![]() ![]() There’s nothing objectionable with drafting fictional characters into story service, and the veteran cast have nothing to apologize over in their performances. To that add spectacular but clumsy action staging that starts from mediocre, pauses at okay, then, for the big finish, goes completely off the rails into laughable. The distorted writing isn’t guilty of bad babble (the dialog is serviceable), but shows gross negligence through lazy simplification, glaring omission and outright invention. Otherwise, it salvoes a tankload of hogwash, bested (worsted) only by 1968s awful Anzio in making a hash of history. So is reality, inside out: in a fictional fake take on the largest, bloodiest battle in American history, the four-man script gets exactly three things right-the date it began (Dec.16th), the notorious massacre at Malmedy and the famous no-surrender reply of “Nuts!” issued at Bastogne. In December,1944, the German Army launches a major attack in Belgium, catching American troops by surprise, defeating and capturing many. But the lure of battles in “CINERAMA” saw audiences volunteer for 167 minutes of make-believe mayhem, and a gross of $13,800,000 made it the 17th most-seen flick of 1965. The $6,500,000 epic didn’t win any medals from critics, historians or veterans even a former President gave it a impromptu public court-martial for fact-mangling. But as a story of the monster WW2 clash in the wintry forests of Belgium, it’s a loser, defeated by a careless cardboard script shot to pieces with bald-faced inaccuracy. ![]() BATTLE OF THE BULGE engages a fine cast, considerable production values and an excellent music score. ![]()
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