"The forest that once was green, was coloured black by those killing machines"

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2015)

By September 1944, the allies were exploding with confidence due to the D-Day victory. Field Marshall Montgomery devised an ambitious plan to thrust into Germany and end the war by Christmas. Christening this plan "Operation Market Garden", allied brass intended to parachute hundreds of troops into occupied Holland where they would capture a series of strategically important bridges. Once these bridges were secured, more troops would push across the Lower Rhine and into Germany where they would destroy the Nazi's munitions plants. Montgomery was positive that the plan would succeed, however this was not to be the case. The fact that the allies hoped to establish a total victory all too soon led to Operation Market Garden becoming one of the most calamitous tactical failures in military history.
Executed in the same style as The Longest Day, ABTF chronicles the disastrous events of Operation Market Garden in awesome fashion. Like Ken Annakin in 1962, Richard Attenborough gives us a sturdy history lesson. Dickie's lesson however, is wrapped in poignant anti-war subtext. Until this point, anti-war movies only saw fit to show the debilitating effects of war on the soldiers. ABTF cuts much deeper by depicting the effects of warfare on civilians, thus the film succeeds amazingly. These anti-war overtones are at their most powerful when the town of Arnhem is razed to the ground by German tanks, but hit hardest when a distraught elderly woman and her confused son are thrust into the fighting after their home is overrun by Lieutenant Colonel Frost and his forces. Also later in the movie, a young Dutch woman is forced to turn her house into a makeshift hospital for allied casualties. Yes, the film's anti-war subtext is laid on extremely thick, but the ugliness of war is it's selling point. Richard Attenborough goes further to criticise the decisions made by the allied high command. Most of the Generals who appear in the movie are depicted as overzealous toffs who stubbornly send their soldiers to be massacred at the expense of efficiency. The highlight of the film comes when James Caan's Sergeant threatens to shoot the U.S Medical Colonel unless he removes the bullet from Caan's dying Captain's skull. Proficiently executed with meritorious tact, the entire sequence is a robust testament to consequential writing and sharp acting. It also brilliantly showcases the crippling pressure under which real life soldiers have to fight. ABTF is light years ahead of it's time in terms of cinematography. The scenes showing the allies landing in Holland boasted a series of most impressive subjective POV shots of paratroopers plunging through the air. The said shots certainly wouldn't look out of place in a contemporary first person shooter game.
As with The Longest Day, ABTF is blessed with the advantage of star power. Awe striking portrays come from Sean Connery, Robert Redford, James Caan and Edward Fox. Gene Hackman stood out as Major General Sosabowski, as did Elliott Gould as the cigar chomping Colonel Bobby Stout. The latter is the stereotypical American Colonel, although clichéd as he may appear, Gould's professionalism transforms Colonel Stout into a staunch character. Other vivid performances included Anthony Hopkins as Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, Michael Caine as Lieutenant Colonel J.O.E Vandeleur, Maximillian Schell as Lieutenant General Bittrich, Arthur Hill as the American Medical Colonel and Liv Ullmann as Kate Ter Horst. Laurence Olivier gave a profound performance as the kindly Doctor Spaander and so did Hardy Kruger as Major General Ludwig and Michael Byrne as Lieutenant Colonel Giles Vandeleur. Be sure to look out for a pre Cheers John Ratzenburger as a U.S Lieutenant and Donald Pickering as Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie. Tight editing allows the battle scenes to be both engaging and taut. The stunts and special effects have the full power to excite with the engagements on the Arnhem bridge and amphibious assault on the German held river bank plus the subsequent attack on the Nijmegen bridge packing spectacularly cuspidate suspense!. The action scenes, especially the streetfighting(which is some of the most realistic I've ever seen in a war movie!), were given a brutal edge thanks to the use of modern camera techniques and moderate inclusion of gore.
ABTF is a biting comment on the hideousness of war, but can also be read as a severe essay on the repercussions of overenthusiasm and conformity. Handled with commendable tact by Richard Attenborough, ABTF has more than enough strength to pull any war movie or history buff in. 10/10.