not the best war film over, but a worthy one (mild spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (29 April 2003)

This is inferior to The Longest Day in my opinion, but A Bridge Too Far is still a pretty accurate epic and a worthy addition to the film collection of any WWII enthusiast. A Bridge Too Far takes slightly more license with the facts than in The Longest Day, with several characters being combined into one and so on, but it is still a better movie than some reviewers have given it credit for. One user commented that 'you just know Robert Redford is going to come through unscathed', supposedly because he is a big star. Redford was portraying real-life Major Julian Cook, who did come through unscathed, therefore the film was merely being accurate. I thought all the actors did well with their roles, with Edward Fox being as entertaining as usual, although Gene Hackman's Polish accent sounded a little forced. On the German side, it was a plus to have the Germans speak their own language, and I enjoyed war film veteran Wolfgang Preiss' brief appearance as Field Marshal von Rundstedt; he portrayed von Rundstedt's weary pessimism very well. The spectacle of the massive paratroop landings was very impressive as well, and the plight of the Dutch civilians, caught between two massive armies, received the attention it deserved. All in all, not perfect, but pretty good.