Filmmaker’s Commentary -- Co-director Ken Annakin (the only director still living) sits down to discuss the complexity of the original shoot, the intense creative meetings a vast international production like ‘The Longest Day’ required, and the absolute thrill of working with countless legendary actors. While Annakin was only directly responsible for the scenes involving the British and French arenas, his anecdotes traverse the entire film and cover a lot of ground. He speaks very highly of the other directors who covered the German and American shoots, and even offers an account of their work and contributions to the film. This is a top notch track that adds quite a bit of value to the release.
•Historical Commentary -- Even more interesting is a historical commentary with UCLA professor Mary Corey. She digs into the authenticity of the film, points out every inaccuracy that hits the screen, and provides an engaging overview of World War II and its various political agendas. Anyone fresh out of college may cringe at listening to yet another lecture, but I found Corey’s dissection of the military battles and field commanders to be a fantastic way to spend a few hours. While it’s not for everyone, students of history will find it’s definitely worth a try.
•A Salute to Courage (SD, 44 minutes) -- Burt Reynolds narrates this fascinating documentary about the actual events that inspired ‘The Longest Day,’ the original 1959 novel by Cornelius Ryan, the casting and crew selection, the production itself, and the eventual reception of the final cut.
•D-Day Revisited (SD, 52 minutes) -- Sadly, this unintentionally amusing archive documentary from 1968 doesn’t fare nearly as well. It not only regurgitates all of the information that’s already been covered elsewhere on the 2-disc set, but it features Zanuck trotting from locale to locale, interacting with a variety of people and firing staccato comments at the camera. The only tangible value it adds to the supplemental package (other than nostalgia and a quick laugh) is a collection of colorized shots Zanuck filmed while on location.
•Backstory (SD, 25 minutes) -- This fairly dry featurette moves away from the production and focuses on 20th Century Fox founder and producer Darryl Zanuck. It exhaustively explores his influences and motivations, his attraction to a film like ‘The Longest Day,’ and his efforts to make his recreation of D-Day more accurate than any other film of its era.
•A Day to Remember (SD, 18 minutes) -- Annakin takes center stage once again on this fairly repetitive behind-the-scenes featurette. It’s well made and covers decent ground, but the director rehashes a lot of the information that’s already detailed at length in his commentary track.
•Darryl F. Zanuck: A Dream Fulfilled (SD, 4 minutes) -- Are you starting to notice a pattern here? Zanuck’s son Richard shows up to discuss his father’s career… again. It’s safe to say that Zanuck gets more attention on the second disc than the film itself.
•Photo Galleries -- Four galleries include production snapshots, behind-the-scenes photos, concept art, and marketing images.
•Theatrical Trailers (6 minutes) -- Along with a trailer for ‘The Longest Day,’ we get a high-def trailer for ‘Patton’ and a standard-def preview of ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’