Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20012 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-18
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English, French, German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 114 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Director William Wellman (The Big Heat) offered up this 1949 treatment of the Battle of the Bulge, which won Oscars for best screenplay and best cinematography. The film concentrates on the camaraderie and the divisions between the troops as they prepare for the big offensive. Told in a taut narrative, the men of the 101st, led by Van Johnson, wait out the winter in the Ardennes forest to confront the German army in what would be the last major offensive of World War II. The men are demoralised and trapped, with no hope of support from the Allies as they are forced to band together and defend their position. A classically assembled war drama that nevertheless manages to be both engrossing and entertaining, Battleground is a mainstay of the genre. --Robert Lane

Synopsis
"Dedicated to the battered bastards of Bastogne," this dramatic historic film directed by William Wellman tells the story of a U.S. Army division in the European theatre near the end of World War II. In a last-ditch effort to turn the tide of the war, the Germans launch a final attack that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. George Murphy, who portrays Private Ernest J. "Pop" Stazak, leads a terrific cast that also includes John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, and James Whitmore. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards and won two: one for its tight, unpredictable screenplay and one for its evocative black-and-white cinematography.

Customer Reviews

The original version of the Battle of the Bulge
This is an expertly made film from 1949 by (D) William A Wellman and (S/P)Robert Pirosh which has the feeling of a fly on the wall News Reel. It shows the Americans inabillity to give their enemy any respect in their combat skills and determination. It also shows that if the German Army had the resourses that the Allieds had they would not have lost that battle. It is equal if not superior to the 1970's version with Robert Shaw to name my best actor in the version by Ken Annakin & Axel Anderson. If you watch both one after the other you might just get a better vision of that battle. You must of course look past the post war propergander element which shows the superiority of the GI over other soldiers but when you do you can see why it recieved 2 oscars Cinematography (B&W) and best Screen play & Story. These actors come across as just your usual concripted soldiers who are now battle hardened and near fatigue you can imagine them with the 1000 yard stare

The Bloody Battle for Bastogne.
This excellent war film may seem a little dated to modern eyes, but this does not reflect the true picture. "Battleground"(49) was actually a groundbreaking film for its time. It was the first film after WW2 to portray war with gritty realism. All of the soldiers get scared at some point in the film. This is very different to the John Wayne, Errol Flynn propoganda war films a few short years before. In these and other films the US Serviceman cut a heroic figure, but "Battleground" portrays them in a much more honest fashion.

The film was directed by William Wellman who made a lot of very average pictures, although he did make two interesting Westerns in "The Ox Bow Incident"(43) and "Yellow Sky"(48). The script was written by Robert Pirosh who based it on his experiences at "The Battle of the Bulge", where the Germans launched a massive counter attack in the Ardennes Forest. The film starred Van Johnson and John Hodiak.

The story follows the lives of a platoon of the famous American 101st Airborne Division as they struggle to survive the Siege of Bastogne when their troops were completely surrounded. On the 22nd December 1944 the commanding Officer Brig Gen McAuliffe was asked to surrender by German troops. His phlegmatic reply to this ultimatum was "NUTS". This true event is shown in the film. Bastogne was the scene of bitter fighting where many American and German lives were lost. There is a moving museum and memorial to these men in the town, which is well worth a visit. The fear and the cameraderie of these troops is shown realistically throughout the film. Despite heavy losses and privation in the bitter cold, the platoon battles on until relief eventually arrives in the form of Patton's Third Army.

The film stands up remarkably well for its age, the realism no doubt helped by the fact that twenty veterans of the 101st were hired to train the actors to behave like real soldiers. This shows in the convincing performances by the cast. It was also interesting to hear the actors singing the popular marching cadences, but tastefully omitting the foul language and sexual references beloved of soldiers the world over. I found it a better film than the later "Battle of the Bulge"(65) with its star studded cast. This is a very good War film and is a fitting tribute to the men of the 101st who fought and died at the bloody battle of Bastogne.

Battleground
An excellent, gritty war movie telling the story of the battle for Bastogne from the point of view of a single platoon of the 101st Airborne. One of the better WWII films made in the 40s and 50s. The men are not heroes, they are tired and dirty and just trying to live through it all. Brave in its depiction of an attempt at cowardice by one of the platoon, especially when you think that the film was made only 4 years after the end of the war. An essential film in any war movie collection.