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on March 6, 2017
One of our (my son and I) favorite WW2 movies. I had the DVD version a few years back and somehow it got misplaced. However, the silver lining in that cloud was a legitimate argument to upgrade to BluRay. The resolution was magnificent and the sound just enveloped me while I immersed myself in the story.
on June 19, 2014
A Bridge Too Far is a WWII saga based on "Operation Market Garden" an ill advised boondoggle conceived by Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery. The intent of the plan was to race through the Netherlands across the Meuse, Wall and Rhine rivers in an attempt to circumvent the Siegfried line and gain entry to Germany. The operation required a combined attack where airborne units parachuted into German held territory securing and holding the bridges, until ground forces (British XXX Corps and there supporting mechanized and infantry divisions) advanced along what is now referred to as "Hell's Highway", a two lane chokepoint through the Dutch countryside. An unreasonable time schedule, along with logistics and communications problems; slowed the operation to the point that the Germans were able to react. While many of the objectives were met it came up short of the prize. The sacrifice of men and equipment is generally considered too much for too little. The movie while taking several historical liberties boasts an all-star cast, and director Richard Attenborough does a respectable job cramming several days of hell into just short of three hours.
on April 30, 2017
Star studded cast for this movie. All the greats you would want to be fighting ww2 for you. A ww2 movie with the end that we can't win em all.
Sometimes it just a bridge two far. Recommend to be part of anybody's DVD war library.
Sometimes it just a bridge two far. Recommend to be part of anybody's DVD war library.
on May 1, 2014
I saw this film in the theater when it came out and then later at home. It's been quite some time since I viewed it, so I rented it from Amazon Prime on impulse. It's still an excellent war film and does a good job of conveying the essentials of the book and the actual operation. Of course, the Germans are portrayed as relatively "good" enemies and the truth was somewhat different and, given the time period in which this was made, a lot of things (shooting prisoners, etc.) were whitewashed. However, the use of actual combat vehicles and aircraft (especially the C-47's) from the period give it a verisimilitude that could probably not be done today, given that most of the ones that are still left are museum pieces that would never be loaned out for a film. I highly recommend it.
on October 7, 2015
Many, Many fine actors in this including Dirk Bogarde, Ryan O'Neal, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Hardy Krüger, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell and Liv Ullmann. Too bad that the allied forces did not win, but Hitler's forces did not win either. Tremendous casualties, up to about 30,000 loss with no strategic gain. More casualties were on the Allied side. Some tout this as the greatest war movie ever made.
on May 30, 2015
This review is for the physical item I received from Amazon. If you are after a "pure" movie review I recommend you also see the 'The Internet Movie Database' where, you will find movie reviews unrelated to the delivery mechanism.
The Blu-ray case is full of holes, is lightweight and flimsy. This of course, requires the case to be replaced with a more substantial one (with no holes) and the original case goes into a landfill.
Light can also pass through the Blu-ray case, which may shorten the life of the Blu-ray. If a sturdier case with no holes were used this senseless waste could be avoided.
The Blu-ray version is MUCH better than streaming. There are no artifacts and video is sharp. Amazon streaming was grainy.
The movie itself, I liked, 5 Stars.
The Blu-ray case is full of holes, is lightweight and flimsy. This of course, requires the case to be replaced with a more substantial one (with no holes) and the original case goes into a landfill.
Light can also pass through the Blu-ray case, which may shorten the life of the Blu-ray. If a sturdier case with no holes were used this senseless waste could be avoided.
The Blu-ray version is MUCH better than streaming. There are no artifacts and video is sharp. Amazon streaming was grainy.
The movie itself, I liked, 5 Stars.
on July 30, 2013
I remember this when I was a kid...I read it when I was in high school.
Dame Daphne Du Maurier, the widow of Lt.-General Browning, complained that her husband had been "made the fall guy" for the failure of "Operation Market Garden" by this film. Browning and the unseen Field Marshal Montgomery, who are shown as responsible for the failure, had both died by the time the film opened in 1977 (unlike the other commanders involved).
A familiar story element in the World War II genre war film is the blowing-up of a bridge. This is especially common in films with the word "bridge" in the title such as The Bridge at Remagen and The Bridge on the River Kwai. Ironically, this film A Bridge Too Far which features a quite a number of bridges in it, only the Son bridge is depicted as destroyed. Just as Col. Stout ('Elliot Gould') approaches the crossing, the bridge is blown up by German artillery (but the actual blowing-up of the bridge is not seen in the movie). The Germans also attempt to blow up the Waal Bridge at Nijmegen, but are unsuccessful when demolition charges fail to explode. In the case of this film, "A Bridge Too Far" refers to the over-ambitions of the Allied strategy in Operation Market Garden. In order for the campaign to be successful, the Allies needed to secure several enemy bridges in a very short period of time. They were tragically unsuccessful.
Dame Daphne Du Maurier, the widow of Lt.-General Browning, complained that her husband had been "made the fall guy" for the failure of "Operation Market Garden" by this film. Browning and the unseen Field Marshal Montgomery, who are shown as responsible for the failure, had both died by the time the film opened in 1977 (unlike the other commanders involved).
A familiar story element in the World War II genre war film is the blowing-up of a bridge. This is especially common in films with the word "bridge" in the title such as The Bridge at Remagen and The Bridge on the River Kwai. Ironically, this film A Bridge Too Far which features a quite a number of bridges in it, only the Son bridge is depicted as destroyed. Just as Col. Stout ('Elliot Gould') approaches the crossing, the bridge is blown up by German artillery (but the actual blowing-up of the bridge is not seen in the movie). The Germans also attempt to blow up the Waal Bridge at Nijmegen, but are unsuccessful when demolition charges fail to explode. In the case of this film, "A Bridge Too Far" refers to the over-ambitions of the Allied strategy in Operation Market Garden. In order for the campaign to be successful, the Allies needed to secure several enemy bridges in a very short period of time. They were tragically unsuccessful.
on March 31, 2015
Fans of WWII movies will really like this one. It's a classic 1970's blockbuster that may feel a bit dated in 2015. The movie is full of the stars of the day (Robert Redford, James Caan, Sean Connery, Ryan O'Neal), but also true cinema greats like Dirk Bogarde, Laurence Olivier and Maximilian Schell (who is mesmerizing). It's amusing how bad Ryan O'Neal's acting is and how strange Gene Hackman is playing a Polish general.
on October 29, 2015
Amazing to me that it was not more of a success than it was. Told the story without the need to resort to the intense and graphic violence that are de rigeur in modern war films. And yet neither was it Pollyannish in its presentation of the ugliness that is war. I thought the acting was very good and, while I am an untrained critic, I did not see the numerous super stars in their semi-cameo roles (James Caan, Robert Redford for example) attempting to out act the movies main characters. All in all it is as good a modern rendering of the World War II story as I have seen. 'Saving Private Ryan' exceeds it in intensity to be sure but not in scope or story.
