A Bridge Too Far (1977)

A historic telling of the failed attempt to capture several bridges to Germany in World War II in a campaign called Operation Market-Garden.

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writers:

Cornelius Ryan (book), William Goldman (screenplay)

Stars:

Sean Connery, Ryan O'Neal, Michael Caine

Won 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Siem Vroom	...	Underground Leader
Marlies van Alcmaer	...	Underground Leader's Wife (as Marlies Van Alcmaer)
Erik van 't Wout	...	Underground Leader's Son (as Eric Van't Wout)
Wolfgang Preiss	...	Field Marshal Von Rundstedt
Hans von Borsody	...	General Blumentritt (as Hans Von Borsody)
Josephine Peeper	...	Cafe Waitress
Dirk Bogarde	...	Lieutenant General Browning
Paul Maxwell	...	Major General Maxwell Taylor
Sean Connery	...	Major General Urquhart
Ryan O'Neal	...	Brigadier General Gavin
Gene Hackman	...	Major General Sosabowski
Walter Kohut	...	Field Marshal Model
Peter Faber	...	Captain 'Harry' Bestebreurtje
Hartmut Becker	...	German Sentry
Frank Grimes	...	Major Fuller

Storyline

This WWII film follows the perspectives of American, Polish and British soldiers attempting to capture key bridges behind German lines in a complicated parachute and armoured assault.

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Plot Keywords:

bridge | operation market garden | british soldier | paratrooper | allies | 

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Taglines:

Out of the sky comes the screen's most incredible spectacle of men and war!

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English German Dutch Polish Latin

Release Date:

15 June 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Brücke von Arnheim

Filming Locations:

Bemmel, Lingewaard, Gelderland, Netherlands

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$50,800,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Joseph E. Levine Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

175 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert De Niro turned down the major cameo that James Caan ended up being cast in

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Goofs

When Ludwig is speaking to a subordinate about blowing the bridge about to be assaulted by the 82nd, the subordinate refers to a "Hauptmann", the German word for captain. In the SS, the rank would be "Hauptsturmführer." Likewise, when he answers Ludwig, he calls him "General". Ludwig is listed in the cast as a Major General, but the equivalent SS rank would have been Brigadeführer. In the film, Ludwig's collar tab has 3 oak leafs and 1 pip which stands for Gruppenführer (General Lieutenant), even though his rank is that of a Brigadeführer.

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Quotes

Lt. General Frederick "Boy" Browning: Hello, Roy. How are you?
Maj. General Roy Urqhart: I'm not sure I'll know for a while. But I'm sorry about how it turned out.
Lt. General Frederick "Boy" Browning: You did all you could.
Maj. General Roy Urqhart: Yes, but did everyone else?
Lt. General Frederick "Boy" Browning: They've got a bed for you upstairs if you want it.
Maj. General Roy Urqhart: I took ten thousand men into Arnhem. I've come out with less than two. I don't feel much like sleeping.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Deadly Bees (1998)

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Soundtracks

"3rd Movement"
(from Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major, BWV. 1051) (uncredited)
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

What makes this movie so good is the realism, shown in every detail

I'm a big fan of war movies and I already have a nice collection on DVD. One of them is A Bridge Too Far and I can only say that it is one of my favorites in this genre (if you can make a comparison between movies like A Bridge Too Far, Saving Private Ryan, All Quiet on the Western Front, Apocalypse Now... of course). What I really don't understand is why this movie never was a big success in the cinema's. Perhaps the people had enough of war movies ... and Star Wars was very hip and new at that time of course, but personally I love this movie.

What makes this movie so good is the realism. In most of the war movies of that period, everybody speaks English. No matter if it is a German, an American,... In this movie everybody speaks the language he is supposed to speak. There even is a difference between the English of the Americans and the British. But of course the use of different languages isn't the only thing that attracted me. Another good example is the fact that they didn't try to make all the Germans look like brainless killers, monsters without any human feelings. The movie showes them the way they really were: good and hard fighters who cared about their comrades just as much as any allied soldier, but who didn't just kill for fun. (Just for your information: I'm talking about the soldiers in the Wehrmacht here and not about the SS, even though not all SS-troops where that bad either. There are good and bad people in every army.)

The effort which was put in this movie is shown in every detail. The uniforms, the weapons, the landscapes, the cities..., everything really gives you the feeling the director wanted to give an accurate vision on what happened during operation Market Garden. Images from the movie were even incorporated in a documentary on this subject. That probably shows better than anything else how good this movie really is.

You probably ask yourself if there really isn't anything negative about this movie. Of course there is, but it never really bothered me. Therefore I reward this movie with a 9/10. Perhaps a little too high according to the average IMDb user, but for me it's sure worth it.