10 Most Ambitious War Films Ever Made

Finally, we arrive at the mother of all epic war dramas, 1962's The Longest Day. If you want to get a good idea of the scope of this film, just look up the cast list. You can break the cast list into four divisions, American, British, French, and German. And each of these sub-divided cast lists consists of dozens of people. Or we can just talk about the film's major stars. You know, the A-listers. Ok, let's do that real quick.

First, a deep breath...

John Wayne, Kenneth More, Richard Todd, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Steve Forrest, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Peter Lawford, Eddie Albert, Jeffrey Hunter, Stuart Whitman, Tom Tryon, Rod Steiger, Leo Genn, Gert Fröbe, Irina Demick, Bourvil, Curd Jürgens, George Segal, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka, and some woman who went by Arletty.

Why the huge cast? Well, the film endeavors to portray the events of the Invasion of France, like all of it, across the entire continent. It's filmed in a docudrama style and employed several consultants from both sides of the war who participated in the D-Day landings.

Do we want to play the extras game? Sure, because this movie required 23,000 soldiers! These were supplied by the US, British, and French. With a 10 million dollar budget, this was the second most expensive black and white film ever made. It was only beaten out by Schindler's List. With all that money and resources, how well did The Longest Day depict its historical events?

Reportedly, Dwight D. Eisenhower walked out of the film after only a few minutes because he was so frustrated by inaccuracies. So, there you have it.