Rather than focus on massive battle heroics, "D-Day" is an unusual mix of romance and adult drama from the fifties. There's a an excellent beach assault at the finale, but erudite director Henry Koster follows the script's basic focus: a curious love triangle between stationed U.S. soldier Taylor, who falls for the beautiful Wynter while her betrothed (Todd) is away on assignment. There's plenty of adult guilt, spontaneous crying, a ridiculous amount of cigarette puffing, fleeting moments of passion, and 20th Century Fox's recreation of London in California is efficient.

Like other vintage CinemaScope flicks, the early lenses distort a few close-ups, and the stereo dialogue placement is occasionally bizarre, but the overall transfer is faithful to the Deluxe colours and basic 4.0 mix. The battle sequences offer some modest effects, but it's mostly due to explosive dynamics, and Lyn Murray's excellent (though thematically repetitive) score.

The disc's extras are simply the trailers, with 20th Century Fox adding an array of vintage and more recent film and DVD trailers for the War Classics series. Of the group, only "Between Heaven and Hell" and "D-Day the 6th of June" are anamorphic.

© 2002 Mark R. Hasan