
            The movie opens in December 1943 at Prime Minister Winston Churchill's War Office in London. US General Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower (Tom Selleck) demands complete authority to prosecute the overall war effort in Europe. The Royal Air Force and US Eighth Air Force have been arguing that the strategic air offensive over Europe is enough to bring Germany to her knees. Churchill (Ian Mune) pointedly questions Eisenhower about the ability of any one commander to coordinate and control the vast and disparate Allied Forces at his disposal. Eisenhower frankly states that without complete control he will turn down the job of Supreme Commander, as a divided command structure would only create bickering and confusion. The two men ponder other possibilities, but in the end realize that only Eisenhower can fulfill the enormous responsibilities of Supreme Commander.Churchill breaks the news to an astonished General Bernard Law "Monty" Montgomery (Bruce Phillips), a talented but conceited man who holds little respect for Eisenhower's abilities. Monty soon calls on Eisenhower at Southwick House, Ike's headquarters near Portsmouth. Monty does his best to maneuver Eisenhower into the meaningless role of a political figurehead, but Ike isn't having it. The Allied master plan calls for an advance across Europe on a broad front, while Montgomery prefers to personally command a narrower, slashing thrust across the Low Countries and Northern Germany to Berlin. Monty would of course receive the lion's share of troops, supplies, and glory. Eisenhower makes it clear that the broad front is already decided. Shortly after having to deal with one prima donna, Eisenhower receives a visit from another, General George Patton (Gerald McRaney). Patton and Eisenhower have a long history together, but Patton's behavioral and verbal indiscretions have caused Ike numerous headaches. After a thorough dressing down and final warning, Eisenhower decides to retain Patton because of his proven military talents. But Patton will remain in England as a decoy, commanding a phantom army while the actual D-Day invasion takes place.An April 1944 rehearsal landing on the southeast coast of England goes disastrously awry when German torpedo boats penetrate a simulated invasion convoy and sink a number of landing craft off Slapton Sands. More than 900 men die. The tragic loss of personnel is only eclipsed by the loss of scarce landing craft needed for the invasion.The time pressures are enormous. A successful invasion will require favorable weather, overwhelming air and naval support, and absolute secrecy. Everything must be factored in. The imperative to establish a broad beachhead before worsening autumn weather arrives is tempered by the need for acceptable conditions on the night of the invasion and the availability of landing craft to ferry troops ashore under fire. Eisenhower's planners are accomplished officers with strong opinions, and he must weigh every piece of advice while accepting final responsibility for success or failure. It is a crushing burden. Eisenhower is required to serve as strategist, chief executive, and politician.In a meeting with Churchill, Eisenhower makes an astounding request. In order to maintain the carefully developed and critical ruse that the D-Day invasion will occur at Calais rather than Normandy, Eisenhower wants the entirety of the southern English coastline sealed against non-military traffic. The Allies cannot afford to have German spies observing troop and supply concentrations. As a politician, Churchill stringently objects. As a patriot and statesman, he accedes to the request.At a film screening one evening, Montgomery chooses to publicly needle Eisenhower about the broad front strategy. His petty jealousy over Ike's popularity is also on full display. As Monty leaves the film room in a huff, Ike wisely follows him. Eisenhower privately cautions Montgomery that while he allows wide latitude to his subordinates, he expects reasonable restraint in return. A chastened Monty acknowledges the rebuke.As if Eisenhower needed another complication, he soon learns that Major General Henry Miller, a West Point friend, has loudly and carelessly divulged important details of the pending invasion during a drunken tirade at a London hotel bar. The dangerous indiscretion is overheard by a young platoon leader from the 101st Airborne and reported up through the chain of command. Accompanied by his loyal chief-of-staff, General Walter Bedell Smith (Timothy Bottoms), Eisenhower goes to see the abashed General. Counting on his long friendship with Ike to save him, Miller begs not to be sent home in disgrace, but Eisenhower is unrelenting. Miller has put Allied lives needlessly at risk. He has to go. Eisenhower banishes him from the European Theater of Operations but tries to minimize the loss of rank that will be entailed. After the painful meeting, Ike confides in Smith that it isn't so much the big decisions that weigh heavily on a commander; it is the crush of small details that can negatively impact individual lives.At a momentous meeting in Montgomery's HQ, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth receive a detailed presentation of the invasion plans from the senior Allied commanders. The fastidious and ascetic Montgomery has previously asked that no one smoke in his auditorium, so he is horrified when both the King and Prime Minister Churchill light up, followed by a grinning Ike. The King is suitably impressed by the thoroughness of the planning, but he blanches at the anticipated casualty rate. When he raises his heartfelt concerns with Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander delivers a stirring, emotional response that carries the day. Churchill quietly tells Ike that he is with him until the end. They will rise or fall together.With just over one week remaining until D-Day, weeather forecasts are dicey. Yet the loadng of ships and the embarkation of troops requires a firm commitment to a date certain. Decisively, Eisenhower issues the go order for June 5. He also decides that he alone will take the fall for the failure of the invasion, in a letter to be published should the Allies be thrown off the beaches.Anxieties continue to plague the Allied planners, not the least of which is the close proximity of airborne drop zones to the invasion beaches. If the paratroopers are dropped near enough to the beaches to support the incoming assault waves, they may incur casualty rates as high as seventy per cent. The agonizing final decision is left to Eisenhower. There are also questions as to whether the Norman beach sands will be able to support Allied tanks. Each movement of German troops provokes new questions and reassessments.Eisenhower is forced to placate the greatest prima donna of all when General Charles de Gaulle visits his headquarters. The haughty Frenchman is disdainful of Allied plans and makes clear that he and he alone will speak for France, even though half of his country collaborates with the Germans. Eisenhower asks for de Gaulle's endorsement of his remarks to be broadcast in France after the invasion. The icy Frenchman refuses.Bad weather forces postponement of the invasion until June 6, and even then only a narrow window will exist. Thousands of lives hang in the balance. Squalls and high seas could spell disaster, but so could further delay. Once again, the lonely and momentous decision falls to Eisenhower. He owns the moment and decides to go, painfully aware that he is now just a worried spectator to the great drama unfolding before him. The outcome will depend on the courage and initiative of individual officers and men aboard bombers, gliders, paratroop transports, and landing craft, and on the young men storming across the beaches. As American paratroopers mount up on C-47s for the fateful ride to Normandy, Eisenhower's staff car arrives at the airstrip. The Supreme Commander steps out and chats amiably with the awed and nervous jumpers before they embark. Returning to his car, Ike pens the promised letter accepting full responsibility for Allied defeat and hands it to General Smith, to be issued to the press if necessary.Back at Southwick House the next morning, General Smith delivers good news. Allied troops are ashore and making good progress, and casualty rates among airborne troops are running closer to 20% than the feared 70%. Even so, an emotional Eisenhower reflects that the loved ones of a soldier lost in combat have experienced a 100% casualty rate. As Ike is observing that the world may never see the likes of these men again, the busy planners around him fade from the screen. For just a moment, Ike is all alone in the historic map room, now dissolving into a dusty, deserted relic. Then the famous General himself fades into history to join the warriors he so ably led.
    

Where to watch Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004) Tv show online

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Where to watch Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004) Tv show online

Your region:USA

Ike: Countdown to D-Day is currently streaming on the following OTT platforms in USA

Your region:
USA