Nine point nine, recurring

Rating: Null/10 (7 February 2000)

Previous comments have praised this epic's scale, accuracy, the intensity of its action sequences, etc. My own score would be nine point nine recurring out of ten. The remaining vanishingly small fraction of dissatisfaction is accounted for by one or two little niggles...
The gliders. We see them loading, taxiing, taking off, and scattered in profusion around the landing zones. But we see them flying only by the courtesy of special effects, and we don't see them land. This would be a shot on a par with those taken from the aircraft and the paratroopers' perspectives during the the jump sequences. It would also highlight just how important these gliders were to the airborne formations.
The maps. On the big screen, they are shown in briefings and planning meetings and they very effectively convey even to a non-military viewer the plans and progress of the operation. When the film is transferred to video, either they become so small that the vital details are lost in the blur, or they are cropped out of shot.
The jibe about "bringing the boys home for Christmas". Dickie Attenborough let his pacifist views show through here, but missed the point. "Market Garden" was not comparable to the blinkered strategy of World War I blimpish generals. It was a gamble, true, but a justifiable one. What is Attenborough saying ? Don't risk anything, pick on someone smaller, like Saddam Hussein ?
Studious viewers might like to read "Slaughter over Sicily" by Charles Whiting, for the tale of another airborne operation which went wrong. Perhaps this is another subject waiting for a film ...