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IKE Countdown to D-Day
HastyP
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Ontario, Canada
Member Since: April 23, 2003
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Posted: Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 11:43 PM UTC
Hey everyone saw this advertised and it looks like it has petential to be a great show.

http://www.aetv.com/tv/shows/ike/

What do you think?

HastyP
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Posted: Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 04:15 AM UTC
I think it looks pretty good from what I have seen. This time of year always makes me wish I still had cable or satellite. There are so many good movies on in honor of Memorial Day. I plan on putting in Patton and working on some armor. It's pouring outside right now, good weather to build and view a movie or two.
GSPatton
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Posted: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 12:30 PM UTC
Saw it last night. Selleck did a good job as Ike, a man under tremendous pressure trying to hold the egos of all that brass together. While planning the biggest military operation in history.

I am dissappointed at the portrayal of George Patton. He was a cartoon character! A boarish loudmouth who begs Ike not to send him home. To top it off Patton hugs Ike for letting him stay!!!

I seriously doubt George S Patton hugged anyone (except his wife) especially Ike. The scene was very unreal. As Patton leaves the meeting he boasts to his driver, "Had Ike eating out of my hand!" Can you say Bull Poop?

DeGaulle was portrayed as the pompas arse he was and even though D-Day meant the liberation of his country this Frog would not come on board unless he was leading the parade.

Other than that Ike was not a bad show.
Hollowpoint
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Posted: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 01:50 PM UTC
Gotta agree with most of GSP's "/review" -- though I thought he is being a bit generous. This flick did nothing for me.

The guy who played Patton was more like an actor playing George C. Scott portraying Patton. The dialogue in parts was almost word-for-word and inflection-by-inflection a poor copy of the movie Patton. I didn't care for the portrayal of Bradley, either. And Tom Selleck, bless his heart, is just too doggone tall to play Ike. When he goes out to talk to the paratroopers before D-Day, he looked big enough to whup any of 'em.

Overall, I just found the film to be rather flat and uninteresting -- I guess I has hoping to learn more about all the characters and the planning process.
War_Machine
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Posted: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 02:14 AM UTC
I didn't see the movie, but I did see the biography of Ike they had on Monday night, and it too mentions the incident where Patton hugged Ike for not sending him home. In fact, the story come from Ike and he tells of Patton putting his head on his shoulder like a small child saying he was sorry and giving thanks for Ike's forgiveness. Ike's account said it ended awkwardly as Patton's helmet fell off, and Patton picked it up and marched out of the room as if nothing had happened.
Such an act of contriteness seems odd for Patton, but the man was such an anachronism that actions such as this shouldn't be totally surprising.
Halfyank
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Posted: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 04:33 AM UTC
I'm fairly mixed about this movie also. It reminded me a little of one of my favorite "war movies" The Gallant Hours, starring James Cagney as Admiral Halsey in the Guadalcanal campaign. Both movies focus on the stress of command, of sending brave men to death, and on making important decisions. In this I thought Countdown to D-Day was very good. I guess I'm cursed in watching historical movies with a critical eye. Very early in the movie Sellick, as Ike, mentioned turning Paris into a soccer field. This sounded like an anachronism to me, something Ike probably wouldn't have said. He also refers to Churchill as a former infantry officer, when I believe he was cavalry. The Slapton Sands incident is brought up leaving the casual viewer to believe that DD, Duplex Drive, tanks were some kind of landing craft, not swimming tanks. Finally the scene where Ike reviews the 101st troops before the jump is well done, except that it is shown as happening on June 6th, when it couldn't have happened except on June 5th.

I also hated Gerald McRaney's portrayal of Patton. McRaney is best known for playing Major Dad on TV, and as one half of pair on Simon and Simon, also on TV. I'm sure he meant well but I think the part would have gone better to a relative unknown actor. I did think the actor who portrayed Monty looked and sounded like the general.

In short the movie was good in that it did give most viewers a glimpse of how much was risked by Ike and the other Allies and how difficult the whole operation was.