A Bridge Too Far (2 Disc Special Edition) [1977]

For anyone who wants to know the true story of Operation Market Garden, there are plenty of well-researched articles on the web. And if you want to understand the soldier's experience, the look no further than "Band of Brothers or "The Pacific". Which then begs the question: what does this movie offer beyond that?Not that much, if you're after more than an action movie. Overall, the sheer amount of acting and direction talent and money that was thrown at this story makes it, by default, an "epic" movie. Yet one has the impression that so much attention was placed on making this an epic, they forgot to tell any meaningful story.Sure, all the acting is extremely competent and with cast that contains Laurence Olivier, Gene Hackman, Maximillian Schell, Robert Redford, Dirk Bogarde, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, Liv Ulmann, Kurt Jurgens, even Sean Connery (and my oh my, that list goes on), this is to be expected. But in the effort to tell the historic story, the human story is almost entirely lost. With so little space and such a paltry script with which to work, each actor's part never really ascends above a cameo-plus appearance. Hackman's Polish General Sosabowski is no more than a cynical voice of doom, rather than the experienced leader he was; Bogarde's General Browning no more than a Montgomery brown-noser; Olivier no more than the face of sorrow at the grievous wounds of the soldiers. And none of the soldiers' individual stories are explored, beyond a cliched tragic image of a flute player whose hands are blown off.And yes, it does touch on the rivalry between Patton and Montgomery that laid the foundations for this tragedy. But I suspect it does not go far enough. Sure, when placated by Browning that he'd done all he could, Connery's General Urqhardt asks "But did everybody else?". But there are some disturbing questions that were given lip service here. Browning takes the rap in this movie for obscuring intelligence that the SS Second Panzer Corps was resting up in Arnhem, but one suspects that a certain Montgomery probably bears far more of the guilt for promoting sycophants and yes-men; he himself waved off later evidence, gathered at Bletchley Park, that Field Marshall Model had established his HQ along with a whole SS Panzer Corps. This is not explored, neither his very patchy record in Caan and here that pointed to Montgomery's lack of strategic nous: did he really think he could pull off the Schlieffen Plan in reverse without actually finding the weak point through which it could pass?What it does have going for it is spectacle, and that clearly was the key brief here: the actual massed parachute drop, staged from period-correct DC-3 transport planes is a major set-piece, as is the advance of XXX Corps from its starting line, preceded by a monumental artillery barrage. A secondary brief was to stay true to the events, for the most part. So we are treated a detailed briefing of the plans, key events during the offensive, and script-lines drawn from historical records. So far, we've not strayed far from the game plan for producing the movie "Waterloo", which was above all a spectacle, sewn together by historical quotes.As for military accuracy, here things start to fall apart. Sure the DC-3s are impressive, as are the accurate British and American gliders, But to the trained eye, the post-war Sherman tanks are noticeable, as are some scenes including fake (presumably plywood) shells over truck bodies to represent additional vehicles. This becomes considerably worse with regard to German materiel, where tanks are clearly modern Leopard tanks, German uniforms are inaccurate for the period, and as for the armoured cars....well let's simply say that camo nets conceal cheap fakery as well as troops. Another highly annoying aspect is the incorrect rendition of gunfire. When various people die from machine gunnery, the sound is as if the weapon is about five feet away, whereas in reality, what you should hear is the impacts and near misses (correctly portrayed in "Ryan's" Omaha Beach scene as whistles, whoops and clangs against metal). It's as though the director felt the need to dumb it down to make it clear that a machine gun was involved. This extends to overly dramatic scenes showing German vehicles randomly shooting at civilians.But what is most striking is that the action scenes seem to just be for the action, but show none of the impact on the people, beyond the cliched "weary wounded troops" and bandaged hands, heads and legs, soldiers clutching their chests/arms/legs, and some token, highly unconvincing gore. The real human suffering - the panic, guttural fear, trauma, confusion and PTST shown so clearly later in movies such as "Ryan" or even "Blackhawk" - is missing, as is the common bravery (witness the scene of the death of Corp Jamie Smith in "Blackhawk", or that of Corp Wade in "Ryan"). Even reality, like how men drop when hit by high velocity weapons (again, brutally recreated in "Ryan"). For me, if we are to learn anything from a war movie, it is the individual soliders' stories that deserve the most attention. Thankfully, "Ryan" started a trend that continues today through movies like "Kajacki" and others.Interestingly most of the real Generals involved appear to be credited as advisors. Perhaps with hindsight, it might have been better to consult the troops themselves, as Spielberg was to do with his enormously powerful "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific".So, when compared to the likes of "The Longest Day", the original 1958 "Dunkirk" and other similar spectacular movies, this is a competent movie, although one wonders if it ever made any profit after all the talent was paid. But as for a telling of the story, or a homage to those who bravely gave their lives for the folly of an arrogant man, this movie skirts the awkward questions and real human price paid. And this is no "post Ryan" revisionism: I saw this movie at its cinematic release and remember being unconvinced.Hopefully this will be the last of any such movie made.

It is a good movie worth watching, but it is old.

a true to life reason learn from history.

A superb, all-star, all-action film. My only complaint is that no matter how many times I watch it the allies keep making the same mistakes. When on earth is someone going to sort this out?On the other hand, I am old enough to find the predictability of watching the same film over and over again reassuring... so perhaps leave it as it is.

This is a review of the two-disc special edition. I first give a brief overview of the film (it is assumed that the potential purchaser knows at least the gist of its story), followed by my reason for purchasing the discs, and finally some added information about the extras.Operation Market Garden was an audacious attempt by the allies in 1944 to shorten the road to Berlin and bring the war to a quick end. As this film shows, the operation almost succeeded but was ground down by its sheer size and complexity. The film was not popular in the US, apparently because many critics there refused to believe some of the true stories depicted in the film. And yet the film was based on the meticulous researches of Cornelius Ryan. Admittedly, there are one or two Monty Python moments, but the truths of these are considered in some of the documentary extras on the second disc (see below). In addition, America was at this time going through its own post-Vietnam appraisal when the concept of `heroic failure' might not have been de rigueur.The film is almost three hours long and could have done with an intermission in the cinema; but at least with the DVD we can space out our viewing. The film bears repeated viewing just to take in the sheer scale of it all, that is the scale both of the original operation AND its filming. There are great set-pieces, such as the huge initial airborne drop. And of course there is a great list of star actors. But repeated viewing can also clear up some confusions. For example, initially I thought Anthony Hopkins's character was south of Arnhem Bridge whilst Sean Connery's was north, but then Hopkins tells us he's at the northern end and it is the Germans at the southern. When I watched the film with my partner, he commented that there should have been more use made of maps to show where everyone was at each stage.The DVD was purchased because I am collecting Dirk Bogarde movies. (I also have a second cousin who took part in the operation.) Bogarde was a neighbour and good friend of Richard Attenborough's in Provence, but Bogarde fell out big-time with Attenborough when the film was released. Bogarde played Browning, the most senior officer depicted in the film. Since neither Eisenhower not Montgomery appears, Browning becomes the fall guy for the mission's failure. As John Coldstream notes in his biography of Bogarde, "The crude ethos of the Hollywood School of War has usually dictated, first, that there must be a fall guy for a failure and, if joint operations are involved, he should be British; second, that characterisation must be black and white, with no shades of grey."Daphne du Maurier, Browning's widow, took the matter up in the correspondence columns of The Times, and ex-generals, friends and comrades criticised not only the script but Bogarde's performance. Bogarde then accused Attenborough of setting him up, though later their relationship was patched up. It was all dubbed `The Second Battle of Arnhem'.The disc includes commentary by the screenwriter, a camera operator, someone from the art direction department, a second assistant director, and a special effects man. From these we learn much technical information about how some scenes were set up and shot. The film could not possibly be remade today in the same way because it would be an environmental crime. There is also commentary on the music composed by John Addison (who was himself a participant in Operation Market Garden).The extras on the second disc comprise 1. a forty-five-minute History Channel documentary called `Heroes from the Sky' that includes archive film and interviews with participants in the operation as well as members of the film crew; 2. a moving fifteen-minute documentary called `A Distant Battle' in which actual participants recount their experiences; and 3. a twenty-minute interview with Attenborough in 2002 in which he refers to the controversy over Browning but also emphasises the anti-war message of the film.

War classic