MovieChat Forums > Battle of the Bulge (1966) Discussion > English Speaking German Nazis

English Speaking German Nazis


Does anyone else find it strange that the GERMAN NAZIs spoke english? and good english at that! i know it was just becaue 3/4 of the american audience wouldn't put up with subtitles same holds true today but i kinda like a subtitled movie nothing like a movie in it's original language.

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[deleted]

9/11! 9/11! Squawk squawk! 9/11!

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seeing that America-bashing is in fashion since 9-11


Not since 9-11, but since the prelude to the Iraq war...

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Yes? Well then if your done I’ll tell you that you have it all wrong and here‘s why. See I am a proud American and I was born American and I will die American and I will fight for the American ideals and loyalty as well and I’ll also have you know I have never done anything because it was "in fashion". I’ll also have you know we should be on the same side here. Ok so the other Germens in the other movies spoke German, That’s good. No take that back that’s great. I was just talking about this one movie and you blew it completely out of proportion. These boards are for discussing movies not attacking people. And I am also a conservative Americans myself and I went and seen The Passion as well and the reason I liked it, and I’m assuming everyone else as well, is because it tells it like it was. Jesus' death was brutal and savage, just as in the movie. The Passion wasn't like most other films depicting Jesus’ final hours where Jesus didn't bleed, flew, and blew up cars with his laser eyes and do you know why? Because that stuff ever happened, however what’s in the movie did. Also speaking of bashing I’ll have you know, which I suppose you do considering how blunt you are, that people like you are the reason other countries hate America, because of your blatant disregard for the AMERICAN First Amendment, freedom of speech and opinion there in. So take that you First Amendment hater.

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[deleted]

Ok I thank God this one was not aimed at me! and I see your still very angry about 9-11 as we all should be, however we shouldn’t volley our hate at just any random country of the day or at Muslims either. Though on the subject of the whole Muslim issue, I haven’t seen as much hate for the Muslims as in the past but I think too many of em are offended by us being over there and taking out all the evil doers. Some of them just see them as fellow Muslims and not terrorists and that‘s what bin Laden and his whole troupe likes. But before any one calls me a racist, which I’m not, I am glad that there are those who support us in that [the war] too. Now on account of some foreign countries, and yes I’m looking at France when I say this, maybe next time they ask for our aid, we should just act like it ain’t happening and not aid at all until it poses as a threat to us. And I’m serious about that, it was not a joke. As many have said this is a different war than any we have fought. We cant just go out into the field and trenches and shoot at all the M42 wearing “Sig Heil!” shouting (nice tie in, huh?) guys in the field, it’s just not like that. However as angry as you and I still am about 9-11 anytime something happens with another country, specifically European, I don’t think that we should go 9-11!, 9-11! Yes, it happened and we SHOULD be offended and SHOULD seek out the people that did it, but those where not the Europeans. I mean look at all that’s happening in England right now, it’s bad stuff. Also I don’t know why there are so many people who post there anti-American garbage on the IMDB boards and I’m glad you rush to shoot them down, just watch that fellow similar thinking America lovers, such as myself, don’t get shot in the crossfire. All I was saying was that I don’t like the common American’s taste in cinema not that I hate America. Also on the issue of your, “I even believe that one has the right to call for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government as long as such a statement is not directed towards any specific person.” I totally agree. If your familiar with the First Amendment then I’m sure your familiar with, one of my personal favorites, the Second Amendment,“ A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This is why I think it is important to keep a separate militias from the Governments Militaries, for the security of a FREE State. Not to sound as one of treasonous qualities but I think that if America strayed too far from it’s ideals, freedoms, and founding purposes and became more of a dictatorship we, the TRUE Americans like you and I, have the right to take up arms and have a militant and violent strike against the, as I would see it no longer truly American, government. I absolutely agree with you on that. And yes, I also realize this was very long. Sorry about that but now I believe, and hope, there is peace between us?

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[deleted]

Given that The Longest Day did quite well, and American audiences had read large portions of it, I'm guessing the producers didn’t want to find out how well, or how badly Robert Shaw spoke German.
Perhaps they should have hired a German actor.

It’s no big deal, no German was spoken in the Desert Fox, but it is a fine movie.

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I think it makes it easier for the Germans to speak English with German accents, escpecially for movies that have major scenes which focus on things from a foreign point of view. For example, The Blue Max; An amazing World War one movie, as told from a German perspective, yet there's no German speaking or German subtitles. It's all in English.

I think it's fair for movies focusing on a foreign country to have the characters speak English, for the sake of avoiding confusion. However, in movies with only brief foreign scenes (i.e. in Patton, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, etc.) it's necessary to have the Germans speak German, with subtitles, since most of the characters in those movies are British or American.

The Battle of the Bulge is half allies and half axis perspectives. Therefore, total English speaking seems natural and less confusing.

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Regarding subtitles, I always find them a distraction, and are really not necessary unless we are talking about a foreign film, but that is up to the producer.

It is strange though that it always seems that the evil Germans would be played by well-spoken English actors, such as Robert Shaw in this film, and others like James Mason in 'the Blue Max'.

In any event, anything would help this mishmash of a movie.

Great battle scenes are offset by a fictional representation of the actual battle with made-up names and places, and while you have a good cast here you would think the money would be spent on a better story.

Sorry to be picky, but I am happy to larn that the DVD version includes the lost scenes deleted from the VHS version.

That is indeed something to be happy about.

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OMG.
So, now it's "unAmerican" to point out foibles in American culture?
I'm an American, but I can tell you, most Americans don't like subbed movies. PotC was an exception because many Americans are also Christians, so they're most certainly to go see a movie about Jesus.
I'm so tired of people trotting out "the anti-American" baloney when someone makes a cultural observation.
And if you think America was popular before 9/11, you are completely deluding yourselves. The last act of gratitude we got from the French was when they dropped off the Statue of Liberty. You guys also forget that Islamic extremists (note the extremist tag) attempted to blow up the twin towers in '93.

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As an Englishman (so no mention of U.S. Law!<g>), I thought the German Accents used by the English-language actors in BOTB worked well - especially Robert Shaw as Col. Hessler.

Just a personal opinion but, I prefer sub-titles however, in films like say, 'DAS BOOT' - where all of the actors and dialogue, from start to finish, were German and speaking German.

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to reply to this post which seems to have gotten off track,yes its true about the amercian speaking german soldiers,they were formed by otto skorzeny te famous german commando who rescued mussilini from gran sasso with his commando teams using gliders.

he was a founder of black operations,by using enemy uniforms and vehciles he caused havoc at the bulge,he was arrested at the end of the war,the americans put him on trial for eisponage,saying that he used illegal tactics during the bulge ie the uniforms,vehicles,us speaking troops.he managed to get a lesser sentence after british commandos backed skorzeny stating they used similar tactics.he was jailed but escaped to argentina where he became evita perons bodyguard.

he died in spain in the 60s from a heart attack while serving as francos security adviser,he was named the most dangerous man in europe by the americans,i highly recommend his book commando elite which you can find on ebay.

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god shutup, do all americans whinge sook moan and complain as much as the ones in this topic? Sheesh your'e like my wife.

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whinge sook? And the English claim the AMERICANS are the ones massacring the English language. Wow. It IS easy to slam an entire nation by replying to one idiot who hopefully doesn't represent a nation as a whole. G'day, mate.

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How about the clever switch in "The Hunt for Red October" ?

Scenes in the Russian sub are all in Russian until halfway through reading a document it becomes unaccented English (well Connery Scottish!) and continues that way for the rest of the movie.







Come on lads, bags of swank!

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[deleted]

Quentin Tarantino felt that way too; that being organic would be more realistic.

Sadly, the sleeping pill he created needed more than subtitles. Life altering surgery would have helped.

All Movie Reviews www.cultfilmfreaks.com

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They sent Germans wearing American uniforms to confuse the Americans. Naturally they spoke good English to pull that off.

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