The WW2 Invasion of Denmark - "April 9th" Movie Review

[@delta_bravo956]

What I really liked about the film is how the light tanks and armoured cars were portrayed in similar light to how the big cats are portrayed in late-war settings: menacing, threatening, absolutely terrifying. I feel light tanks are often overshadowed by their successors, especially the Stuart compared to the Sherman. I'd love to see more films where the "main boss battle at the end" is "just" a Stuart or Pz. II or T-60 or something similar, not-so-threatening in modern context but very much so in the movie's context.

[@billlexington5788]

It factors into thinking with groundpounders sometimes. If the enemy has tanks (even outdated tanks), I want a friendly tank around.

[@christopherwang4392]

The Danish actor who played the platoon leader, Pilou Asbæk, would go on to play Euron Greyjoy in _Game of Thrones_ (2011-2019) and Captain Wafner in _Overlord_ (2018).

[@ak9989]

Lucky guy had sex with Cersi Lannister😂

[@roadstarman58]

When I watched it, I couldn't place where I'd seen him before until the credits at the end. After seeing him in this role compared to Game of Thrones, let's just say he cleans up well! He's also in 1864.

[@tombenjamin9924]

@@roadstarman58 I've just started 1864!

[@ThommyofThenn]

Poor guy having to play the neutered, boring tv version of Euron. People would have lost their minds if he had played the real character though

[@muhammadcalvin8281]

​@@roadstarman58his performances in 1864 was quite memorable for being the most scumbag antagonist ever existed. Although in his defense, with how awful the entire miniseries is it's quite impressive 😐

[@ianmcclellan7695]

Nice review of what’s one of my favourite European war movies. I’d say ‘April 9th’ is part of a trend of more realistic movies set around the Second World War by European film-makers. Films like ‘The King’s Choice’ from Norway (set about the same time as this movie) and others from Poland, Finland and the Baltic nations are exposing audiences to aspects of the war not previously seen. It goes to show that films can be made of a high quality without a big budget or feeling the need for over the top storylines. I’d also say that it pushes back against some of the terrible straight-to-stream films being made in the US and UK. There’s more films due out in Denmark and Norway in the coming year looking at other wartime stories so hopefully the quality trend will continue. Thanks for all you do Johnny, you do a fabulous job of sharing war movies from across the world. Best wishes from the UK.

[@JohnnyJohnsonHistory]

Thanks, man. I really appreciate the support 🙏

[@itsyaboyjigglyjimmy]

Im danish, despite us not lasting long, (mainly surrendered to contain the amount of deaths), im still proud of my brave people, and soldiers!

[@Etaoinshrdlu69]

mmmm danish

[@fridrekr7510]

It wasn't the Danish soldiers who decided to surrender so fast, it was the leftist politicians who had also destroyed the military with disarmaments before the war. Danes went on to serve with distinction on both sides of the war. Anders Lassen won the Victoria Cross with the British Special Boat Service, and three Danes won the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on the Eastern Front.

[@yollmanontherun9074]

Good you should be!

[@eamonnclabby7067]

An interesting choice, I grew up reading the Sven Hassel books, well worth aread...cheers Johnny..E😊😊

[@fridrekr7510]

@peterSV11 That’s not true. The Danish National Socialists didn’t support the occupation and they got very few votes both before and during the occupation when they received a lot of German funding. The Germans primarily collaborated with the big mainstream parties like the Social Democrats and Radicals, who were also responsible for us getting occupied in the first place. 12.000 Danish citizens volunteered for the Waffen SS, 6.000 were accepted of which 1.500 were from the German minority. SS Regiment 24 Danmark received a lot of Romanian replacements, which caused some tension, so they could definitely have used more Danes. And several Danish SS officers had tried to fight the German invasion, but were ordered to surrender by their superiors. They only later joined the Waffen-SS due to anti-Communism and because the official Denmark collaborated with Germany anyway. They weren’t pro-German, Nationalism isn’t a big tent like Communism is.

[@duglife2230]

This is honestly one of my top 10 WWII movies. You can almost feel the tension from the moment they get the wake up call in the middle of the night until they first hear the sound of the German convoy approaching and know it's time for battle. And that feeling gets repeated multiple times throughout the film. The final battle, while nothing over the top, is somehow one of the most memorable in any WWII film simply because of how uniquely and (I would suspect) accurately the urban warfare and squadron tactics are portrayed!

[@ak9989]

The Danish actor was also in 1864 a Danish war drama about the war of 64.. Do a review of it next. Battle of Mysunde and Dyybol. The battle scenes are incredible

[@MayumiC-chan9377]

i am amazed by the helmets worn by different countries i saw this movie last year when i raided my husband’s collection of films and yes women watch these films too. My husband owns a Krag Jørgenson rifle and i was amazed it was in our rifle safe.

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Mrs C,s da served in the Chindits in Burma in WW2, they wore slouch/ Bush hats with a wide brim , he suffered bouts of malaria all his life...RIP...we still have his sword bayonet and unit badges..best wishes from the wirral peninsula...E...😊

[@andrewstravels2096]

April 9th is excellent!!! If you haven’t seen it yet, you have too!!! Personally, I think it’s my favorite foreign language film that isn’t German. I highly, highly recommend it!!!

[@ThommyofThenn]

Also taking on mechanized infantry on a bicycle is next level hard. And I agree the shaky cam just comes off as "edgy gritty tm" starterpack. Nice to see the armoured vehichles looking pretty realistic to the earlier war era.(if any tank history knowers can comment on this please do) especially those little sd.Kfz 222 ones

[@RX552VBK]

Thanks for the recommendation, J. Because I write, and a long time lover of cinema, I especially enjoy war films with “silent moments” which I read was more common than actual combat action. When the fighting did start it was brutal and bloody. A gentleman whose house I painted was a WW2 vet and fought at Guadalcanal-we used to speak for hours. He told me the majority of their time was eating, swimming, writing and receiving letters and jerking off (lol). But when the fighting would start-he said it wasn’t like the movies. It’s pure horror (his words), rips you apart mentally if not physically. That is true war.

[@deciBit]

Excellent review. Captured spirit of the movie nicely. Thanks.

[@aaronjohn6586]

So appreciate you reviewing and showing movies from other countries then the US. Check out the movie "Narvik" done in 2022 by Norway.

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Yes an interesting film ,maybe one day someone might do a movie of the Royal Navy hammering the Kreigsmarine in Narvik Fiord and rescuing the British merchant seamen captured by the Graf Spee...shouting into the ship's hold...the navy, s here...😊😊...best wishes from the maritime, music metropolis of Merseyside, home to the Western Approaches museum, where the battle of the Atlantic was planned...E..

[@kellychuang8373]

Really cool and I think this title is shown on TUBI for who knows though then again I have to beware of TUBI as well since the advertising really can get wonky or the people in charge are expecting too much so who knows may get it or no.

[@TellySavalas-or5hf]

Sven hassel was first a Dane and then a German soldier. Postwar he wrote many war novels.

[@F_Bardamu]

Hey Johnny, congrats for your wide selection of quality war movies. One question: how do you get to watch them? Some of the films you review seem to be nowhere to be found.

[@tombenjamin9924]

Johnny, what would you say is the least represented war 'story' in modern media? The Korean War is getting a lot more recognition following the increase of Korean cinema and with April 9th (Danish), Blizzard of Souls (Latvian), Narvik (Norwegian) also showing the stories portrayed by those countries own cinema helps show the reality. I don't know many Films/Series about Burma or Malta in WW2.

[@JohnnyJohnsonHistory]

hmm that's an interesting question. I'd like to see something quality and comprehensive on the Russian revolution. Would be nice to see a BBC/HBO production on it.

[@MM22966]

Sinhalese-Portuguese War of 1518-1658 Lol.

[@Stratocus]

Thank you for another film review/recommendation. I've been expanding my viewing to include several of the films you've suggested and very much appreciate seeing WWII from a different perspective.

[@sartainja]

Superb film that I found few years ago. Give it four out of four stars. A little slow at the start with their bikes but once the action starts, it full on. You understand what they are fighting for in this film.

[@semianimations]

Super cool to see you review a Danish ww2 movie 😁🤌🤘

[@Alex_Guy1011]

Trying to repel a mechanized assault using just bolt-action rifles, let alone only light machine guns during WW2 would be nightmarish for any small country like Denmark.

[@trevdestroyer8209]

German infantry also mostly used bolt actions rifles

[@Alex_Guy1011]

@@trevdestroyer8209 That isn't the point i'm trying to make. The Danish were outgunned, outnumbered and outclassed 10 to 1, lacking everything else the Germans had. No proper armor, no proper air force, no dedicated artillery even. Either you are a poor man's attempt of Wehraboo trolling, or just don't know their own history.

[@alanburke1893]

Possibly one of the best war movies ever made👍 thanks Johnny

[@patriotenfield3276]

Hello Johnny . Will Recommend you to Try " The Lost Strait " which is an Iranian movie based on The Iran Iraq war.

[@titanuranus3095]

One of the few instances of the film being longer than the war.

[@Rex1987]

I like the movie as well. There is this overall vibe of "they did what they could, with what they had" It does show some of the pacifistic policy that was in place in interwar years in Denmark under Social democratic and The Danish Social Liberal Party (det radikale venstre). As much as people online might repeat how fast Denmark was defeated, it much more interesting to go into the historical context for Denmark policy at the time. There are several reasons for this: 1) the belive in international organsations ablity to handle conflicts. After ww1 there was a wave of pacifism and a understandable wish for no more war. And there was the build up of organsations like the leage of nations. The Danish Social Liberal Party was very much part of this movement. As much as we can see the foolishness to the idea of "peace in our time" this was very much a way of thinking back then. 2) the loss of land in 1864 had how futile millitary conflict with a german state could be for some danish leaders. The loss of the 2nd Schleswig war (or the war of 1864) where Denmark have to give off large parts of its territory - specially the area called Sønderjylland/ Southern Schleswig - and much of its population it had a deep effect on danish self understanding and identity. Denmark became a "little state" (småstat) where the logic in terms of foreign policy was trying to be neutral and dont provoke the major powers (like Germany) since Denmark was too small to really make any difference. Southern Schleswig was only reunited with Denmark after WW1 in 1920. But not by military action from danish side - no, it was done by 2 peaceful democratic referendums. (something that proved to many the idea of peachful negotation and referendums ie point 1 in this post) Mind you that where the movie takes place is also in southern jutland. They very same area where Danmark and germany have had so long and bitter rivalies. But the loss of the 2nd Schleswig war was still fresh in the minds of serveral danes and they wanted avoid to repeat that humiliation. ps: did you know that the special danish police force, The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, conducted a gurilla war against german weather stations in Greenland. This went on from 1942-1944. Greenland is a good place to predict what the weather will be in Europe - which is vital for planning a seaborn invasion. This is a lesser known part of danish resistance.

[@fridrekr7510]

Denmark was ready, it was 100% the Social Democrats and Radicals that sold us out. We had a massive security force during WW1 that kept us out of the war, and the heavy disarmament didn't begin until the 1930s. Even then, historians estimate that Denmark could have lasted long enough (a few days) in 1940 to prevent the German invasion from happening in the first place, if the army had been mobilised and been allowed to dig in. Many of the people who were later villainised for joining Waffen SS etc. would absolutely have fought the Germans had they been allowed by the politicians and commanders. But since their own proved to be traitors, they felt they might as well join the Germans in fighting against the Communists who had also undermined Denmark. We also had the opportunity to get all of Slesvig back after WW1, but instead our traitor politicians just decided to hold the plebiscite that the Prussians had promised (but didn't carry out) in 1864, long after many Danes had emigrated to America or moved north to avoid German persecution. Today they continue to destroy our military to the point, that they couldn't even defend a single military installation if they pooled together the whole army. But don't worry, the brigade will be ready in 2030, oh wait, now it it's 2034. It's amazing that people keep supporting these parties who have continually betrayed and undermined us for the last century.

[@erikdk321]

Small correction: northern slesvig is Sønderjylland and was (mostly) reunited with Denmark whereas southern slesvig was lost.

[@fridrekr7510]

@@erikdk321 No, that's a modern distinction. Sønderjylland was synonymous with Slesvig historically. That's why the reunited area was initially called De Sønderjyske Landsdele, to emphasise that it only partially covered Sønderjylland.

[@bernardobiritiki]

@@fridrekr7510 Why the hell would you want to fight longer? The chance of winning has the same ,most likely not surrendering would have resulted in mass bombing and a much brutal occupation. Look what happend to the Dutch, and the Greeks, cities razed and mass famines under occupations, and they had a much better change to win the denmark ever did.

[@erikdk321]

@@fridrekr7510 My bad, then. Thank you for the correction :)

[@gypsydildopunks7083]

Thanks for the heads up. Love obscure war movies.

[@williambranch4283]

Denmark did good. My Danish ancestors came to America around 1900.

[@SuneTheMairn]

There's actually quite a few good ww2 movies from Denmark. I always loved "flammen & citronen" "drengene fra Skt Petri" and "skyggen i mine øjne" all authentic and historically accurate

[@NoireBIanc]

Really enjoyed the movie. Learned something about what happened to denmark in ww2. Saw bicycle troops for the first time in movies. Really enjoy the movies that portray minor nations in ww2

[@NightmareGbg]

Great movie, only one thing bugged me and that was that the Germans used MG42's. And thats pretty good.

[@weybye91]

That bugged me to, and it's a rarity to see so faithfully historical movies

[@horrigan495]

I had no idea this film existed... Thanks

[@thyengineer2859]

Feels weird watching someone recommend a film I grew up on as a Danish person, we watched this movie and referenced it a lot in school specifically during history when it was about WW2.

[@JohnnyJohnsonHistory]

It's a good film! Gotta make sure it gets out to everyone outside of Denmark.

[@_-KR-_]

So I just watched the movie, and wow was it good. Great reccomend Johnny! This was harrowing, and will likely stay with me stronger than most other ww2 movies.

[@JohnnyJohnsonHistory]

Awesome, thanks for letting me know. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Very good film.

[@domm138]

love this movie WW2-related media from the nordic countries is kinda overlooked but still excellent speaking of which, have you considered doing a video on King's Choice?

[@banzaibobA7V]

Superb film. It's great to see the early days of the conflict portrayed for a change.

[@OasisTypeZaku]

I really want to see this movie now. I also want to see the Finnish movie about the STuG platoon. I've seen The Beast (anybody should see that movie, it's a Beast of a film😂) and it was great.

[@TheFirefox]

To get a view of the opposite end of the Danish portion of WW2, I recommend “Land of Mine” (English title).

[@ak9989]

Good movie. I actually have a real Danish 1940 helmet. It's really heavy and so goofy looking. But hey I'm up to 155 Helmets now

[@Cyberleader135]

155? Thats an incredible collection

[@ak9989]

​@@Cyberleader135I started in 1972 at 7 years old😂. My uncle German helmet and my dad's usmc ww2 helmet😊, cheers

[@luispalacios2525]

Send link to watch online

[@evancrum6811]

It's a FANTASTIC movie. Shows real combat and Dutch soldiers doing what they can. I wish more movies were shown about the Battle Of France besides Dunkirk along with more Dutch movies.

[@m.nielsen1539]

They are Danish soldiers though, not Dutch :)

[@RevOwOlutionary]

The Dutch are from the Netherlands, the Danish are from Denmark.

[@MM22966]

Bwuh!!! Johnny's real face!!!

[@JohnnyJohnsonHistory]

🥸

[@ThommyofThenn]

0:05 dam for some reason that costume really scares me. It's the helmet i think

[@kellychuang8373]

I can say good review and also in other news beware of social media now especially with FB otherwise known as META and Instagram both just seem dead and the higher ups thought of doing shady things and seems like ripping people off there.

[@kellychuang8373]

Thanks JJ and with the FB and Instagram situation it seems mostly dead and divided like East and West Germany or any of the other countries that's divided is described only this is by operating system anyway really Google it those higher ups there really made shady moves there and may want to deal some move like in the movie Dick with nasty signs.

[@kellychuang8373]

Though sorry I maybe in trouble but the trouble with FB/META and Instagram is said to happen last week on Tuesday November of this year and well just look up parts asking about Facebook being down since I really can't link up where that is and also I think that movie is going on in TUBI though don't know how long it will be.

[@kellychuang8373]

Then again may have to be wary of TUBI too since it's streaming and advertising really needs to deal with timing and amount really not good dealing with 6 ads at the beginning of a program.

[@weybye91]

Only problem I have with the movie as a history buff, is that the Germans are using mg42s mixed in with the 34s and not haveing MG08s

[@JohnnyJohnsonHistory]

Good eye! You are right!

[@wiktorberski9272]

Really good movie. I have watched it and really enjoyed it. To some extent, it is similar, at least in my opinion, to Narvik (2022). And "bla bla bla" was really untypical :)

[@evancrum6811]

Would love for you to do Japans Longest Day...i havent seen it and i want to.

[@JohnnyJohnsonHistory]

That's high on my list. A personal favorite of mine.

[@evancrum6811]

@@JohnnyJohnsonHistory I still can't get my hands on it which is why I'm hoping you do a review.

[@Gman-441]

6 hours, reminds me of how I last 6 seconds in bed

[@TheDeputy173]

I used scenes from this movie in my most recent music video and I'm glad it exited

[@AlexandrZaytsevet]

Y'lnow, I didn't know what to expect given the range of topics discussed on this channel, but having Johnny turn out to be a chistled BJ Blaskowitz-like US Army propaganda poster soldier isn't all that surprising.

[@JohnnyJohnsonHistory]

lol that's an interesting compliment. I'm honestly just a Canadian geek who likes history. My channel would be more general history and less military history but it's what the people want. =)

[@zep7340]

I must admit it's a tad embarrasing to see how poor our defense was. It was a joke really. But at least it prevented bloodshed. The Germans had no need to use real force.

[@Shroud83]

Best movies are those that "leave room to breath" e.g. the quite moments are the ones that give weight to the story. I cannot stand non-stop action movies. Not a war movie but that's the reason why I hate most of the Transformer movies... just one explosion after another, one fight after another etc. You get numb very quickly.

[@bobmetcalfe9640]

Not just bicycles, but I guarantee bicycles with only one gear. 😁

[@WilliamAndrewPhilipBodie]

Johnny look up the war in Denmark 1864. there is also a tv show about it. made in 2014 😀

[@JohnnyJohnsonHistory]

I've seen it! It's great. Might have to give it a review sometime. Not enough movies or series covering that period.

[@WilliamAndrewPhilipBodie]

@@JohnnyJohnsonHistory I was born and raised in Fredericia. where the Germans where stopped. we had to sing In 1864 once a week in school. to this day there is a big party in the city every 6 of July.

[@MBP1918]

It is a great movie.

[@psimonsen123]

And here 80+ years later again the army is in a sorry state due to clueless politicians and yes men

[@erikasan3299]

M16.

[@patriotenfield3276]

There are some other movies , unfortunately some of them are banned by KZbin for political reasons and will land you in trouble. But if you are interested , The Movie name is "Best in Hell". It is a Russian War movie made by PMC Wagner on the Current Russo-Ukraine war, and by far is deemed as "the most realistic war movie" .

[@Man-with_a-crooked_glance]

Look at those ridiculous danish helmets

[@lancegoodthrust546]

Because they're average soldiers is exactly WHY I like it better than Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers. Those are just collage pieces with overused music and a little bit of the over acting . April 9th is about trying to give you a mood.

[@geordiedog1749]

I thought this was a really good anti war film.

[@skylongskylong1982]

It took just three hours to overrun Denmark by enemy forces in 1940. If you are a Danish Citizen, and that does not make you volunteer to join the Danish Home Guard today, you are doomed to repeat history, but the enemy this time is the enemy within of a religious minority.

[@paintnamer6403]

I'm making a comment bla bla bla

[@ak9989]

I can tell you having been in two wars 91 and 04, it can be filled with boredom. 4 months of waiting around but when the first artillery round hits nearby then it gets tense and it's for real.

[@Alex_Guy1011]

Trying to repel a mechanized assault using just bolt-action rifles, let alone only light machine guns during WW2 would be nightmarish for any small country like Denmark.