If nothing else, the movie elevated General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the eyes of this viewer as a strong and resolute leader who became the Supreme Allied Commander of all forces in the European theater during World War II. When British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Ian Mune) stated to the general - "No human in history has ever held the power for which you now ask" - I didn't get the impression that Eisenhower was demanding it so much as Churchill was offering it.The dramatization of events leading up to the D-Day invasion is strong on military planning and consultations between various military leaders, and the sense one gets of Eisenhower's character is that he listened patiently to everyone's opinion and then made a decision - right or wrong. The scene where he hands over a potential admission of failure taking full responsibility in case things go badly is something modern day political leaders would do well to learn from. At no time does one get the sense Ike was sidestepping his responsibility or laying off a decision due to uncertainty or lack of resolve.Tom Selleck was a surprise here. I don't think I've ever seen him sans mustache and bald, but his characterization of Eisenhower here was as good as one might imagine. Maybe a little on the husky side from what I remember, but my image of Ike comes from when he served as President and not the war hero. All in all an excellent portrayal and an excellent film, along with my timing as I write this a day before Memorial Day, 2016. Eisenhower's spectacular leadership allowed my Dad to return home safely from the War, who served with the Timberwolves in an area along the Maginot Line.

Many excellent historical connections and references. The final speech, though was apparently put in Ike's pocket, not handed to his aid. BTW, of all the nations involved The Canadians at Juno Beach were the only Force on D-Day to reach their objective despite about 50 percent casualties in the first wave of the attack. It is important to remember that while there were large numbers of Americans and British troops, that soldiers from many other nations participated as well. Many a non-British veteran will tell you how troops from other nations were used in vastly more dangerous areas than the British. This movie does show the huge amount of time spent waiting for action and the huge challenge in keeping the enemy uniformed. More about diversionary counter-intelligence would have been interesting. Nevertheless, the numbers of dead are staggering to read.

In The Longest Day (1962), Hollywood saluted heavily the Fighting French. Perhaps too heavily, but without feeding resentments. Ike : Countdown to D-Day (2004) depicted France as the spoiled nation that was NOT fighting against Nazism.It begins by a weird omission.General Eisenhower is rebuking General Patton for having declared that the Anglo-Saxons will rule the post-war World. (The two men reported different versions of this moment. The filmmakers could only write a plausible conversation.) Eisenhower (Tom Selleck) says to Patton (Gerald McRaney) : "The Czechs are also in this war. And the Dutch and the Danes, and God knows who else." Let's examine various facts. Patton had attended the Cavalry School in France in the 1920's; he spoke French, and Eisenhower, who knew Patton personally, could easily presume his former mentor is not badly disposed towards the French in general. Eisenhower, who is preparing to send troops to fight on French beaches, is also informed, like very few man, of the action of the French Resistance (a Resistance that is ultimately successful and helpful in 1944 after years of desperate ineffectiveness). "God knows who else" ? It would have been so natural for the true Eisenhower to include "the French" in his enumeration while speaking to the true Patton. The unlucky destiny of the Danes, the Dutch and the French was similar, although the number of French soldiers killed in the war is about 11 times the total number of deaths among Danish, Dutch and Czech soldiers. It's unlikely Eisenhower didn't mention also the French, especially when the issue is the possible reaction about Patton's statement. But let's make the best of it. A tribute to the Fighting Czechs, Fighting Danes and Fighting Dutch cannot be understood as a minimization of the merit of North American and British troops who fought in Europe.Then arrived a disdainful remark.At a moment in May 1944, in Eisenhower's Headquarters, top rank officers are viewing a movie made by the Red Army about the surrender of the German 17th Army, in Crimea, in May 1944. The documentary is completed by a minimal narration.While viewing tanks in Russia, General Montgomery (Bruce Philips) loudly suggests to rethink the strategy. Eisenhower, the supreme commander, seated in the row behind Montgomery, barely budges. But when Montgomery adds, very seriously : "And we'll have the French to help us along", we see Eisenhower with strongly knitted brows, and American General Bradley (James Remar), beside Montgomery, is visibly upset when he turns back to look at his friend Eisenhower. Immediately after this, other images are projected. The narrator is then telling that those images come from a smuggled unedited film from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprisings, and the narrator adds "the ghetto resisted six weeks to an entire German Army". Right after those images of skinny human beings and the narrator's comment on their long resistance, General Smith (Timothy Bottoms), Eisenhower's Chief of staff, behind Bradley, shouts : "Twice as long as the well fed French Army in 1940. Don't count on them to help us along." The audience of officers in the dark room laughs, except Montgomery.This striking sequence of images from Warsaw Ghetto and General Smith's remark cannot be accidental. But is it relevant in a movie on the last weeks before D-Day ? The main fighting of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising lasted from April 19th to May 16th, 1943. Did Eisenhower and his staff view a documentary movie on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising nearly A FULL YEAR AFTER the Uprising ? If so, did the Chief of staff, on the eve of a landing in France, actually jump on an opportunity like that movie on Warsaw Ghetto martyrdom to blast the French Army ? "Twice as long as the well fed French Army in 1940. Don't count on them to help us along." What if somebody added : "Sir, the French Army was as well fed in 1939-40 as the American Navy was in Hawaii in December 1941, although rather busier on the weekends. Should Poland thank the Japanese because America finally started to cross swords with the Germans. " Entertaining joke, isn't it ? Although the entire cast in the drama is credible, convincing, let's notice how the dialog later in the drama makes the characters strangely flimsy for a short moment.General Montgomery is heavily depicted in the movie as a man disconnected from reality. For instance, later in the movie, we see Montgomery being probably the last British officer to expect he could enforce a no-smoking rule in a room where his boss Churchill, a famous heavy smoker, is about to enter.After Smith's remark on the French Army, a remark supposedly made as late as 1944, the romantic Montgomery depicted in the movie should have claimed the British Army fought against the German Forces in 1940 without more success than the French Army.Moreover, Free French soldiers led by General Koenig fought beside the British against Vichy French in Syria in 1941 and against Afrikakorps in Libya in June 1942. When the Anglo-Saxons fought the Germans in Tunisia between February and May 1943, they were helped by Free French troops led by General Leclerc, who had fought in the Sahara as early as 1941. Free French troops also fought against the Germans in September 1943 in Corsica, for instance. In May 1944, Bradley, Smith and Eisenhower were as well aware of those facts as Montgomery.But don't count on this movie for fairness.Instead, we hear Montgomery complaining about indiscipline from Smith, and it's easy for Eisenhower to tell Montgomery that he himself was the first officer to break the discipline with his comment on the strategy. So Montgomery shuts up, for once. Following that, Eisenhower tells Smith he loved his so-called reply to Montgomery. This line isn't from the solemn Eisenhower who, in the same drama, pronounced the word "racialism" when rebuking Patton about Anglo-Saxons' superiority. Too bad.

This movie just grows and grows on you, when I first saw this movie I thought it was good but then after I watched it a second time I realized it was even better than I had thought. Tom Selleck gives a great performance as Ike and Timothy Bottoms does a great job as Beetle Smith. The rest of the cast was good as well. It is a very historically accurate film except for mistake toward the end of the movie. Lots of great dialogue and it tells very well the extreme burden that Eisenhower was under right before the invasion of France. This movie will only get better and better with time. I highly recommend this movie.