The Longest Day was a dream come true for Darryl F. Zanuck. After he had left the major studios, this was his most challenging project ever. Taken from a novel by WWII novelist Cornelius Ryan, the cast includes thousands-literally, as Zanuck went about re-creating the D-Day invasion of Europe. No small task and it took years to put together. Up until "Saving Private Ryan", this was the ultimate D-Day film, made with care and respect by one of Hollywood's greatest achievers.

The filmmakers decided to tell the story of the invasion from beginning to end, using short scenes with actors from all sides of the battle. The Germans are played by German actors-most notably Curt Jurgens, the British by British and Irish actors( Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Kenneth More ), and the Americans (John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Eddie Albert, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda and Jeffrey Hunter). This is just a small sample of the talent involved in this film. The actors play the roles well, if not a little stiff. No one is on camera for much of the film and most of the stars roles are limited to cameos or short scenes of 5 or 10 minutes, as the story jumps from view point to view point throughout its 3 hour length. Zanuck tells the story from all sides -from the foot soldier on the beach to the generals in command. It is an epic feat and one that could not ever be duplicated.

Picture-The 2:35.1 anamorphic transfer was shot in black and white-and is well preserved on this disc. The characters are sharp and in focus with no artifacts. The characters are so much in focus, you can actually tell when some outdoor scenes were actually shot in a studio, because of the small halo effect around the actors against the backdrop landscape. A few dirt specks and vertical lines from the films age are present but contrast is steady and even. A very pleasing presentation for a film of this age. Sound-Zanuck used a large assembly of drums for the soundtrack-from snares to kettle drums with tremendous effect. The sound of low kettle drums are heard at the beginning, even before a picture is presented. At scene switches, the drums produce the snappiness of military motion. The other music this film is noted for is the playing of the opening of Beethoven's 5th-Da-da-da-Daah! The Dolby digital soundtrack, in 5.0 and 2.0 with THX was remastered for the disc, allowing this older film needed amplification in battle scenes, such as the beach landing and shelling of the beaches. Not much information comes through the rear speakers except an occasional rumbling during these scenes, as most of the original soundtrack is played through the front and center channels. However, the discreet front channels do have a lot of separation for a nice effect.

The disc offers the original trailer and trailers for two other Fox war films, Tora, Tora, Tora! and Patton. It also has a French 2.0 soundtrack as well as captions in English and Spanish.

This film was a monumental undertaking and only a few people could have pulled off the incredible cast, the enormous invasion scenes, and capture the essence of the invasion the way Zanuck did. It is fantastic achievement and this disc show it off well. Fox Home Entertainment did a good job in preserving this time capsule of history.