Blu-ray Review: A Bridge Too Far

DVD Reviews

By Jeff Swindoll Jun 3, 2008, 12:55 GMT

FUBAR, to put it kindly, means Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. Operation Market Garden turned out to be an operation that definitely went FUBAR. Director Richard Attenborough dramatizes this war tale of a group of soldiers that tried to take a bridge too far and the lack of preparation that kept them from doing it.

Five years into the war with Germany the Allied forces need a plan for ending the war “by Christmas.” The American forces under Patton have a plan and the English forces commanded by Field Marshall Montgomery. Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower succumbs to political pressure and goes with Montgomery’s plan. The plan is to capture three bridges in Holland, Endhoven, Nijmegen, and Arnhem, and is called Operation Market Garden. What is supposed to happen is 35,000 men are to be flown into Holland and seize the bridges and hold them until the mechanized units can arrive to secure them. The plan seems doomed from the beginning as Lt. General Frederick Browning (Dirk Bogarde) ignores the fact that Panzer tanks have moved into Arnhem and are accompanying German Field Marshall Model (unbeknownst to the Allies). The area is supposed to be free of such military might and Browning speculates that the photographic evidence shows non-functioning tanks. To take the bridge at Arnhem, Major General Urquhart’s (Sean Connery) troops are going to have to be dropped some eight miles away from the bridge and make their way there. The plan is to have fast armed jeeps get there before them. However, most of those jeeps are damaged in the drop as well as the troops radios do not work. Although the first two bridges go as planned basically, the final one at Arnhem turns out to be too far and the operation too full of flaws to take this final prize and end the war in the time desired. They say that military intelligence is an oxymoron. They might be right as this film shows that the commanders come up with a plan that has obvious flaws yet choose to ignore them and go through with them anyway. The most telling line is from Polish leader Major General Sosabowski (Gene Hackman) who during one briefing goes up to the front to check the uniform of the British officer giving the briefing to make sure that he’s not on the German’s side. As Urquhart says at the end of the film he went into Arnhem with 10,000 men and is retreating with only barely 2,000. Browning only stiffens his upper lip and says that the bridge at Arnhem was a bridge too far, even thought the forces get within a mile of it. The nearly three hour war epic is supported by a stellar cast, including James Caan, Michael Caine, Elliot Gould, Anthony Hopkins, Ryan O’Neal, Robert Redford, Hardy Krueger, Maximilian Schell, Laurence Olivier, and Liv Ullmann. This is not the kind of casting we see anymore as the salaries of such an amount of stars today would bust any film’s budget. However, also since there are so many stars some of them are only given small vignettes to make the most of their roles. Robert Redford is given a high place in the credits but only appears towards the later part of the film and in a short sequence unbefitting his high credit. As war movies go I found this one a good one, but the ending is not the “rally round the flag boys” that’s typical of most of them. It’s actually downright bleak and really shows the operation failing. A Bridge Too Far is presented in 1080p anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The only special feature is the 3-minute theatrical trailer for the feature and some other trailers. A two-disc DVD edition had a commentary, documentaries, and a ton of extras compared to the Blu-ray. The film is compelling and shows that even commanders make mistakes – to the great loss of the men under their command. It’s too bad that the commander of this Blu-ray decided that the special features were too far to be included on this release. The film is presented in a fine transfer but more attention could’ve been paid to bringing over the special features since the cost of the disc is pretty pricey. A Bridge Too Far [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon. Visit the DVD database for more information.