A Bridge Too Far (1977)

As often happens, I felt obliged to watch a movie featuring someone who recently died, in this case Sean Connery. He's one of the actors I've watched most, so there weren't many promising titles left. This one's pretty popular but has a bunch of other big names and countless speaking roles, so I wasn't sure it would showcase him well.

Based on a book that's at least partly based on reality, it tells of Operation Market Garden: In 1944, British, American, and Polish forces plan to use paratroopers and tanks to capture numerous bridges in the occupied Netherlands. Many soldiers doubt the feasibility of the mission, as it involves considerable travel along narrow roads, there's fog to consider, and even if the Germans don't send their best, they won't be pushovers. If you know this chapter of history, you know the doubts are correct.

Yes, this is one of the few war movies I've seen to focus on a failed operation. Then again, like The Great Escape, it can be taken as largely successful, however unsatisfying to most involved. From a viewing standpoint, it's not too much of a bummer.

To my relief, Connery does have a big-enough part to be memorable. As a major general and commanding officer of the 1st British Airborne Division at Arnhem, he occupies an unenviable position, not having nearly the support he was led to expect. Oh, it's not constant action for him; there's a fair bit of waiting and stewing as it takes forever just to establish radio contact.

Such waiting helps explain the 176-minute runtime. The operation doesn't even begin until somewhere around the 45-minute mark. Nevertheless, director Richard Attenborough must have done something right, because I never felt bored. Positive factors include cinematography, a few choice lines, and some good acting, not least by James Caan, Anthony Hopkins, and Edward Fox. (The last one may be least known outside of the UK, but only he was nominated for awards for this.) Personally, I'm most impressed by the mass parachuting scene, which must have been hard to shoot well.

The official rating is PG, but you can bet it would've gotten a PG-13 if that had existed at the time. There are plenty of bloodied bodies and several instances of the S-word. I didn't find such moments disturbing so much as indicative of a more modern war flick than I realized. More disturbing was seeing the Allied troops take over private residences without waiting for consent, breaking windows to prepare for a firefight -- a due reminder of how different the experience of war has been for American civilians compared with others.

Did I care about individual soldiers this time? Yes and no. I kept only a few of them straight, but I had definite hopes for certain ones. A particular arc involving a head-shot man the doctor wants to dismiss immediately as dead sure captured my interest.

I can see why ABTF got mixed reviews, perhaps especially in the U.S. Maybe it's too uneven for classic status. But I prefer it to about half the war films I've reviewed on this blog.