Probably the last great war epic of its type to be made, and the best of the bunch...

Rating: 10/10 (14 October 2012)

Now before I am accused of false praise I want to make it clear how I review a film. In my own head the primary purpose of a film is to succeed on its own level, to accomplish its own objective. So does this sweeping film with a plethora of stars in an ensemble piece achieve in telling the fateful story of one of the most daring operations of World War II, and the events in Holland of 1944 - Yes it does, on almost every level.
This is not Saving Private Ryan, a story of war told through the eyes of one man and his unit, this is the story of a whole operation seen from the perspective of many different individuals on different sides but it does have the realism and grit of that movie and the grandeur of scale that movies these days can rarely emulate. Only a few other films have been made that can compete with this, the excellent but rather sanitised The Longest Day, and the epic but horribly misrepresented and historically inaccurate Battle Of The Bulge.
A Bridge Too Far is basically the story of Allied over confidence gone wrong. The plan was to end the war by Christmas with the intention of capturing a series of bridges with three Airbourne Divisions and one brigade, the last bridge of which sat over the upper Rhine and would give the good guys a back door into Germany. Seemingly defeated, everything looked promising for the operation, but things of course in battle rarely go according to plan.
Richard Attenborough packs tremendous detail here into every shot of the film and the special effects still hold up well today. No CGI for the parachute scenes here, they had to drop 800 extras for real on this movie. And the film has several tremendous set pieces to recommend it, from the crossing of the river Waal by the 82nd Airbourne to Grabners SS recon platoon charge over Arnhem bridge against dug in British Paratroopers.
Close to three hours in running time the film never the less moves at a cracking pace and is rarely if ever boring. Liv Ulman plays with great care the woman Kate Ter Host, who was instrumental in providing medical care for the besieged British forces at Osterbeek (A woman who deserves a movie about her life, and will get one if I have anything to do with it) and the ensemble cast from Sean Connery, Lawrence Olivier, Dirk Bogarde to Robert Redford all act with appropriate levels of pomp and bravado as is befitting to their various roles. Acting geeks might wish to spot a whole host of talent in supporting and minor roles from Alun Armstrong and Ben Cross along with the excellent Paul Copley, all doing a fine job of filling in those small but crucial scenes. Michael Caine and Edward Fox both do fine jobs as the commanders of the British armoured cavalry leading the way.
A Bridge Too Far works because its well written, well acted, well directed and above all it is truthful. Some characters have been amalgamated here and there to consolidate facts and people for time, but there has been no alternation of events. This is a film not to be missed, even if you do not have an interest in military history its unlikely that you won't be moved by the calamity of the events that unravel in this story of why war sucks and how the best intentions of a few people led to the needless deaths of many.
This is Attenborough at his finest hour and this film is often criminally overlooked or under stated in biographies and analysis of his work, which as one of the finest epic war films of all time, it should never be. Critics should take note and add it into their lists of one of finest movies of its type ever made. It is unlikely we will ever see its type again, more so the pity.