An Absolute War Materpiece

Rating: 10/10 (7 September 2014)

I cannot believe I never knew about this astounding war movie. A Bridge Too far is an excellent, excellent film with a very tight plot, superb suspense and very strong message, without a the typical modern-day sweet happy end. The film describes the actual September 1944 Holland invasion that went not too good for the Allies. The cats is all star-studded and shines all the film throughout, with all the best cast in small, but significant roles - Dirk Bogarde James Caan Michael Caine Sean Connery Edward Fox Anthony Hopkins Gene Hackman Hardy Krüger Laurence Olivier Robert Redford Maximilian Schell - among many. The film leaves no open ending, with a message that is clear and clean - war is terrible, and there are no good deaths. A Bridge is shot very much in The Longest Day or A Battle Of Britain style, where all the actors speak their languages, and the subtitles are of great help. The 3 hours of the length may seem a bit too long for some, but for war film fans this work flies like a lightning and gives almost not a second to breathe. Very tense tempo helps and adds much to the splendid work of cinematography. Highly recommended