Rent A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Big, Epic All Star War Film - A Bridge Too Far review by GI

A big, spectacular war film, one of those all star ones that were once very popular prestige movies like The Longest Day (1962), The Battle of Britain (1969) and Tora Tora Tora (1970). Here director Richard Attenborough reconstructs Operation Market Garden, the huge 1944 allied airborne invasion of Holland designed to end the war before Christmas. It was a massive failure for a variety of reasons not least that the German resistance was much more intense than had been envisaged. The film is wonderfully entertaining and cleverly edited as it has to follow several key events within a strict timeline. This is managed very well and for the most part all the various scenes fit very neatly to explain the entire operation. Arguably one or two of the episodes in the film could have been excised to create a tighter narrative including a pointless story featuring James Caan as a US soldier who threatens a senior medic to save his young officer. Attenborough, although an occasionally clumsy director, does create a very detailed history of the operation here and the combat and battle scenes are realistic and gripping without resorting to excessive bloodshed or violence. The attempt to overplay the cultural differences between the British and the Americans seems a bit too much when viewed today (for instance only the Americans get to swear, the British are all far too polite!) but this can be forgiven. The cast includes Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Edward Fox, Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, Elliot Gould, Ryan O'Neal and Laurence Olivier. Overall a cracking war film and one to check out if you've never seen it.