Factual error: Col Vandervoort, 2nd Batt 505 PIR 82nd Airborne Div, is shown with a 'cricket,' "1 click to be answered by 2 clicks." The code is correct but the 'cricket was only issued to members of the 101 Division. This was at the insistence of General Maxwell D.Taylor after his experiences in the airborne assault on Sicily. It should also be noted that the cricket was not shaped like a frog but was made mainly from brass by the Birmingham based THE ACME company, founded by the maker of the original London Police Force's whistle manufacturer, and they did a special run of over 7500 for the order. This makes telling original D-Day crickets from fakes easier due to die marks and press marks.
Factual error: In one scene, a German Mauser bolt-action rifle makes an exaggerated click-click sound when a bullet is chambered. (A U.S. paratrooper mistakes this click-click sound from his enemy's Mauser rifle with the click-click sound from the American signaling device, which was used when challenged by other U.S. paratroopers.) However, a Mauser rifle does not make such a loud sound when chambered. No decent soldier would allow his rifle to make such a loud click-click sound anyway.
Factual error: At the start of the movie Rommel is seen reviewing the beach defences and is holding his Field Marshals Baton. This is not true as he did not carry it. This is covered in the print version of the book.
Factual error: The Gliders are shown being towed by Lancaster Bombers (oval twin tail) when they were actually towed by Stirlings (single tail).
Factual error: In one scene of the Omaha beach landing, an American soldier is wearing eyeglasses with heavy black frames, which were issued to U.S. troops during the 1950's and 1960's. Eyeglasses issued to U.S. military personnel in World War 2 had thin metallic silver frames.
Factual error: Luftwaffe pilot Josef Priller is depicted wearing the rank insignia of an oberst (colonel); he was actually an oberstleutnant (lieutenant-colonel) on D-Day, although he was later promoted to oberst. His wingman, Heinz Wodarczyk, is depicted wearing the insignia of a feldwebel (flight sergeant); he was actually an unteroffizier (corporal).
Factual error: Group Captain Stagg is wearing several medal ribbons. In actual fact, Stagg was too young to have served in the First World War and had no military service before being commissioned into the RAF specifically to act as chief meteorologist for Operation Overlord. He would have had no ribbons at all until 1945, when he received the OBE, the US Legion of Merit and wartime service ribbons.
Factual error: Shortly before the landings take place, there is a shot of the massive Allied fleet approaching the Normandy beaches. A flight of fighter aircraft are flying overhead. The aircraft are Douglas Skyraiders, a type that first flew in 1946 and did not enter service until 1950, more than five years after D-Day.
Factual error: Group Captain Stagg is described by the on-screen caption as J N Stagg. He was actually J M Stagg.
Factual error: All throughout the movie, whenever some German officer, speaking German, wants someone to shoot off some artillery piece, he screams, "FIRE!" German words for shoot include schießen, drehen, trieb, aufnehmen, abschießen, erlegen, spross, jagen, and ballern, but certainly not "fire".
Suggested correction: But they don't say "shoot," they say "feuer," which is German for "fire." This is the accurate word for the German command to firing a weapon. Btw, most of the words you take as an example don't mean "to shoot," but are only associated with shooting. Like "jagen," which is German for "hunting."
Nay - They are screaming "FIRE!" They aren't saying feuer. It probably is indeed illegal to yell "Feuer!" in a German crowded theatre. Lol. My original assertion of a mistake in this movie was because they go to great lengths to specifically always be having the Germans speaking German with subtitles - to not be one of these war movies where all the German officers are speaking English (usually in a refined British accent for some reason - lol) - and I maintain they dropped that in this case and went for the English word - and it's a mistake - Whatever the word feuer means, even if it does, or CAN mean SHOOT!, they CLEARLY (and multiple times throughout all the battle scenes) are screaming the English word "fire," not the German word FEUER. The two words may be close, but they do not sound the same. Watch the movie and I'm sure you will hear what I'm saying. You will hear "FIE ur," not "few ERR." There is no long 'I' sound in feuer.
You are entitled to your opinion, whether you hear "fire" or "feuer," but I hear them say "feuer" enough (Omaha beach scene). About everything else you say, I think the problem is easy - you don't understand the German language. Now, I'm not a native German speaker, but my knowledge of German is adequate enough to know that the German word for firing a weapon is "feuer." I'm also pretty sure the English word "fire" means "flames" as well, so your logic is flawed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO1Em0NCCzE. At the 2:03 timestamp, you can hear a German say "feuer" to firing a weapon.
Ok, I just went there and no one says anything at 2:03. (If you mean two minutes and three seconds into the movie). Maybe you meant two hours and three minutes? Gimme a day or so to watch the whole movie again, and I will mark every time I think they say "feuer" and every time they say "fire." If I'd heard "FEW AIR," I wouldn't have asserted that there was any mistake. I would have assumed that was German. I hear some actor from New Jersey screaming "FIE UR" every time - lol.
I gave a link to a YouTube video of Bundeswehr soldiers training. In the video, at 2:03, you hear a German say "feuer" when ordering to fire the artillery. Just to prove, Germans say "feuer" when firing weapons. Plus an idea of how they pronounce it.
Yes, what happened is, I copied and pasted that link - but I included the period you put at the end - and that just brings up Youtube movies, so I thought you meant for me to go to The Longest Day movie - lol. My bad. Again, I acknowledge that there is no way to account for accents and dialects - you made a good point - I just always hear what sounded like some actor from New Jersey saying FIE URR! - (Or should I say JOIZEE) - lol.
Maybe that's one time they did it the correct way - there are more than one times throughout the movie where you hear "FIRE" and not "FEUER" - they are not pronounced the same.
Ok - I am GIVING you the understanding that both English and German have a word that means both flames and shooting. I will acknowledge that. But you are not understanding my logic. I repeat: Irrespective of whether any German officer ever screamed "feuer" to mean "shoot", you will, beyond doubt, hear that very strong, long 'I' sound every time they scream the word. Anyone who is reading this is invited to watch the movie, and the word FIRE, pronounced "fie ur" with the long 'I' sound, will be heard at least two or three times - never "few air." Feuer is, (supposed to be), pronounced "few air." But, then, what does "supposed to" really mean, when it comes to any language? I guess differences in accents have to be considered. I mean, how many English words sound different than they seem to be spelled? - tons.
Think logically about the fact that these actors in the movie are actual Germans, and they are supposed to speak German in the movie. So, absolutely no reason for them to say "fire." They can pronounce it however they want; they mean to say "feuer" and not "fire."
Yes, but I hear FIRE, not Feuer. But then, a lot of British people pronounce Lia fail as LAYAFOIL, so I will admit that there may be no way to prove my theory that the makers of this movie abandoned their attempt to stick with German and went with the English word FIRE in this one instance.
I agree, it's more likely they're saying "Feuer." Even Google Translate says "fire at will" translates to "Feuer frei." But the pronunciation is closer to "fire" than what you're suggesting. You seem to be implying "feuer" is pronounced more like "führer."
Yes, a German might be saying "feuer" some time in some actual war, but in this movie, you will hear "fire" every time. Go watch the movie and you will definitely hear that long 'I' sound. Ultimately, this may be impossible to totally resolve, as I guess there may be no way to determine how different Germans with different accents might pronounce something. I hear the dude from New Jersey saying FIE UR! lol.
