Product Description

A film that depicts the tense 90 days leading up to the d-day invasion & how dwight eisenhower against all odds brilliantly orchestrated the most important military maneuver in modern history. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 08/23/2005 Starring: Tom Selleck Gerald Mcraney Run time: 89 minutes Rating: Pg

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21504 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2004-08-31
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 89 minutes

Amazon.com
Tom Selleck gives a restrained yet powerful performance as General Dwight D. Eisenhower in Ike: Countdown to D-Day. This made-for-cable feature focuses on the solemn, brilliant but plain-speaking Ike as he fine-tunes, over 90 days, tactical and political concerns involved with the Allies' imminent D-Day invasion of Normandy, i.e., America and Britain's long-awaited joint assault against Nazi-occupied Europe. A strong cast--James Remar as General Omar Bradley, Timothy Bottoms as Ike's assistant, Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith--anchors the film's mesmerizing, blow-by-blow account of Eisenhower's leadership under the shadow of many uncertainties (predicting the weather for D-Day becomes a suspenseful refrain) and pressure from conflicting egos (Montgomery, DeGaulle, Patton). Ian Mune is a delight as a wary, darkly bemused Churchill, who encourages Ike's strategy of supreme leadership and low-key diplomacy. The script by Lionel Chetwynd (DC 9/11: Time of Crisis) captures the unbearable tension of commencing the invasion--and awaiting the results. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

on freeing "a world gone half mad"
With a marvelous and for the most part accurate script based on historical documents (though embellished with "certain composite and representative scenes and characters"), Lionel Chetwynd has written a compelling drama about General Eisenhower and the planning of the D-Day invasion, with thoughtful and well paced direction by Robert Harmon, and a superb performance by Tom Selleck, who captures Eisenhower's strength, manly charisma, and many of the subtle mannerisms reminding me of this hero of mine since youth.
The cinematography by David Gribble is wonderful, and the atmospheric score by Jeff Beal also adds much to the film.

Filmed in New Zealand in less than 3 weeks, the terrific cast is mostly from Australia and New Zealand (with exceptions like Timothy Bottoms, excellent as Eisenhower's Chief of Staff Walter Bedell Smith); stellar among them is Ian Mune who plays Churchill. Others include Bruce Phillips as General Montgomery, and George Shevtsov as Charles DeGaulle, in a scene where DeGaulle displays such arrogance towards Eisenhower that it will vex those of us who remember and honor the American blood left on French soil.

This is far from a wartime action film; it is sometimes sober and introspective, and always fascinating, with the intricacy of the planning for D-Day, and the many characters and huge egos involved, some upset by Eisenhower's insistence of being the Supreme Commander, always holding one's attention. The expectation of the massive casualties for D-Day makes one wonder how this type of operation would be viewed in today's media age, where long-term objectives are rarely considered. Eisenhower in addressing King George VI (Mick Rose) on the king's fear of expected losses says "...but if they do not offer the sacrifice of blood now, we will all pay dearly with added gallons later. So if some must die, it is in a worthy cause".

This production for the A & E Network makes perfect viewing for a day like Veteran's Day, to honor the lives of those who have died so heroically for our freedoms. Total time is 2 hours, and the main DVD "Extra" is an interesting interview with writer Chetwynd (who also produced/wrote the excellent "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis") and director Harmon; both speak of how Selleck has some of Eisenhower's admirable characteristics, and Selleck, who tells how as a non-smoker, he played a man with a 4 pack a day habit.

A WWII VET GIVES IT A THUMBS UP
Back when this movie first premiered on TV on A&E, I had the chance a couple of days later to be sitting around a Doctor's waiting room and an elderly gentleman asked if I had seen the movie. I told him I had and furthermore I was always very interested in WWII history. He was happy to hear that as he was not only a WWII vet, but had had the opportunity to meet and talk with Ike during WWII.

He was quite impressed with Tom Selleck's performance as was I. I think he captured the essence of Ike quite well as a man who was born to lead. The movie seemed historically accurate and the fact that there was so much debate over the D-Day invasion was quite fascinating. I also enjoyed James Remar as Gen. Omar Bradley. Better than average TV movie.

Surprising!
I admit that I love Tom Selleck. He was always a childhood hero of mine, "Magnum P.I." that is. Let's face it, Tom is a Man's Man. The perfect Hero. He can do light comedy, hard drama and everything in between. Tom rules.

It is only because Tom headlined this story that I was willing to watch it at all. From the first 2 minutes, I was hooked! Instead of your traditional "beginning, middle and end" the first 60 seconds of the story dumps you straight into heavy drama. There is no joking around. Thousands of allied troops are at stake and losses could reach from 80% to Total if these men get this wrong.

The acting is strong and earnest. The director uses many close shots that assist the audience in the feeling that they are also at this tiny table surrounded by smoke. You can feel the tension in the air as the intelligence and counter-intelligence reports come in.

How much do the Germans know? How many troops can we secretly move without being detected? Are all the allied nations and their respective troops on the same page here with us? Is there anything we've missed? Is the new equipment really going to perform as it should? What if it doesn't? What will happen if the weather goes bad?

These and other questions way heavily on Dwight Eisenhower as he tries to negotiate and coordinate the most massive commitment of air, sea and land troops the world had ever seen. So much could go wrong and everything hinged on minutes, not hours to turn the tide of battle.

Tom is fantastic in a role that is unlike anything he's ever done. You can feel the tension and anguish in his voice as he talks about projected allied casualties. You can feel as if you're in the room with his senior staff and even though you may know the history, this film presents the story as fresh. The acting is compelling and the story simply refuses to be put in a box. There is nothing about the elements of this story that couldn't be being played out right now in Iraq, Korea or anywhere else in the world.

This is a story of human courage in the teeth of opposition. Opposition, an enemy, that is strong enough to strike back and destroy you if you get even one part of this wrong. This is drama at it's finest, because they didn't need $100 million dollars of digital special effects to sell the story. It's ALL in the acting. I wish Hollywood would sit up and take notice.