Hessler seems loosely based (there’s that description again) on the real-life Nazi Joachim Peiper. His suspicions are dismissed by General Grey (Robert Ryan) and the Americans are caught unprepared when Hessler and his tank division hit the Allied lines. During an overhead recon flight, Kiley noticed German tanks in hiding which leads him to believe the Germans are planning an attack. The Americans believe the Germans are undermanned and out of resources and incapable of a worthwhile offensive, everyone except Lieutenant Colonel Kiley (Henry Fonda). His mission is to slam into and push back the Allied lines which are slowly hemming the Germans in. The film’s centerpiece seems to be Colonel Hessler (Robert Shaw), a German officer put in charge of a large group of new King Tiger tanks. Some of the attempts work more than others. That said, the movie does attempt to capture elements from the real 50 day battle. Perhaps it could have chosen a different title for the film, but historical accuracy doesn’t seem to be a goal. This is something some people took issue with but I don’t think the movie ever pretends to be something it’s not. It’s clearly intended to be a drama set during wartime. The film doesn’t depict any particular real-life figure during the war. It could be better described as loosely based on events surrounding the bloody, costly, and complicated battle. “Battle of the Bulge” is the telling of the German’s last-ditch offensive through the heavily forested mountain regions of Belgium in the later days of World War 2… at least the title of the film suggests that. There certainly is some merit to these and other criticisms, but I found the movie to be a solid war picture despite it’s overly long running time. Others griped about it’s overly talky and bloated script. Some criticized the film for it’s obvious historical inaccuracies. It was met with a wide range of opinions, mostly positive but plenty of negative. “Battle of the Bulge” (the movie) has an interesting history. Over the Memorial Day weekend I had the opportunity to finally catch up with the entire film. Ken Annakin’s “Battle of the Bulge” from 1965 is another solid entry into the field of War World 2 films.
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