OK but not particularly good

Rating: 5/10 (14 November 2002)

One of the most glaring problems with this film is that Ryan O'Neal was far too young looking to be a General. Otherwise, it's a pretty fair but long film. This is the true story of Operation Market Garden, an assault that was designed to propel the Allies deep into German-held territory and capture key bridges over canals and rivers. I think the combat scenes were overall pretty well done. Michael Caine does a fine job in his role as the leader of the ground assault that is supposed to relieve the paratroopers. Trouble is, those pesky Germans put up a lot more of a fight than was expected (mainly due to faulty Allied intelligence as far as what German units were in the area). There was also some stupidity portrayed on the Allied side. Result, the ground units never reached the British paratroopers at the last bridge. (Hence the title A Bridge too Far). As I said, the film is overall pretty well done. This film just didn't grab me and I consider it to be a run of the mill (albeit LONG) war film. I gave it a 6.