A Good War Film

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2008)

A Bridge too Far is an epic war film about the failed Opperation Marketgarden in World War Two where the allies hoped to have a quick push through the Netherlands and into the Ruhr region of Germany, her industrial heartland. This film takes a look at the operation from a number of points of view, from the Dutch Resistance, the British high command, British and American ground troops and the German commanders in Holland. This film takes a look at mistakes made by commanders of the operation and how the mission was a failure despite the best efforts of the ground troops. This film avoids the cliché of making all Germans and Nazis as evil characters which was possibilities a more truthful portrayal. There was no mention of the SS or things such as the Holocrast. The film is also well directed by Richard Attenborough who is good at casting and the battle scenes were good. I wouldn't be surprised if this film helped influence Saving Private Ryan. A Bridge Too Far is a bold attempt of making a film, it was long, nearly 3 hours, but I think that it was needed and it couldn't have been shorter then 2 hours 30 minutes. The film also ends in a bittersweet note, and that was properly why this film was that successful at the box-office because people at the time didn't want to see a film about a military failure. The only think I didn't like about the film was the fact that Americans were shown to be be very noble and wanted to help out other soldiers regardless about anything else whilst the British were too prudent and did not want to go against there orders. In real life it would have been more of a mix in both armies. However A Bridge Too Far is a good film and is well worth watching, especially if you like war films or interested in WWII.