Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge (1965) is an American war epic directed by Ken Annakin — watch it online on iFILM. December 1944: Allied commanders are convinced Germany is finished. What they don't see coming is a massive German armored push through the Ardennes forest — the largest battle the U.S. Army ever fought in Europe, and a near-catastrophic reversal in the final winter of the war.

Colonel Hessler, the German tank commander, knows his operation has a built-in deadline: his Panzers will run dry within days if they can't seize Allied fuel depots along the route. Across the front, American intelligence officer Major Kelly — played by Henry Fonda — has been warning his superiors for weeks and getting ignored. Robert Shaw plays Hessler with a cold, professional logic that makes him the most interesting figure on screen, and the two men's parallel storylines give the film a structure that goes beyond spectacle.

Shot in Ultra Panavision 70 for maximum widescreen impact, the film delivers large-scale tank combat that still holds up as practical filmmaking. For fans of 1960s studio war pictures in the tradition of The Longest Day, it's a solid entry in the genre. Stream Battle of the Bulge (1965) online on iFILM.