A Bridge Too Far is a very ambitious and yet deeply flawed 1977 film based on the superb book of the same name as written by journalist / historian Cornelius Ryan. And it could be argued that A Bridge Too Far was crafted during a crossroads for American films dealing with war, caught between a spectrum of the grand epic and a new form of realism.
At one end of the spectrum, you had the grand epic war films in the vein of Bridge on the River Kwai, Patton and Tora! Tora! Tora!. In the middle, you had campy films such as The Dirty Dozen and The Green Berets. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, you had a set of emerging films that would find a new level of realism that had never before been seen in American cinema, as exemplified by Apocalypse Now, The Killing Fields and Platoon (which was actually written in the mid-1970s, taking more than 10 years to be produced). Considering this spectrum, there is no doubt that A Bridge Too Far would love to claim to be a grand epic. But ultimately, A Bridge Too Far successfully avoids the camp, but unfortunately falls somewhere between wanting to be a grand epic and trying to achieve some level of that never-before seen realism. It’s a film that doesn’t quiet know what it wants to be, and overall, it suffers for it.
Also, questions of historical accuracy also beat this film away from the title of grand epic, with the film’s own DVD liner notes openly admitting to playing fast and loose with some major facts, noting that ’’the bridge that was ultimately captured by American Major Julian Cook (Robert Redford) in the film, was in reality stormed first by British grenadiers.’’ The notes then go on to claim that ’’although the film is largely an accurate portrayal of the operation, having Redford win the battle, according to (producer) Levine, was simply better box office.’’ These kinds of admissions only lead to damaging the film’s overall credibility of the entire film. If the horror of war truly is a universal experience, then there should be no need to Americanize it by further altering the facts that make up a truth.
Both the book and the film for A Bridge Too Far chronicle Operation Marketgarden, an ambitious Allied plan devised to take advantage of the rapid German retreat that occurred during the summer of 1944. The plan itself was devised to utilize three airborne drops of both men and equipment at various locations behind enemy lines. Their goal was seemingly simple: to swiftly capture a series of bridges over the Maas and Rhine River, to pave the way for a push into the heart of industrial Germany, thereby crippling the German war machine and ending all the chaos by Christmas. As such, the film not only chronicles the devise of this grand scheme, but it also dives into its subsequent execution.
Of course, an overwhelming myriad of problems arise that cause the plan to quickly fall apart, leading it to become one of the costliest battles of the entire war for Allied forces. The exposition of these problems also makes A Bridge Too Far too long and without a tight, clear focus. A Bridge Too Far is trying to do too much, following different groups through different battles that eventually make up the whole. As such, the movie’s major weakness is the failure of director Richard Attenborough to create a cohesive and meaningful whole that resonates with viewers.
Films like Saving Private Ryan and Platoon, may be criticized for having fairly simple plots and stories; yet this is also their greatest strength as there is nothing to threaten and overwhelm the viewer. Instead, these films allow viewers to easily follow the story from beginning to end, and as a result, grasp a much more meaningful whole. Due to its ingrained complexity of multiple-plots and goals, A Bridge Too Far does require careful viewing, and it does have potential to simply leave some viewers nothing more than dazed and confused.
Technically, A Bridge Too Far is a very good film. There are some fine sequences, including two scenes that showcase the drops themselves. Both create a fine mix of cameras mounted on the frames of the aircraft themselves and on the soldiers to give viewers a very frightening sense of actually being there in the action. The drops are oddly beautiful and intensely jarring, with the overall viewing sensation adding up to nothing less than magnificent.
One of the film’s other strengths lies in its casting of a myriad of Hollywood stars that do help pack somewhat of a serious punch. Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, Elliot Gould, James Caan, Gene Hackman, Ryan O’Neill, Sean Connery, Lawrence Olivier and Robert Redford are just some of the many stars billed in A Bridge Too Far. The performances are fine and do add texture to the film, and Sean Connery reaffirms the serious presence he truly has on screen, as he creates a very convincing commander in charge of an unfortunate and ill-fated British Airborne Division. Elliot Gould, and Michael Caine are also interesting to watch and add both depth and a much needed lightness of air to the film.
In the end, A Bridge Too Far isn’t a bad film for its time. It looks great on DVD and the movie itself is successful as a fairly realistic portrayal of war, and it does a fairly solid job of recounting the confusion and hell of a battle plan gone horribly wrong. And yet, at the same time, its own grasp at grandness and its own subjugation of historical facts drags it down. In the end, at just under 3 hours, A Bridge Too Far is just too long, lacking a steady unified pace or direction which ultimately stops it from being a truly classic war film.
My Grade for ’’A Bridge Too Far’’: B -
(Movie originally reviewed on October 27, 2002)