Product Description

An epic film that "re-creates in stunning detail one of the most disastrous battles of World War II" (The Hollywood Reporter), A Bridge Too Far is a spectacular war picture. Painstakingly recreated on actual battlefield locations and boasting a remarkable cast that includes Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Sir Laurence Olivier and Robert Redford, A Bridge Too Far accurately recaptures the monumental scope, excitement and danger behind one of the biggest military gambles in history. In September 1944, flush with success after the Normandy Invasion, the Allies confidently launched Operation Market Garden, a wild scheme intended to put an early end to the fighting by invading Germany and smashing the Reich's war plants. But a combination of battlefield politics, faulty intelligence, bad luck and even worse weather led to disaster beyond the Allies' darkest fears.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59200 in DVD
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Format: NTSC
• Original language: Dutch, English, German
• Running time: 175 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
This massive 1977 adaptation by director Richard Attenborough (Gandhi) of Cornelius Ryan's novel features an all-star cast in an epic rendering of a daring but ultimately disastrous raid behind enemy lines in Holland during the Second World War. A lengthy and exhaustive look at the mechanics of warfare and the price and futility of war, the film is almost too large for its aims but manages to be both picaresque and affecting, particularly in the performance of James Caan. The impressive cast includes Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Dirk Bogarde, Sean Connery, and Liv Ullmann among others. While not a classic war film, it nevertheless manages to be a consistently interesting and exciting adventure. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews

Mustering Dutch Courage
In a film of beautiful nuance, Richard Attenborough captures the horrors or war and the dignity of those who must endure, soldiers and civilians alike. The stellar cast of "A Bridge Too Far" (a veritable who's who of acting greats) sets this film apart. Sean Connery leaves behind the cool assuredness of Bond and faces futility with a mug of tea while Anthony Hopkins, a proper Englishman in Hell, surrenders with dignity, only reluctantly accepting chocolate from the enemy. James Caan is a particular standout. With true American grit, he bends all the rules and makes good on a pledge. The scale of the film could have wrought disasters on par with the campaign it portrays. Fortunately, the immensity of the Market-Garden campaign, which historically met its Waterloo at Arnhem, doesn't swallow up the stories of individual characters, of the Brit with umbrella for instance or the Dutch resisters who spy for the Allies.

Few World War II flicks showcase the absolute beauty of the European countryside. In "A Bridge Too Far," the landscape, made all the more picturesque in its contrast to the gore and destruction, is certainly an additional star and supports the wisdom of shooting this expensive epic in the Netherlands. The wide-angle approach, as well as the moving score, give balm to eyes and ears now accustomed to the tortorous naturalism of "Saving Private Ryan." Attenborough pulls back, thankfully. In its final scene, "A Bridge Too Far" achieves poignance without dialogue, without bluster, and without the common contrivance of summoning tears with half-baked, insipid bathos. Sir Lawrence Olivier and Liv Ullman stare straight ahead, the fresh graves of British paratroopers lining their path from an elegance destroyed, from an order and faith utterly shattered. The scene is perfection. And the film itself is close to it.

Literally filmed on location
Cornelius Ryan's nonfiction saga is masterfully told in the film adaptation. MARKET GARDEN, hoped to be one of the death blows to the German Reich, was daring and ambitious, but failed to bounce the Rhine and bring the war to conclusion. Locations in the Netherlands included the actual Nijmegen Bridge, drop zones outside of Oosterbeek (which is next to Arnhem), the Deventer Bridge closely doubling as the bridge at Arnhem, and many scenes filmed at the Dutch Infantry training center at nearby Harskamp. Producer Joseph E. Levine and Director Richard Attenborough drew equipment from numerous nations, including quite a few museum relics, to create this film. What they did not have, special effects and props departments created in order to create a realistic and mostly historically accurate rendition of this September 1944 battle in Holland. Where the film deviates from the book is that the movie tends to paint the Allied planners as blind to the possible flaws in the operation and German Field Marshal Model is portrayed as a cowardly fool. In reality, Model's immediate actions, though based on incorrect assumptions, greatly contributed to the containment of the Airhead north of the Neder Rijn. A BRIDGE TO FAR ranks highly with films like THE LONGEST DAY and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN in terms of intensity and historical accuracy.

The WWII film for WWII fans
This is perhaps the best movie for the World War II buff. Might I must add this is for the buff only. If you watch a World War II movie for the passion of "Saving Private Ryan" or the formulaic melodrama of "Windtalkers," you may find yourself bored. "A Bridge Too Far" goes about as far as personal conflict with James Caan's attempt to rescue a fellow soldier to fulfill a promise that they won't die...but that lasts about ten minutes of the movie. The plot is all about the battle, the commanders, and the men who fought it, as well as the plans and actions that went behind the whole thing. If you saw "Tora Tora Tora" you'll know what I mean. And if "Tora Tora Tora" bored you, then you should probably avoid "A Bridge Too Far."

But if you like watching a movie with great attention to detail, then you will love this movie. No longer do we have American tanks with Iron Crosses painted on them, all the battles look almost like the way they would have looked in the real war. Perhaps the violence is not as graphically realistic as today's films, but being a film from the 70's you have to cut it some slack.

I can definately highlight the three best parts of this movie: 1) the airborne drops, which are filmed in first-person so that you see the paratroopers jumping out and even checking their parachutes afterward (adding to the realism); 2) the music - I don't know a collection of military themes that doesn't include the Bridge Too Far March; and 3) the cast, which was well picked for each part - I can't decide who I like better, Sean Connery as Urqheart, Edward Fox as Horrocks, or Sir Lawrence Olivier as a good-hearted Dutch doctor, but every one does their part like no other actor collection I've ever seen.

So in short, I highly recommend this for my fellow World War II historians who want to see a part of history re-animated in a near perfect fashion, then you should definately add this to your collection.