The Ghost Army (2013) User Reviews

Tremendously entertaining and off-beat documentary

[runamokprods · 8/10 · 6 April 2014]

Tremendously entertaining and off-beat documentary about a U.S. WWII corps largely made up of artists, designers, stage folk, and craftsmen, tasked with both improving camouflage, and creating the illusion of troops where they weren't. They used a combination of inflatable tanks and infantry pieces, along with broadcasting false orders by radio, and playing the sounds of an army unit over loudspeakers. They did a lot of good, while often taking on the nerve shattering task of trying to draw fire themselves, directing it away from the real battle units.

There's a lot of humor here, unusual and appreciated for a WWII doc. But on the flip side, there's not a lot of emotion, and it can be a bit repetitive. An interesting true story of an oddball but important group of soldiers.

Not concerned with the "supernatural".

[robertguttman · 9/10 · 7 June 2019]

Just for the record, "The Ghost Army" has nothing whatever to do with the supernatural. The "Ghost Army" of the title was a very real, if very secret, unit of the WW-II U.S Army. However, "The Ghost Army" is not the usual WW-II war movie, either. The members of the "Ghost Army" were not hard-core warriors, but talented artists and brilliant technicians. In modern parlance, it would be said that the mission of the "Ghost Army" was to "disseminate disinformation". In point of fact, their job was to pretend to be a much larger Army force then they actually were in an effort to distract the attention of the enemy away from the location and activities of the real soldiers. All of the members of the Ghost Army understood that, if they did their work properly, then they would draw fire from the enemy. How they carried out their missions, and how successful their efforts were, is the subject of this fascinating documentary.

Fascinating and shows what can be done with flair and imagination

[peterbreis · 8/10 · 11 August 2016]

Fascinating and shows what can be done with flair and imagination.

The only thing that was lacking was due to the usual American self-obsession, their monocular view of themselves at the centre of the universe.

There was a brief mention that the British had requested the unit but no mention of why or the background. That was because it was repeating what the British had done very successfully long before in North Africa against Rommel. Right down to the inflatable tanks, trucks, false railway tracks, airfields, radio broadcasts etc. Everything.

It was the British who had the actual imaginative leaps that created deceptions like this, as well as "The Man Who Never Was", the incredibly subtle propaganda/psychology division that dropped false "Nazi" literature and "Nazi Propaganda" on German troops.

It was also the British who created the "Funnies", weird contraptions that made their and the Canadian landings on D-Day so successful, whilst the Americans got themselves into immense trouble after having spurned the "crazy" ideas.

This documentary would have been so much more complete and generous to all concerned, if it had shown the long running deceptions that had been going on the entire war, on all sides, not just when the Americans finally showed up and took the credit for winning a long grinding war already half over and largely won on the Eastern Front.

None of this is to detract from what the The Ghost Army did, but contrary to what the film purports to show, they were not alone, they were not the first, and it was not even their idea.

Why is this not a movie?

[Ric-7 · 10/10 · 2 September 2014]

I was reminded of Clooney's "The Monuments Men." As much as I liked Clooney's movie, I think these guys and their story would be ideal material for a film. The Monuments Men involved the plan to save priceless art, but Frankenheimer had already used that theme for The Train. On first impression, the camouflage brigade seems almost a parody of The Dirty Dozen. The idea of assembling a squad of specialists, drawn from professionals in the fine arts, is something new. A war movie featuring various artists, art directors and designers for film and theatre, recording engineers, not only to create camouflage but later to create decoys, plus it all being TRUE--how could such a film not make a mint? I totally loved this documentary, and I am very grateful that the recollections of many of the participants were recorded at last. It is a shame that their story was not told sooner.

One of the neatest WWII documentaries you can find.

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 17 January 2015]

"The Ghost Army" is a very exciting and weird WWII documentary. Although I turned it on Netflix very, very late at night, my wife and I couldn't stop watching until the film was over...at this was long after 3am! It's the story of a unit that is seldom talked about in other films--the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. The name gives no indication of their purpose--which was to deliberately confuse and trick the Germans. So, instead of killing the enemy, their job was to spread disinformation to aid the Allied war effort. Using fake radio broadcasts, loud recordings of troops who really were not there and inflatable tanks and trucks, the unit was able to convince the enemy that troops were concentrated where they actually weren't, that the D-Day attack was about to occur at a different location and saved thousands of lives. See this film and you'll understand why it's so interesting...but it is. It's a well written and fascinating film throughout.

By the way, one reviewer said that this story would make a terrific film and I would agree. With films like "Monuments Men" talking about other previously unsung Allied contributions, why not one about these tricksters?

a wow of a documentary

[blanche-2 · 10/10 · 4 November 2017]

Narrated by Peter Coyote, "Ghost Army" from 2013 tells the story of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. These World War II soldiers were given the job of creating a fake traveling army unit. This was in order to deceive the Germans into thinking they were going to attack in a certain area and that there were more soldiers than there actually were.

Totally amazing. These men created 90-pound rubber tanks and trucks, built camouflage, used sound fakery of tank movement and other troop sounds, and fake radio signals. This mission was kept secret for over 40 years after the war.

Since many of these men were artists, they sketched the people and the places in their spare time, giving viewers a good idea of not only their talent but how they lived. Some of these soldiers became well known: Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, wildlife artist Arthur Singer, and Art Kane.

This is a fantastic documentary and a must see.

My favorite part was watching four soldiers lifting a rubber tank. One of the soldiers wondered what a German would think if he ever saw tons of an army tank being easily lifted. He planned to say, "Americans are very strong."

There has got to be a movie here...

[dana_62 · 10/10 · 7 December 2018]

Has Spielberg seen this documentary? I can't imagine what he could do with this story. It's more about the power of a creative mind than brute force. Until I saw this, I hadn't heard anything about these men. I never heard their story in school

Wow wow wow... little did we know..

[matthijsalexander · 10/10 · 12 October 2017]

How does one rate a documentary? How can this documentary not be a 10? if 10 is excellent.

What a story, what a stroke of genius and, oddly, how awesome to learn that hippies, artists and such people that are generally opposed to war seem to have had a crucial part in it.

The Ghost Army is a tale of deception and ingenuity, a must watch documentary!

The Best of Broadway

[fredit-43004 · 10/10 · 11 September 2023]

I have had the pleasure of working with theatrical designers and artists, including scenic designers, special effects, costume designers and sound technicians. On occasion I was connected with shows which were "taken on the road." I can't describe how much I enjoyed this film, even after several viewings. This film should dispel forever the notion that artists and show people cannot contribute to the war effort. I especially enjoyed the remark by one artist that he spent his spare time doing watercolors. And there is one drawing of French farmers and a tank--I won't spoil it. Totally priceless.

Great documentary of the Ghost Army

[Bernie4444 · 6 March 2024]

The narrator is Peter Coyote who is known for his grate narrator skills. Music by Matt Mariano supports this presentation and does not get in the way of the action or narration. This is a Rick Beyer film.

Unfortunately, this is in a sound bite format. A little teaser form one commenter to the next and back again, instead of letting one person at a time tell the whole tale. The information is fascinating. However, the presentation style is annoying.

I am surprised and pleased at the size and diversity of the interviewees: Gen. Wesley Clark (ret) former NATO Commander Pvt. Ed Biow Camouflage Unit Pvt. Ned Harris Camouflage Unit Lt. Dick Syracuse Sonic Unit Roy Eichhorn US Army Historian Sgt. Victor Dowd Camouflage Unit Cpl. Jack Masey Camouflage Unit Cpl. Arthur Shilstone Camouflage Unit Lt. Gil Seltzer Camouflage Unit Pvt. Joe Spence Camouflage Unit Sgt. Jack McGlynn Sonic Unit Pvt. Harold Flinn Sonic Unit Cpl. Al Albetecht Sonic Unit Sgt. Spike Berry Radio Unit Sgt. Stan Nance Radio Unit Lt. Bob Conrad Radio Unit Lt. Bernie Mason Camouflage Unit Lt. John Jarvie Camouflage Unit Lt. John Walker Sonic Unit Pvt. Bill Sayles Camouflage Unit

Watch them design and blow up tanks with air compressors.

See inflatable soldiers (like the co-pilot in the movie "Airplane") Hear them doing something in the bushes.

Watch as they deceive with radio with over 100 operators.

What, not phony tank tracts?

Even counterfeit commanders.

Sometime this may backfire.

If you saw the movie Patton with George C. Scott, they did a smaller version of this in England. What is interesting is that Patton actually did use the ghost army in September 1944 near Metz.

One plus of this documentary is that they displayed the sketches made by the artists. The other plus was finding out how many became popular artists after the war.

Hopefully, this documentary will be done again without the sound bite format.