A criminally underrated war near-masterpiece that deserves more attention.

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2008)

Picked this up at a DVD store, had no idea it would be this good. I was a bit astonished at IMDb's rating of the film... 7.3?! WHAT?!! Should have been in the Top 250 for all I know. Because the ingredients of a dazzling film is all here, in this movie.
To start off, the cast. Sean Connery! Michael Caine! Gene Hackman! Robert Redford! Anthony Hopkins! Elliot Gould! Laurence Olivier! Dirk Bogard! Ryan O' Neal! Edward Fox! An A-list cast ensemble of their time, on the screen for our enjoyment. Need I say more? The story is good, it is accurate to the real battles (as well as the novel), and it has its fair share of dramatic moments to boot without getting too melodramatic. The dialog is good, and it's great to see Germans speaking their own language for once instead of English like the greatly flawed film Midway.
The music by John Addison is also commendable, as it is throbbing and heroic, really suits the military scenes as well, and it is not heard during the action scenes, this is good as it prevents the grittiness of war from being distracted by the glorious score of the film.
The cinematography is lush, beautiful, and scenic. This makes the battle scenes majestic and the slow moments poignant. The scenes with the paratroopers preparing for the jump makes your jaw drop in amazement and wonder as you say, "How'd the hell they'd do that?" And that's in the 70's, folks! The direction by sir Richard Attenborough is wonderful, kinetic and gripping. The battle scenes are astounding, with real army tanks and real soldiers as extras duking it out on the battlefield. It is truly a sight to behold. As for the paratrooper scenes, I don't know how he did it. The action is raw, in-your-face and intense, and quite graphic at times. That's the real spirit of war.
In short, it's a war near-masterpiece, a criminally underrated one at that. Give this a try. With all that's said and done, you will love it.
Overall quality: 8.986/10
Delton