. Blackdeer (Kansas)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
Warner Brother's 1965 epic war movie that portrays the German Ardennes Counter-Offensive in December of 1944 during WWII. "Battle of the Bulge" depicts Adolf Hitler's gamble that committed three German armies to attack west to Antwerp, Belgium, and halt the Allies to force a negotiation for peace. Producer Milton Sperling and Director Ken Annakin created a movie of grand scale, but apparently chose big-screen action over historical precision to maximize box office revenue. Long relegated to infrequent television play and a chopped video tape edition, it returns on DVD restored for movie fans who like tanks and a screenplay that borders on camp by contemporary standards.
The movie depicts this historic battle through several fictional characters that eventually meet in a climatic battle that seals the Germans' fate. Henry Fonda is Lieutenant Colonel Dan Kiley, an American intelligence officer whose warnings of the coming attack fall on deaf ears. Robert Shaw is Colonel Hessler, the charismatic German Panzer (tank) commander who leads the armor spearhead towards Belgium. Charles Bronson is Major Wolinski, a tough American commander fighting the German onslaught to the last man. Telly Savalas is Sergeant Guffy, a jaded American tanker who is in the thick of the battle facing superior German tanks that relegate his to a tin can. James MacArther is Lieutenant Weaver, a slack infantry leader who survives a massacre of Allied prisoners by German soldiers. Sperling and Annakin appear to have chosen this simpler screenplay to create a few heroes who fight to overcome a seemingly invincible villain-forgoing a complex storyline as used in 20th Century Fox's 1962 "Longest Day." It works OK, certainly not on the level of "Band of Brothers," and lends a somewhat campy appeal for this 1960's action flick.
The movie does portray actual events with German paratroopers disguised as American soldiers who disrupt Allied operations, the Malmedy Massacre, and the siege of Bastogne. Their depictions contain a lot of artistic manipulation, and the relatively simple storyline faults the German defeat to depleted gasoline reserves-setting the stage for a climatic battle when Kiley, Guffy, and Weaver find themselves face-to-face with Hessler at a gasoline dump. Another gross oversight is a massive tank battle in the latter part of the movie that was apparently filmed during the spring-summer season in Spain-deplete of snow.
As long as viewers don't mind these faults-this is an entertaining movie. The M24 Chafee and M47 Patton tanks rented from the Spanish Army serve well as facsimiles for American Sherman and German Tiger tanks, and the live sets look great on the wide screen. Robert Shaw is the most charismatic in this feature and the Panzerlied chorus near the beginning of the movie is rousing.
I've always enjoyed this movie and I'm pleased with the DVD edition's restored imagery and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, particularly the restoration of footage that I've not seen in years.
 A disgusting disgrace September 13, 2001
Bryan R. Peifer (Ohio)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
When I was 6 years old and living in Germany on an air force base our family went to see this movie. Of course at that time I loved it, because the WWII infantry men were my hero's. I'm now 42 and a student of WWII history and last night had the embarrassment of viewing the movie and had a good laugh. Like the M48s (?) used for the German Panzer divisions, or what about the "desert" scenes. If anyone has ever read anything on the Battle of the Bulge they will realize that this was the coldest and snowiest winter since anyone could remember. My standard in judging a war movie is always taking into account what year the movie was made and the technology of the time. That's why I could excuse the pyrotechnics and other "realistic's" (excuse the term), but this movie was cheesy to the core. I'm actually surprised Henry Fonda even considered acting in this movie.
Cheap and Unrealistic July 27, 2004
Octavius (United States)
11 out of 23 found this review helpful
Terrible dramatization of the Battle of the Bulge: the 1944 German winter offensive in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. Not only is virtually every character and event in the film fictional, the film completely omits various important historical facts to suit its distorted plot.
Although the Germans were running very low on fuel supplies by 1944, the main purpose of the offensive was to separate the extended and delapidated US frontlines in Belgium from their supplies and reinforcements in hope that the Allies would then sue for peace. It was a very far-fetched plan, but Hitler wasn't known for his military genius. The film is correct in showing that the winter weather made air operations impossible and, that US troops were horribly overextended. The film also includes the Malmedy massacre, German special forces dressing up as GIs to foul up logistics, and the famous defense of Bastogne. The film is completely off as to everything else. The Germans weren't heading for a fuel depot nor did they burn in their tanks in an effort to seize it. There was no Colonel Hessler in charge of the SS Panzer division: it was Colonel Joachim Peiper who had that role and he wasn't a standard Wermacht officer. The film completely omits the role of General Patton in this campaign and instead focuses on a fictional and totally unbelievable character played by Henry Fonda. Finally, the film makers do a great job at showing the audience how Germans drove American Vietnam-era tanks instead of Panzers: tanks that are shown fighting in the dry and hot deserts of Southern Spain instead of the dense snow-covered forests of Belgium.
A very bad movie that has all the qualities of a cheap and hurried film. The acting is mediocre and the story almost complete fantasy. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a good movie made on this particular battle: I hope one is made at some point soon to divert audiences away from this poor substitute.
 A good transfer May 11, 2005
Hal Twain
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I will not review the movie but the DVD. It's in Widescreen. No scenes have been cut. Every minute of the movie is on this DVD. It has the overture, intermission & exit music. I saw no pops or lines in the picture. The sound & pitcure quality of this 60s movie is as good as any DVD I have. I like the movie & wish all old movies on DVD were as well done as this DVD.
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