Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Dirk BogardeLt. Gen. Frederick Browning
- James CaanSSgt. Eddie Dohun
- Michael CaineLt. Col. John O.E. Vandeleur
- Sean ConneryMaj. Gen. Robert E. Urquhart
- Edward FoxLt. Gen. Brian G. Horrocks
- Elliott GouldCol. Robert Stout
- Anthony HopkinsLt. Col. John D. Frost
- Gene HackmanMaj. Gen. Stanislaw F. Sosabowski
- Hardy KrügerGeneralmajor der Waffen-SS Karl Ludwig
- Laurence OlivierDr. Jan Spaander
Recommendations
- 80
Newsweek
An absorbing, well-crafted, honorable movie that seems almost as ambitious as the original operation itself. [20 Jun 1977, p.65] - 80
The Observer (UK)
First-rate blockbuster preaching an anti-war message but laying on grand battle sequences as it recreates, coherently and convincingly, Operation Market Garden, the Allied Forces' airborne assault on Arnhem in 1944 that was intended to end the Second World War by Christmas. [19 Nov 2006, p.2] - 75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Attenborough's underrated 1977 epic A Bridge Too Far fashioned an antiwar statement from the foolhardiness that stranded 35,000 paratroopers behind German lines in an attempt to take key bridges. [02 Feb 2002, p.C01] - 70
The New York Times
The movie is massive, shapeless, often unexpectedly moving, confusing, sad, vivid and very, very long. - 60
Variety
Futility and frustration are the overriding emotional elements in A Bridge Too Far, Joseph E. Levine's sprawling Second World War production [from the novel by Cornelius Ryan] about a 1944 military operation botched by both Allied and German troops. - 60
Empire
This sprawling epic rewards patience with an emotional pay-off and non-triumphant ending that reminds us all too starkly of the sacrifices made during war. - 50
Chicago Sun-Times
The movie's big and expensive and filled with stars, but it's not an epic. It's the longest B-grade war movie ever made. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
A thoroughly disappointing and overproduced picture, A Bridge Too Far is nevertheless technically impressive and its sheer scope may interest hardcore warmongers.
