A Bridge too Far (1977, PG)

Long and melodramatic a Bridge too far is.  A definite must see, probably not.  There is an exception to that.  That exception being that a Bridge too far is nevertheless one of the most accomplished war films of the 70s.  As a result, it will be a must see to die-hard World War II fans.

            The film is based off of the book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan, which by now I have read twice, and enjoyed it both times.  The book and the movie recount the Battles at Arnhem, Eindhoven and Nijmegen during the critical Operation Market Garden, where the Allies were defeated by the Germans for the first time since the landings at Normandy.

            The film contains an ensemble cast of top-period actors during the time: Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Gene Hackman, Elliot Gould, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, Ryan O’Neal, Hardy Kruger, Laurence Oliver and Maximilian Schell.  Out of this nearly massive ensemble cast, the standout performances are delivered by Caan, Connery, Hackman and maybe Redford.  I can particularly remember one powerul scene where Caan’s character holds an Army medical surgeon at gunpoint, demanding that he treat his commanding officer, who is nearly dead with a bullet wound to the head.  O’Neal definitely gives the worst performance in the entire film.  Physically, he looks like General James Gavin, the man he’s portraying, but he delivered his lines so flat that it seemed like he hadn’t practiced them before. 

            The battle scenes, definitely for the time, are alone worth seeing, as they vividly portray intense, bloody and dirty combat, whether it’s being fought in the streets, with British paratroopers desperately trying to hold out against a lethal combination of German panzer tanks and crack SS troops, or American forces rowing across the Rhine River in small row boats, getting machine-gunned all the way, and then, following storming a beach, attacking the critical bridge with support from British tanks.  Director Richard Attenborough got real participants from the actual battle to help guide  the battle sequences, so that the movie could deliver the most realistic portrayal of the battles.

              A Bridge too Far portrays real history in front of us, though not in the awe-inspiring sense as Gettysburg or Glory.  A Bridge too Far fails to captivate us into the nature of war and to make us think about the actions taking during the course of the battle.  For a war movie of such epic grandeur with impressive production values, a Bridge too Far also isn't as memorable as quite a few other war movies are, and also doesn't allow us to appreciate what the men went through.  Fortunately, this is a war movie that does take itself a lot more seriously then other cheap war flicks from the 50s through the 70s.  I suppose we can appreciate that.

            By the way, it should be noted here, that this film today deserves a PG-13 rating, as it contains bloody violence, scenes of the wounded and language unsuitable for a PG film.
Rating: ***