A Bridge Too Far

A Bridge Too Far

By

  • Genre: Drama, History, War
  • Release Date: 1977-06-15
  • Runtime: 175 minutes
  • : 7.229
  • Production Company: United Artists
  • Production Country: United Kingdom, United States of America
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7.229/10
7.229
From 842 Ratings

Description

The story of Operation Market Garden—a failed attempt by the allies in the latter stages of WWII to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in Holland allowing access over the Rhine into Germany. A combination of poor allied intelligence and the presence of two crack German panzer divisions meant that the final part of this operation (the bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine) was doomed to failure.

Trailer

Reviews

  • CinemaSerf

    7
    By CinemaSerf
    Usually when you read the term "stellar" applied to a cast, it's more for marketing purposes to convince us that the cast is better than we might want to think - well not so, here. Connery, Caine, O'Neal, Olivier, Bogarde, Hackman, Hopkins, Caan, Schell & Liv Ullmann all chip into this true telling of "Operation Market Garden" - a co-ordinated attempt by the allies to use almost anything that will fly to parachute troops behind Nazi lines. Their purpose: to secure strategically important river crossings before the enemy have a chance to blow them to smithereens. Their missions are fraught with dangers - bad intelligence, bad weather as well as a tenacious and well established enemy. The planning and actions scenes give a clear dramatic indication of just how logistically complex and risky this whole procedure actually would have been; and as war films go it is much less gung-ho. It is, however, very long - and a bit more judicious editing would have helped keep it more taut.
  • Wuchak

    7
    By Wuchak
    **_Star-studded cinematic account of Operation Market Garden_** In September, 1944, the Allies unleash an ambitious operation to secure key bridges in the Netherlands, which would facilitate a quick advance into Germany and have the boys home by Christmas. Unfortunately, the Germans’ defensive capabilities and willpower are stronger than expected. “A Bridge Too Far” (1977) covers the largest airborne operation in history up to that point with a great cast and several memorable sequences involving actors like Anthony Hopkins, James Caan, Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Sean Connery and so on. It’s a straight war film in the manner of “The Longest Day” that refuses to get artsy, like, say, “Apocalypse Now.” The flick effectively illustrates how plans can look great in the comfort of a war room but, in the field, Murphy’s Law often comes into play. Whilst the chief goal of seizing the Arnhem Bridge failed, there were several successes, such as the capture of Eindhoven and Nijmegen, and the creation of a 65-miles foothold in Holland for future offensives, not to mention tying-up thousands of German troops. The boys wouldn’t be home for Christmas; it would take another four long months of strategizing and fighting. Speaking of which, the similar “The Bridge at Remagen” from eight years prior covers the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge on the Rhine in west-central Germany in March, 1945. It runs 2 hours, 56 minutes, and was shot in England and the Netherlands. GRADE: B

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