Most critics come down mildly in favour, and what they agree on is the size of the thing. The reviews praise the scale of the D-Day recreation, the well-staged battle sequences and the decision to tell the story from several national viewpoints at once. The newsreel-style black-and-white photography and the enormous cast are singled out more than once, and several critics find the combat as effective as anything in later war films.
The reservations cluster around people rather than spectacle. Most critics find the characters thin, the vignettes between battles heavy-handed and the national stereotypes crude, and almost everyone thinks it too long. The spread is wide, from warm to hostile. The New Yorker finds it technically impressive but emotionally distant and, finally, dull, and Eye for Film thinks the parade of star cameos and a disjointed structure sink its grand intentions. Radio Times, though positive, also complains of overacting from the European players.