Pressure

The most anticipated release was “Pressure”. It won’t come out in theaters in Belgium until September 9th, but it promises to be a great WWII historical drama, focusing on the incredibly tense, true story of the 72 hours leading up to D-Day. It centers on the burden of leadership and the monumental weather forecasting decisions faced by General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) and meteorologist Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott). Also starring Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers) as ‘Monty’. You’ll want to see that!

The IMDB score is 7.6, which is quite hight. I’m already looking forward to seeing it in September!

More about ‘Pressure’ on IMDB

La Bataille de Gaulle

This is a two-part WWII historical epic around Charles De Gaulle. The first part, ‘Résistance’ is out now, the second part, ‘Liberté’ will follow on July 3rd.

Starring Simon Abkarian as Charles de Gaulle. The movie is in French (with subtitles). In English, it’s called ‘De Gaulle: Tilting Iron’.

Its IMDB score is 7.5, which is promising! I like the idea of a big French WWII blockbuster for a change. At least, this promises to be a very ambitious production.

More about ‘De Gaulle: Tilting Iron’ on IMDB

Lucky Strike

Coming up in cinemas at the end of this month is a movie I should have anticipated most of all, as it’s set during the Battle of the Bulge. However, in spite of it’s promising cast including an ‘Eastwood’ and a ‘Hanks’ (sons of, both of them), this movie is likely to disappoint.

You will also find this analysis of ‘Lucky Strike’ by WW2 Wayfinder interesting to watch:

More about ‘Lucky Strike’ on IMDB

I can recommend the show about WWII in Holland, which ran for 5 episodes in May. You can re-watch this NPO production online as well.

The storytelling concept seems to have been heavily inspired on Arnout Houben’s ‘Interview met de Geschiedenis‘. Personally, I am not really a fan of the narrator walking throuhg the set of re-enacted history. It’s more of a gimmick, really.

I did enjoy this episode about Marlene Dietrich, which was set during the Battle of the Bulge. At one point, she meets general Patton, played by the Flemish actor Gene Bervoets. Need I say more?

This new WWII documentary series started in History Channel on May 26. I have watched a few episodes. So far, it’s alright. It covers the whole war from the early beginning until the end, and feels very similar to previous documentaries. Nothing ground-breaking, except that they are planning for 20 episodes! Of course, it’s narrated by Tom Hanks, whose wise-sounding voice is always a pleasure to hear. More info on History Channel.

Speaking of Tom Hanks, ‘Mister WWII’ is planning the production of a sequel to ‘Greyhound’. This movie from 2020 starred Hanks as U.S. Navy Commander Ernest Krause as he led an Allied convoy across the Atlantic while being hunted by German U-boats. According to Hanks, the sequel will dig into a different but related question: what it actually means to survive. More info here.