Powerful epic anti-war war-film

Rating: Null/10 (16 February 1999)

Director Richard Attenborough's remarkably faithful account of the real-life "Operation Market Garden" a massive allied airborne and ground assault in late 1944.The campaign was to have ended the war - as always- "by Christmas" and the film remains admirably close to the book on which it is based,as accurate in authentic detail as one is ever likely to find in a major Hollywood movie. Although this is a rousing helter-skelter action epic with the massive operation portrayed in a suitably massive way, there is a heavy anti-war undertone.It successfully portrays the vast waste of human life invvoled and offers no happy ending to justify the suffering.Few directors could handle such a film with the deftness and compassion that Attenbourough applies.His action scenes are breathtaking,while the casualty sequences are genuinely heart-rending. The cast is amazing,drawing together the top acting talent from Britain and the USA.Particularly strong performances include Anthony Hopkins',Sean Connery & Edward Fox as three of the British cammanders most closely caught up in the fighting.A degree of comic-relief is provided by the superb Elliot Gould who's brief appearance includes one of the film's most memorable moments.Michael Caine is laconic,Lawrence Olivier and Liv Ullman are compassion personified,Ryan O'Neal is intense and harassed and Gene Hackman gives one of his best perfomances of all time as a Polish General with grave misgivings about the whole thing. Dirk Bogard, as overall commander Gen.Browning is given the uncomfortable task of bringing humanity to the man who the film blames largely for the operations massive casualty count and he hits the right mark every time. This is truly a big BIG film,but it's full of down-to-earth human touches.How it compares to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, I cannot say as I have yet to see that film. But certainly "BRIDGE TOO FAR" rates as the best war film I have ever seen.