Though often overshadowed by Saving Private Ryan, John Wayne’s 1962 war film significantly influenced how D-Day was portrayed in later movies, each offering a distinct perspective. War films differ greatly in their treatment of the subject, ranging from celebratory and patriotic depictions to stark portrayals of war’s horrors. Films like Come and See and Grave of the Fireflies offer deeply tragic visions, a far cry from the pro-war messaging found in movies like The Green Berets.
Interestingly, many war films and series portray a key battle in a remarkably similar way, and a popular John Wayne movie from 1962 likely set the standard. Based on Cornelius Ryan’s book of the same name, The Longest Day brought together three directors and a huge cast to create what was considered the definitive 180-minute film about D-Day. Its influence on how the event is shown on screen is still felt today.
The Longest Day Was One of the Earliest Major D-Day Movies
Just like the massive, international effort it depicted, the making of The Longest Day was a collaborative project involving Britain, France, Germany, and the United States. The film aimed to show the immense planning and hard work behind the D-Day invasion, and featured a huge cast of stars from the time, including John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda, and many others. Notably, the movie also included real veterans who portrayed their actual roles from that historic day.
As a film critic, I’ve always seen The Longest Day as a hugely important stepping stone in how we portray war on screen. It really pioneered a style – mixing documentary-like reenactments with traditional dramatic storytelling – that heavily influenced Steven Spielberg. In fact, you can directly see its DNA in his later work like Saving Private Ryan, and even in his epic series Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and Masters of the Air. It wasn’t just Spielberg, though. Films like Fury and Dunkirk – ambitious war movies made decades later – also owe a clear debt to the techniques The Longest Day first popularized.
Later War Movies Borrowed Heavily From The Longest Day
It’s interesting that Variety described The Longest Day as both a “stunning war epic” and a “grand scale semi-fictionalized documentary,” because that description fits many successful war films, even those made years later. The movie’s focus on realism is evident in films like director Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima, and even in more recent projects like the 2025 film Warfare, which aimed for greater accuracy by consulting with actual soldiers.
Even today, The Longest Day is a powerful war film, but watching it now, it’s clear how influential it has been on how war – and especially D-Day – has been portrayed in movies and on TV ever since. This John Wayne film aimed to bring order and understanding to the confusion of real warfare, and it succeeded so well that it changed the way directors have approached the subject of war for decades.
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2026-06-06 00:11