Rating: 
Summary: Realistic portrayal of a daring action at the end of WW2...
Review: "Bridge at Remagen" is a fictionalized account of one of the more famous coups by the US Army in WW2. In March, 1945 a task force from the 9th armored division managed to seize a bridge over the Rhine, Hitler's last natural defense line. Although it doesn't follow the historical work of the same name, this movie captures the flavor of those desperate days, the speed of the advance of the American Army and the desparation of the Whermacht, trying to buy time for Hitler's miracle weapons to take effect. George Segal does a great job of portraying Lt. Hartman, the battle-weary comander that seizes the bridge. Likewise Robert Vaughn is excellent as Major Krueger, the commander of the bridge's defenders. Major Krueger attempts to keep the bridge open as long as possible, to allow retreating troops across to the safety of the east bank. A good idea, gone bad when a column of US light tanks suddenly appear shooting up everything in sight. Ben Gazzara portrays the 60's ish anti-hero, SGT Angelo, a nod to the era in which the movie was made(don't want to feel too good about the boys in green) Also Bradford Dillman's glory seeking Major Barnes, the US Battalion commander is the stereotypical, "don't care about anything but my career" commander that probably played well to audiences in the 1960's, but was certainly not typical in the US Army in WW2, from anything I've read. The local for the movie, the bridge and town in Czechoslovakia is incredibly similar to what the Ludendorf Bridge looked like in '45. The equipment and hardware is authentic too, the US forces use M24 tanks and wheeled vehicles that would have been used by a US armored force in '45. The Germans have some inaccurate uniforms, but the vehicles and the 88's on the hilltop look correct. (The 88's may be Russian 85mm AT guns) If you want to learn about this battle, read "A Bridge at Remagen". If you want to watch an entertaining, if not totally accurate portrayal, watch this movie, a must for any war movie fan.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, underrated war film!
Review: "The Bridge at Remagen" is a fictionalized story of the capture of the famous bridge. It was not meant to be a history lesson, but to represent the desperate and confused fighting in the last months of the war in Germany. It uses the story of the bridge as an analogy for what was happening on both sides. For the Americans, the everchanging fluidity of the operational situation due to the deterioration of the Germans caused commanders to constantly push their exhausted soldiers to take advantage of opportunities caused by German confusion. On the German side, sheer and utter chaos with commanders promising subordinates non-existent support and SS execution squads acting as "incentives" for officers and men to follow insane orders. "The Bridge at Remagen" follows the actions of two commanders, a war-weary commander (George Seagal) of an American armored infantry company and a German major (Robert Vaughn) who takes command of Remagen's patchwork garrison. The look of this film is very realistic with a great deal of attention paid to equipment and uniforms. (However, many of the soldiers' haircuts look more like 1969 than 1945.) This is also a movie which does not show the Americans in shining white armor, there are several scenes of American soldiers looting German dead and an ugly incident between the battalion commander, Major Barnes, and Seagal's Lt. Hartman. The Major Barnes character is well done. It would have been extremely easy to portray him as a cardboard villian who puts his career ahead of his men; but the movie does not make his character black and white. It shows several scenes in which he does not relish the orders he is given by his superior (EG Marshall). Barnes has his orders too, which he might not like; but orders are orders. "The Bridge at Remagan" was not the first the WWII movie to show that being a combat soldier was unglamorous and ugly. "A Walk in the Sun" (1945), "Battleground" (1950), "Attack" (1956), and "Hell is for Heroes" (1962) all show WWII for the Amercian combat soldier was not about "gee golly happy to be here fighting the war." "The Bridge at Remagen" did not break new ground; but it did accomplish being a very well-acted and solid war movie. Unfortunately, due to its release in the late 60's and its lack of star power (Poor Robert Vaughn now does commericals for the ambulence chasing law firm of Jacoby & Meyers) it sort of faded into obscurity. It's a shame because this is one very fine war movie.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic portrayal of a daring action at the end of WW2...
Review: "Bridge at Remagen" is a fictionalized account of one of the more famous coups by the US Army in WW2. In March, 1945 a task force from the 9th armored division managed to seize a bridge over the Rhine, Hitler's last natural defense line. Although it doesn't follow the historical work of the same name, this movie captures the flavor of those desperate days, the speed of the advance of the American Army and the desparation of the Whermacht, trying to buy time for Hitler's miracle weapons to take effect. George Segal does a great job of portraying Lt. Hartman, the battle-weary comander that seizes the bridge. Likewise Robert Vaughn is excellent as Major Krueger, the commander of the bridge's defenders. Major Krueger attempts to keep the bridge open as long as possible, to allow retreating troops across to the safety of the east bank. A good idea, gone bad when a column of US light tanks suddenly appear shooting up everything in sight. Ben Gazzara portrays the 60's ish anti-hero, SGT Angelo, a nod to the era in which the movie was made(don't want to feel too good about the boys in green) Also Bradford Dillman's glory seeking Major Barnes, the US Battalion commander is the stereotypical, "don't care about anything but my career" commander that probably played well to audiences in the 1960's, but was certainly not typical in the US Army in WW2, from anything I've read. The local for the movie, the bridge and town in Czechoslovakia is incredibly similar to what the Ludendorf Bridge looked like in '45. The equipment and hardware is authentic too, the US forces use M24 tanks and wheeled vehicles that would have been used by a US armored force in '45. The Germans have some inaccurate uniforms, but the vehicles and the 88's on the hilltop look correct. (The 88's may be Russian 85mm AT guns) If you want to learn about this battle, read "A Bridge at Remagen". If you want to watch an entertaining, if not totally accurate portrayal, watch this movie, a must for any war movie fan.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, underrated war film!
Review: "The Bridge at Remagen" is a fictionalized story of the capture of the famous bridge. It was not meant to be a history lesson, but to represent the desperate and confused fighting in the last months of the war in Germany. It uses the story of the bridge as an analogy for what was happening on both sides. For the Americans, the everchanging fluidity of the operational situation due to the deterioration of the Germans caused commanders to constantly push their exhausted soldiers to take advantage of opportunities caused by German confusion. On the German side, sheer and utter chaos with commanders promising subordinates non-existent support and SS execution squads acting as "incentives" for officers and men to follow insane orders. "The Bridge at Remagen" follows the actions of two commanders, a war-weary commander (George Seagal) of an American armored infantry company and a German major (Robert Vaughn) who takes command of Remagen's patchwork garrison. The look of this film is very realistic with a great deal of attention paid to equipment and uniforms. (However, many of the soldiers' haircuts look more like 1969 than 1945.) This is also a movie which does not show the Americans in shining white armor, there are several scenes of American soldiers looting German dead and an ugly incident between the battalion commander, Major Barnes, and Seagal's Lt. Hartman. The Major Barnes character is well done. It would have been extremely easy to portray him as a cardboard villian who puts his career ahead of his men; but the movie does not make his character black and white. It shows several scenes in which he does not relish the orders he is given by his superior (EG Marshall). Barnes has his orders too, which he might not like; but orders are orders. "The Bridge at Remagan" was not the first the WWII movie to show that being a combat soldier was unglamorous and ugly. "A Walk in the Sun" (1945), "Battleground" (1950), "Attack" (1956), and "Hell is for Heroes" (1962) all show WWII for the Amercian combat soldier was not about "gee golly happy to be here fighting the war." "The Bridge at Remagen" did not break new ground; but it did accomplish being a very well-acted and solid war movie. Unfortunately, due to its release in the late 60's and its lack of star power (Poor Robert Vaughn now does commericals for the ambulence chasing law firm of Jacoby & Meyers) it sort of faded into obscurity. It's a shame because this is one very fine war movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Best war film of the 1960s
Review: A reviewer below rates this as a 5 but for the music; I disagree, I thought the soundtrack was absolutely appropriate for this film.
But to start from the beginning; this is a fictionalized version of the true story set out by Ken Heckler in his book of the same name. The story does manage to stick close to the established facts: in March 1945, a small group of men from the 27th Armored Infantry, part of 9th Armored Division, managed to seize by fluke the last standing bridge over the River Rhine. This movie focusses on the fighting leading up to the bridge seizure, the initial German counter-attacks, and the aftermath for the German commanders on the scene.
The film does a wonderful job of exploring both sides of the issue; the main US characters are the battalion commander, a weary company commander played by Segal in a very good performance, one of his sergeants played by Ben Gazzara, and a trio of German field-grade officers charged with defending the bridge, against the wishes of the supreme command who wants the bridge destroyed. There are other minor characters sprinkled throughout the story as well.
Technically, everything on the screen is vintage World War Two with very, very minor exceptions as far as uniforms go, that are so minor as to not be worth telling. The real battle saw a somewhat different mix of equipment - M26 Pershing tanks, for example, rather than the M24s shown on screen - but again, what was actually on hand is photographed very effectively and realistically.
The pace of the movie is brisk, the dialogue is gritty and realistic without being offensive to sensitive ears; the single use of the "f" word is notably toned down on the audio track and is only mouthed by Gazzara. This does not detract from the realism either, but does make the movie appropriate for family viewing, or would do if not for the obligatory bare breast scene, though this is very brief and should not deter most parents.
Every scene in the movie builds character and there is no phony use of jargon or situations solely for their own sake. There are only two extraneous scenes; the scene mentioned above with a female refugee, and a highly unlikely assault on a river barge.
The film leaves the viewer with many questions about duty and war, and is an excellent tool for discussion of these themes. There are no heroics in the film, though almost all of the characters on both sides display their own forms of bravery and devotion to duty.
All in all, this film captures very well the "feel" of the closing days of the war - the weariness of the Allies and the desperation of the Germans.
Music is typical 1960s fare but well suited, with a strong German-sounding march that effectively announces the 'bad guys'.
As outstanding as Segal is Robert Vaughn, with a nice aristocratic German officers' accent, but none of the other usual stereotypical trappings - monocle, fake arm, etc.
Quite possibly one of the best - and least well known - WW II movies ever filmed.
Rating:
Summary: Factual Account with Fictional Characters
Review: David L. Wolper's 1969 THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN closely follows Ken Hechler's best selling acount of the American capture of the railbridge over the Rhine River. The facts and events occuring in the movie are largely factual with actors George Segal, Robert Vaughn and Ben Gazzara adding some fictional depth to the original participants. In fact, the actual names of the real-life combat participants were changed for this film. The latter part of the 1960's and very early 1970's were the golden years for war movies. In those years films like PATTON, TORA,TORA,TORA, M*A*S*H, CATCH 22, THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN and KELLY'S HEROES (To name a few) made names for themselves at box offices. Producer David Wolper, known for the historical accuracy constraints of his productions, undertook THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN. The Rhine crossing operations were the next logical big screen production. THE LONGEST DAY took care of D-Day. Ken Annakin's 1965 production of THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE had taken on the Ardennes Offensive. The breaching of the Reich's last natural obstacle to the western allies was a logical choice. Teams searched throughout Europe for a site that closely resembled the Remagen area. In the end they found a river in (what was then) Czechoslovakia with a bridge, with set modifications, that resembled the former Ludendorf Bridge in Germany. Additionally, the REMAGEN production team was fortunate in that they were able to film in an evacuated Czech village that was slated for destruction (in order to accomodate strip mining of soft coal). Czech arsenals were full of German weapons and uniforms -- most carefully preserved in the event of a "next" war. Indeed the Czechs still had at their disposal their own version of the German Hanomag half-track. Everything seemed to be going the right way for the film makers. Serious filming began in 1968, but wasn't quite complete before the the Warsaw Pact's 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. Before filming was completed the film crew was forced to into a convoy out of Czechoslovakia leaving the majority of their props, weapons, uniforms and extras behind. Fortunately the production team was able to complete filming in Italy with the result that there is hardly any noticeable continuity break in the film. Look for some other familiar faces in THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN such as war film veterans Peter van Ecke (THE LONGEST DAY, ATTACK), Hans Christian Blech (THE LONGEST DAY, THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE), and E.G. Marshall (CHRISTMAS VACATION). The soundtrack was composed by Elmer Bernstein (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, THE GREAT ESCAPE)and is superbly music for the movie. As war films go, this is one of the better movies about the last months of World War II in Europe.
Rating:
Summary: The Allies Race to Cross the Rhine
Review: Famous movie producer David L. Wolper has created a fine film about the last days of the war in Germany. The Germans were destroying all of their bridges across the Rhine in the hopes of stopping the Allies from crossing into the heart of Germany. However, one bridge still remained; the bridge at Remagen. The Germans wanted to keep this bridge open as long as possible before destroying it so that 75,000 German soldiers on the other side would be able to escape back into Germany. The allies wanted the bridge as a springboard to move troops and vehicles accross the Rhine and attack the heart of Germany. This movie portrays the struggle of the Germans and Americans over the bridge. George Segal stars as Lieutenant Hartman, a hard-nosed GI who is given the job of securing the bridge for the Americans. Ben Gazzara stars as Sergeant Angelo, Hartman's right hand man. Together, these two Americans rally their troops against the Germans. On the German side, veteran actor Robert Vaughn stars as Major Kruger. He's given the job of holding the bridge open as long as possible to allow the trapped Germans time to retreat back into Germany, then he is to destroy the bridge before it falls into American hands. The battle scenes are excellent. The scenes of the two sides firing at each other across the river are perhaps the best scenes in the movie. The battle on the bridge is well-done as well, with the scenes of the German soldiers hanging upside down under the bridge placing explosives especially good. I enjoyed this movie very much. The battle and action scenes are excellent and the acting is very good, too. History and World War II movie fans should enjoy this action packed movie.
Rating:
Summary: The Allies Race to Cross the Rhine
Review: Famous movie producer David L. Wolper has created a fine film about the last days of the war in Germany. The Germans were destroying all of their bridges across the Rhine in the hopes of stopping the Allies from crossing into the heart of Germany. However, one bridge still remained; the bridge at Remagen. The Germans wanted to keep this bridge open as long as possible before destroying it so that 75,000 German soldiers on the other side would be able to escape back into Germany. The allies wanted the bridge as a springboard to move troops and vehicles accross the Rhine and attack the heart of Germany. This movie portrays the struggle of the Germans and Americans over the bridge. George Segal stars as Lieutenant Hartman, a hard-nosed GI who is given the job of securing the bridge for the Americans. Ben Gazzara stars as Sergeant Angelo, Hartman's right hand man. Together, these two Americans rally their troops against the Germans. On the German side, veteran actor Robert Vaughn stars as Major Kruger. He's given the job of holding the bridge open as long as possible to allow the trapped Germans time to retreat back into Germany, then he is to destroy the bridge before it falls into American hands. The battle scenes are excellent. The scenes of the two sides firing at each other across the river are perhaps the best scenes in the movie. The battle on the bridge is well-done as well, with the scenes of the German soldiers hanging upside down under the bridge placing explosives especially good. I enjoyed this movie very much. The battle and action scenes are excellent and the acting is very good, too. History and World War II movie fans should enjoy this action packed movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Well Acted World War II movie
Review: George Segal and Robert Vaughn lead a steller cast of actors in this fairly true to life war film about the March, 1945 battle that the Allies waged to capture the Bridge at Remagan before the Germans could destroy it. Plently of action and just enough drama told from both the American and German points of view. Great for any collector of World War II movies.
Rating:
Summary: DVD introduces a new generation to brilliant forgotten films
Review: I bought this DVD whilst waiting at the checkout of K-mart in Australia, took it home, watched it, and was blown away. Why have so many of these big budget, expertly crafted, riveting war films of yesterday been ignored (except when plundered for manipulative sentimental tripe like "Saving Private Ryan")? We can be thankful the studios have realised that remastered and original aspect ratios are the way to go - I'd rather cough up a few extra bucks for some extras but the quality of the transfers are great. BTW you can get the non-edited remastered widescreen edition of "Cross of Iron" for $AUD7.99!!!
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