highly recommended

Rating: 9/10 (29 July 2004)

When I rented this movie I didn't have the highest expectations
since it only has a 6.9 on this site. However, I was pleasantly
surprised by the movie and it is one of my favorites. Richard
Attenborough put together a fine cast and crew.
The ups: Most of the cast (that is, Dirk Bogarde, Michael Caine,
Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony
Hopkins, Hardy Kruger, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford,
Maximilian Schell, and Liv Ullman) do a very good job in their roles.
I was especially pleased by Anthony Hopkins, Michael Caine, and
Sean Connery. Also good was Robert Redford in a role that was
only meant to attract a bigger American audience (since he
appears two hours into the film). John Addison's score is very
good; it brought back memories of classic scores like The Bridge
On the River Kwai's and The Great Escape's. I could go on and on
about the sensational production, but I don't feel like it right now.
The downs: Besides Robert Redford's pointless casting, there are
other problems with the actors. Ryan O'Neal just wasn't very
convincing at all in his role, with some of his lines sounding
almost purposely artificial. Also, James Caan must have gotten a
face lift after The Godfather, because his facial expression is pretty
much the same throughout the movie. His role at first seems
pointless, but then the story of the little guy had to have been told.
Also, man probably argue that the movie dragged on too long.
Since I am interested in WWII history, I realized that Operation
Market-Garden was an epic mission with great importance, but I
would've been just as happy with the movie if it was about fifteen
minutes shorter.
In the end, I was very pleased by the movie and I highly
recommend it. 9/10