A Bridge Too Far

Rating:
Summary: Chronicle of an Epic Failure.
Review: "A Bridge Too Far" (1977) is high budget "war reconstruction" movie and not the best of its class. This said, nevertheless an enjoyable film, it is done in the mold of its predecessors "The Longest Day" (1962) and "Is Paris Burning?" (1966).

The story, based on Cornelius Ryan's book, the same author of "The Longest Day", is constructed as a mosaic of scenes occurring at both sides of the confronting forces... Showing all the main actors in action, ranging from Generals and Marshals thru Privates to Civilians. Each national group speaks its own language, as in "The Longest Day", giving more realism to the story.
A disaster is always difficult to depict in earnest when you are part of the losing side. Something of this kind permeates thru the entire movie conspiring against its excellence.

The cast is a great collection of stars performing at their best. We may point out Sean Connery (true to his character), James Caan, Gene Hackman (outstanding), Robert Redford (praying on the boat), Laurence Oliver (civilian doctor immersed in a blood bathe) and thousand of extras.
Director Richard Attenborough has done a correct job, but not his best. He will give his real measure with "Gandhi" (1982).
Production effort is outstanding; battles are shown with detail and accuracy. The Paratroops drop, specially, is remarkable.
A good War film that deserves to be seen.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.


Rating:
Summary: A GREAT WAR MOVIE
Review: "A Bridge Too Far" is like "the Longest Day", but of the 1970's.
Incorperating great actors like Sean Connery, Robert Redford, Michael Caine, and Anthony Hopkins, plus a few others.

This picture is a very accurate and graphic look on Operation Market-Garden, a plan that horribly failed, of the 3 original objective bridges that were to be captured only one was held. Of the 10,000 British Paratroopers of the 1st Airborne who jumped into Holland, only 2000 men came out battle ready. The division sustained 80% casualties. Montgomery called the plan 90% complete when the battle was over. Of course he was 100% wrong. He was a good general fighting Rommel in Egypt, but his career would never get any higher than that.

At some points in the movie, scenes get a little slow sometimes, but mostly it is about the Americans and British soldiers who sacrificed their lives in this little known operation.

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: A Bridge Too Far is a great movie. Its about Opperation Market Garden from World War 2. Theres not a lot of battle scenes. The quality of the movie is really good for a 1977 movie. It is more of a documentary than a movie. If you like war movies you should watch A Bridge Too Far.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Biggest Gambles in Military History
Review: Following the success of the Normandy invasion of June, 1944, the Allies launched operation Market Garden the following September. This operation was an attempt to put an early end to the war and have the boys home for Christmas. The plan was for the Allies, including the crack American 82nd and 101st airborne divisions and the British 1st airborne and XXX corps, to advance up a narrow 64 mile long road in Holland to the town of Arnhem, where the forces would turn east, cross the Rhine, and smash the German industrial area in the Ruhr valley.

However, a combination of faulty intelligence, battlefield politics, bad luck, and poor weather led to disaster beyond the Allies' darkest fears. The Allies thought that they would be facing 2nd line German troops when in reality, they were parachuting onto two fully equipped front line panzer divisions. The British airborne troops in Arnhem were supposed to be reinforced in two days, but after nine days, the British were completely surrounded and forced to surrender.

The movie was shot on the actual battlefield locations, and at the time was one of the costliest films ever made. What makes this movie so special is its all-star cast. A who's who of actors appear, including James Caan (Sgt. Eddie Dohun), Michael Caine (Col. Joe Vandeleur), Sean Connery (Gen. Robert Urquhart), Gene Hackman (Gen. Stanislaw Sosabowski), Anthony Hopkins (Lt. Col. John Frost), Laurence Olivier (Dr. Spaander), Ryan O'Neil (Gen. James "Jumpin Jim" Gavin), Robert Redford (Maj. Julian Cook), and Maximillian Schell (Lt. Gen. Wilhelm Bittrich). With 35,000 men, 300 miles, nine days, and six bridges, Market Garden was the largest airborne assault in military history.

I highly recommend this excellent movie. The acting is first rate and the painstaking efforts to assure authenticity and realism are clearly evident throughout the film. Watch and see how a combination of elements conspired to cause a disaster that the Allies never expected.

Rating:
Summary: A Bridge Too Far For Those Who Love War Movies
Review: It is said that the producers paid each of the international stars a million dollars apiece to act in A BRIDGE TOO FAR, one of the most vital and impressive war sagas ever made. Usually I dislike Richard Attenborough as a director, but here he really runs with the stick and delivers the goods. It is a fast, quick-paced epic with an intimate feel and a master's touch for displaying the very best of Allied bravery and German cunning. Dirk Bogarde, the underrated, now nearly forgotten star of many bisexual and art movies, here turns up playing what is essentially the Bad General role; dashing, understated and elegant, you feel that he is really living the part. Playing the real life husband of romance writer Daphne Du Maurier, Bogarde is alternately catty and precise. Sean Connery isn't in it very much, but he gives his lines a nice brogue. I was also impressed by the Americans Robert Redford and Ryan O'Neal who, in their only film together, show that not only the British people were valiant in the Market Garden operation.

I also liked Lawrence Olivier as the Dutch doctor overseeing Liv Ullmann in helping the sick and wounded. It is probably the best part Olivier had in his later movies, miles better than THE BETSY or A LITTLE ROMANCE, and as for Liv Ullmann, her part was good too and she looks like an angel of mercy, as she tries to help all the suffering ones of World War II. If she had appeared in more movies (in English), the world would have been a gentler place. Funny to think about fame and how so many of the people who were great stars back then, aren't so big any more. Of course Olivier and Bogarde have died, but would you give O'Neal, or Ullmann, or Elliott Gould, a million dollars today to be in your movie? But Hackman, Connery, Caine, and Hopkins are still stars, kind of. And Robert Redford is in a class by himself.

Rating:
Summary: a sprawling, beautifully filmed epic
Review: This is an impressive adaptation of Cornelius Ryan's bestseller about the disastrous events that took place in September 1944, where the mission to take and hold the bridges that bordered Holland and Germany was unsuccessful, and human toll tragic, with approximately 8,000 casualties in the allied forces, and an equal number of Germans falling in battle. The script by William Goldman and direction by Richard Attenborough holds the many threads of this piece of complex history together, and makes it understandable to the viewer; so much went wrong, from the incorrect, misinterpreted or ignored intelligence, to the basic flaws in the plan.
The introduction before the titles is fascinating, with marvelous archive footage to illustrate a narration of aspects of the war, and the planning of "Operation Market-Garden".

The megastar cast is too numerous to mention, but standouts are Sean Connery as Major General Roy Urquart, James Caan, Michael Caine, and Edward Fox, who won 2 international awards for Supporting Actor. Maximilian Schell is excellent as a German general, and when the Nazi side of the story is told, the actors speak German, with English subtitles, adding to the realism of the film.
The cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth is spectacular, some of it very innovative, and with intense beauty; a rousing score by John Addison also adds a lot to the film.
"A Bridge Too Far" was Cornelius Ryan's last big best-seller, and no cost was spared in this ambitious production, costing $ 26 million, a huge amount in 1977.
A must see for anyone who appreciates history on film. Total running time is 176 minutes.


Rating:
Summary: Excellent war film
Review: I can't help but contrast this fine film with garbage like "Pearl Harbor." Director Richard Attenborough and screenwriter William Goldman were clearly interested in telling the story of the failed Operation Market-Garden in a manner that honors the event and the lives that were lost. It is a serious attempt to present the context in which the battle was fought, its strategy, the human cost, and the reasons for failure. Although there are certainly central characters, all are overshadowed by the massive scale of the conflict itself. Characters come and go as the story requires, not because the filmmakers think they need a romantic triangle or some such contrivance to hold our attention.

This big film literally features "a cast of thousands." Lots of big stars (ie, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Michael Caine, Robert Redford, James Caan, Gene Hackman-and that's only a partial list) play roles both big and small. This film knows how to use movie stars; their screen presence punches up relatively underdeveloped roles and their recognizability helps us keep the large cast of characters straight in our heads.


Rating:
Summary: Too Many Stars For This Film To Go Wrong
Review: Richard Attenborough's 1977 adaptation of Cornelius Ryan's novel covering Operation Market-Garden in WWII: General Montgomery's audacious plan to capture key bridges in Holland with a major airborne offensive while armored divisions drive through towards Arnheim, the last bridge between Holland and Germany.

The film has been criticized unfairly because of its overwhelming cast of superstars and lack of character development. Certainly, the complexity of the story and the quantity of important characters doesn't allow for a deep character study such as what you would find in 'Apocalypse Now.' The movie however gives a complete picture of Montgomery's boggled operation from beginning to end. The characters are fleshed out enough to make them believable and to give the story substance. The movie isn't so much about the characters but about the poor planning and foiled execution of the campaign as a whole: the characters serve to represent the command and tactical units involved in the operation. The inclusion of brilliant stars for these roles was exactly what was needed to give their brief parts a lot of punch. The batlle scenes are good for their time, the Germans actually speak German, and the all-star cast sweeps the audience away into all the triumphs and failures of Operation Market Garden.

Again, with an all-star cast starring Michael Caine, James Caan, Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Dirk Bogarde, Sean Connery, Liv Ullmann, Ryan O'Neil, Maximillian Schell, and others, how can you go wrong?



Rating:
Summary: This film deserves a better DVD edition
Review: A Bridge Too Far is a massive undertaking, much like the true-life operation on which it was based, code named Market-Garden. Allied troops were parachuted into the Netherlands to seize and hold bridges to aid a rapid advance by British armoured divisions. Faulty intellegence caused the lightly-armed British 1st Airborne to be dropped into Arnhem in the midst of two SS Panzer divisions recently transferred there for R&R. They were 60 miles behind enemy lines, expected to hold the Rhine bridge in Arnhem, which became the titular bridge too far. Most of the division was killed or taken prisoner.

These facts are historical, and although I have not read Cornelius Ryan's book, I have read a number of histories on WWII, and the operation seems to be portrayed accurately. In fact, the reason to buy the movie is to watch the strategic and tactical manouevering of the troops as they do battle. Also, great performanes are put forth by Elliot Gould, Gene Hackman, et al. Unfortunately, at 3 hours, it's a ponderous affair, often dwelling on the mundane, such as 10 minutes of footage of airplanes taking off. Presumably this is to emphasize the scale of the operation, but really, we didn't need to see 6 shots of a single plane zooming over the camera! A ruthless editor could improve the film greatly by cutting out the excess.

But the great disappointment of this DVD edition is not the film but the overall DVD package. There are lots of documentaries out there - surely one could have been included on a film of this importance? Likewise, although Cornelius Ryan is dead, why not bring in a military historian to do a commentary track? John Keegan, Gwynne Dyer, or Victor Davis Hanson, to name a few, would be candidates for a commentary of this type.