Back to trending
Cast a Giant Shadow

Cast a Giant Shadow

War · Drama · 1966

An American Army officer is recruited by the yet to exist Israel to help them form an army. He is disturbed by this sudden appeal to his Jewish heritage. Each of Israel's Arab neighbors has vowed to invade the poorly prepared country as soon as partition is granted. He is made commander of the Israeli forces just before the war begins.

Movie details

Cast a Giant Shadow

“Outnumbered - unarmed - unprepared - they stunned the world with their incredible victory!”

1966 War · Drama 2h 26m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

An American Army officer is recruited by the yet to exist Israel to help them form an army. He is disturbed by this sudden appeal to his Jewish heritage. Each of Israel's Arab neighbors has vowed to invade the poorly prepared country as soon as partition is granted. He is made commander of the Israeli forces just before the war begins.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Cast a Giant Shadow?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Waiting for Anya

Waiting for Anya

Drama · 2020

During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.

Uprising

Uprising

Drama · 2001

In the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, Jews rise against the Nazis.

The One That Got Away

The One That Got Away

War · 1957

Based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, the only German prisoner of war captured in Britain to escape back to Germany during the Second World War.

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell

Drama · 1955

A dramatization of the American general and his court martial for publically complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces.

Emperor

Emperor

Drama · 2012

As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.

Operation Mincemeat

Operation Mincemeat

War · 2022

In 1943, two British intelligence officers concoct Operation Mincemeat, wherein their plan to drop a corpse with false papers off the coast of Spain would fool Nazi spies into believing the Allied forces were planning to attack by way of Greece rather than Sicily.

The War Below

The War Below

War · 2021

During World War I, a group of British miners are recruited to tunnel underneath no man's land and set bombs from below the German front in hopes of breaking the deadly stalemate of the Battle of Messines.

The Last Rifleman

The Last Rifleman

Drama · 2023

A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.

The Monuments Men

The Monuments Men

War · 2014

Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators, and art historians who went to the front lines of WWII to rescue the world’s artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their rightful owners. With the art hidden behind enemy lines, how could these guys hope to succeed?

The Boy in the Woods

The Boy in the Woods

Drama · 2023

The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Melville Shavelson

Written by

Ted Berkman · Melville Shavelson

Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus

John Wayne

John Wayne

Gen. Mike Randolph

Senta Berger

Senta Berger

Magda Simon

Angie Dickinson

Angie Dickinson

Emma Marcus

James Donald

James Donald

Maj. Safir

Yul Brynner

Yul Brynner

Asher Gonen

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Vince Talmadge

Court is in session

Put Cast a Giant Shadow on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.