I remember when I first saw this movie, when I was nine years old, at the theater. It was in "Cinerama', and I thought it rocked! Then, I saw it's TV network premier in 1972-73, I think it was. And I remember thinking "God, this movie sucks. How could I have liked it? I must be remembering a different movie". Well, it was the same movie, it was just that I'd learned a lot more about WW2 and the real Battle of the Bulge. Naturally, I criticized all the so-called 'German King Tiger' tanks, the arty, and just about everything else. But I must admit my attitude has changed again in the intervening years. I now have a very soft spot in my heart for this bogus epic, despite its many inaccuracies. So what if Belgium bears an uncanny resemblance to Spain (when I was in the military myself, and got to visit Belgium, and site of the actual battle, for a troubling moment I actually wondered where that vast, rolling semi-arid desert was). So what? Who cares? And did the Germans REALLY control the battle from a massive basement game room with a timer clock? It's not a bad movie, after all, and does manage to convey some of the desperate conflict of the real thing. It's even better than that awful Sensaround epic "Midway" (which truly does suck, except for Chuck Heston, Henry Fonda, Erik Estrada and all those other characters). It's much better than Michael Bay's huge blowjob of a 'historical' movie "Pearl Harbor". Okay, it can't beat Timbo Hine's masterpiece "War Of The Worlds", but what can? I think my two favorite memories of "Battle Of The Bulge" are the German Panzer officers singing "Panzerlied" (it inspired me to invade France, which promptly surrendered when they discovered I was merely THINKING about it), and of course, the so-called 'aerial' photos of Robert Shaw taken from the seat next to him. Oh, yeah, and the end, with the tag (and I'm paraphrasing here) "They're leaving their tanks, and walking back to Germany, and you can see it all on your GAF Talking Viewmaster". Okay, so they didn't say that last bit, but that was our homage to Henry Fonda.
Shoot the father.
Shoot the father.