One of the greatest war movies of all time

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2002)

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD**
To me, A Bridge Too Far is one of the most memorable movies ever made, because the landscape of the eastern/central Netherlands is so much etched into my consciousness. Even though the western and northern parts (the parts below sea level) are (sea) clay and rich, the eastern part is higher and therefore so sandy that only pines and heather will grow on it. This is the landscape in which much of operation Market Garden was fought out. Market Garden is of course the story of the Allied assault across Holland's rivers, which if successful, would have allowed the allies occupy the Ruhr region of Germany, it's industrial heartland, stopping the nazi war machine from re-supplying it's tank, airforce and infantry units with much needed replacement parts, ammunition, etc. If successful, it would have ended the war there and then. In the end, the Allies made it all the way to Nijmegen, but failed to secure the last bridge at Arnhem, heroically defended by the British paras (I'm getting steamed up just writing about it), who were overwhelmed because contrary to allied command's assertions, there were SS panzer units still active in the area. The bridge they defended has been renamed the John Frost Bridge (the character in the movie played by Anthony Hopkins). In the end, the people of the Netherlands payed a heavy price as well, because after the railway strike in support of Market Garden, German command stopped the supply of food and fuel to the west of the Netherlands, resulting in a famine which took 18,000 lives during the worst winter in living memory. As a movie, this is a tour de force, with airial landings to rival anything The Longest Day or Band Of Brothers. An all star cast is used effectively to differentiate the many units and commanders. Standouts however, are Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, Dirk Bogarde, Edward Fox, but especially Sean Connery, as Scottish para major-general Roy Urquhart. If I had any problem, it's with the dutch people being played by international actors Laurence Olivier (although he is pretty good of course), but especially Liv Ullman as Kate ter Horst (her Dutch is nearly completely unintelligeble, even after repeated listening). Giving credit where it is due, outstanding performances are also Hardy Krüger as SS major-general Ludwig and Maximilian Schell (The Iron Cross) as Lt.-General Bittrich. This is not a perfect movie by any means, but it is one of the greatest movies ever made, certainly one of the greatest war movies. Don't miss it.