Better than what the critics say

Rating: Null/10 (2 July 1999)

It's a mystery why the critics don't like this movie. Leonard Maltin calls it lifeless and overproduced. But I believe that this is Lord Richard Attenbourgh's best film.
Attenbourgh hides his displeasure of war here and tells the story of the 1944 attempt of the Allies to win WWII by dropping airborne troops into enemy-occupied Holland and sieze bridges until the main army arrives. The plan is killed my Allied mistakes, like the fact that all the paratroopers supplies are dropped on ememy territory, and the late arrival of the Poles, who are the assist the British paratroopers and the fact that there was no major offensive to help push everybody along.
Unlike Attenbourgh's earlier attempt (the crazy "Oh, What A Lovely War")and later attempts ("In Love and War), his anti-war attitude is hidden and the camera is neutral, showing the Americans, British, Allied, Dutch and Nazis as people caught up in war and forced to try to save themselves.
The movie is based on a novel by Cornelius Ryan, who wrote "The Longest Day." The movie has many similarities with "The Longest Day." It's mainly about the men who fought the war than with the leaders and it centers on both sides. It's also important to note that the Germans and Dutch speak their own languages, unlike "Midway" and like "Longest Day", "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and "Patton", which makes it more documentary like.
This movie is helped by an all-star cast and can only be seen in its Panavision glory. Please watch it in the widescreen edition either on Videocassette or DVD.