The film begins with an introduction by Darryl Zanuck--and I was taken aback by the ordinariness of this film giant's voice. If anything, he sounded a bit wimpy. You'd think with someone as powerful as him (as head of Twentieth-Century Fox) that he'd have sounded more loud and powerful! Considering I have only seen him in stock footage, it's nice to actually finally hear the guy. However, a few of the 'impromptu' meetings with French locals were a bit silly, as they tried to make them seem accidental and unstaged--but of course there was a film crew there and not just Zanuck!
Once the film begins, Zanuck walks about the countryside--narrating about what each location is. Then, film footage from his film "The Longest Day" (1962) is inserted to show the way he portrayed this in the movie. It's obviously a chance not only to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Normandy landing but also a chance to promote the re-release of the feature film.
A few of the really interesting portions of the film were watching a French family having a picnic in a giant bomb crater that has since grown over with grass as well as seeing the condition of the bunkers over two decades later.
All in all, it's an interesting little film and DVD extra for "The Longest Day". However, it is far from perfect--relying too much on lengthy clips from the movie--as self-promotion seemed important than actually showing the sites where the battle took place! Showing much shorter clips would have made for a much better short film.
