A Bridge too Far (1977, PG)

Directed by: Richard Attenborough

Grade: B+

Don’t get me wrong: I could name a lot more flaws in a Bridge too Far to possibly lower my rating of this film to a B-, possibly even a step lower then that.  For some reason though, I have always been an admirer of this WWII epic, and when I compare it to other WWII films of the 60s and the 70s, a Bridge too Far actually works just fine as a war film, and in my opinion, is almost, if not exactly, as impressively staged as the 1962 WWII epic the Longest Day.  What's better, a Bridge too Far plays out in much better form then many other war films of the era, most of which highly romanticized and/or glorified war and battle.  A Bridge too Far isn't exactly what I would consider to be an anti-war film, but it doesn't ever really glorify battle either.  That'a good thing: it presents the facts to it's audience, and then lets the audience decide for their views on war themselves. 

Clocking in close to three hours and boasting an ensemble, international cast, the film is an adaptation of Cornelius Ryan’s book of the same name, which I have read twice and is one of my favorite accounts of any battle in World War II.  Both the book and the film recount Operation Market Garden, the only major defeat sustained by the Allied Forces on the Western Front of 1944-1945 in World War II.  The operation took much longer than initially planned and lead to the casualties of 17,000 American, British and Polish troops against about 10,000 German losses. 

From the very beginning, we know that the battle will turn against the Allies, but we get a look at how devastating the battle really was.  The battle scenes featured in a Bridge too Far are very authentic, bloody (too bloody for a PG film), and at times, disturbing.  But that’s just what war is.  Sad, bloody and haunting, but all too real.  The parachute drop scene alone is a spectacle to see and the film’s best highlight.  However, there are numerous other scenes that drag, and at times, the actors can feel very rehearsed and run through, so that quite a few of the performances come off rather bland and/or ordinary from Dirk Bogarde, Ryan O'Neal and Michael Caine.  This can also, however, be in stark contrast to the powerhorse performances delivered by Sean Connery, Elliot Gould, Gene Hackman, and James Caan.

A Bridge too Far is hauntingly sad.  The opening sequences introduce us to a fairly good portion of the men and soldiers that we will be spending time with: Americans, British and Poles.  They set off in high hopes.  I can clearly remember one of the film's many powerful moments: in the film's beginning, an American Army Staff Sergeant promises his Lieutenant that he will not die in combat.  When he later surveys the aftermath of a firefight, he finds the Lieutenant on the ground, a bullet stuck in his head.  Amazingly, he's still alive.  Barelly.  The Sergeant goes through enemy lines to take him to the nearest field hospital, and holds a medic at gunpoint to force him to care for his mortally wounded Lieutenant.  It just goes to show how close and dedicated these guys come to each other.

For history buffs (like myself), a Bridge too Far is definitely worth seeing.  While it’s by no means a definitive war movie, it is a very good one that realistically recounts one of the most troublesome defeats in military history.