A Star too Far

Rating: Null/10 (24 July 2003)

A Bridge Too Far is an ambitious film. It´s epic in scale, has an impressive cast, and lasts nearly three hours. It contains some brilliantly orchestrated battle scenes and stays close to historical fact. But it lacks drama and many of the actors are wasted, particularly the Americans. Only the British characters are well written. Sean Connery is particularly good as the frustrated General Urquhart. Anthony Hopkins and Edward Fox also stand out. But by the end of the second hour the film loses its momentum. Robert Redford leads a river assault to capture Nijmegen bridge but ,hair-raising though it is, the audience is bound to feel more than a little battle-weary by then, and Redford only seems to have been thrown in for our curiosity. Most of the actors are used in this way. The big scenes sustain our interest, however; the German retreat at the beginning, the immense para drop over Holland, the rolling barrage that devastates the German positions, the armoured assault by the Waffen SS across Arnhem bridge; these are spectacular. Worth a view.