Home :: DVD :: Military & War :: War Epics  

Action & Combat
Anti-War Films
Civil War
Comedy
Documentary
Drama
International
Vietnam War
War Epics

World War I
World War II
A Bridge Too Far

A Bridge Too Far

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $11.96
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 15 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Overproduced... But not bad.
Review: An interesting production about the disaster operation Market-Garden that the allies launched against the Germans in France, 1944. It seems the director was more concerned about the special effects and the ego of his actors then the basic foundations of the film. Actors like Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Max Schnell all are great, and help the movie sincerly, but god get some spunk back into it! All in all, the movie is very long, overproduced, but has good historical background and acting, but should be re-titled " A Budget Too Long "

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: DVD version criticism
Review: An outstanding war movie and as some have mentioned, better than "Saving Private Ryan" for giving an overview of large-scale operations in Europe during WWII. My only criticism lies with Metro Goldwyn Meyer's DVD release of this film. During the early 1980s, this epic debuted on network television, and included both additional footage (particularly a scene of a group of soldiers caught in the street-to-street fighting in Nijmegen) and an hour-long documentary on the "making of." Why these were not included in the DVD version (which is practically standard procedure to sell re-releases now days) is beyond me. The "making of" was particularly interesting, with interviews with Attenborough, Levine, Redford, Connery and Dutch citizens of Deventer, (the town that stood in for Arnhem in the movie.) The ommission of this footage and documentary seems almost criminal, and the best explanation I can think of is that MGM just didn't try hard enough to track it down.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "What a cast¿.what a film"
Review: As a boy, after seeing the 'making of' documentary I had to see the film. I'd always liked war films, but this came out on top. Until then, I didn't know anything about Market Garden, but afterwards it sparked a real interest in the subject, resulting in much reading and research, interviewing veterans and many trips to Arnhem.

It's a fast paced blockbuster of a film with a great cast and gives a fairly good all round account of the Operation. It sits high up there with 'The Great Escape', 'The Battle of Britain', 'The Longest Day' and all of the other Second World War classics. It's definitely one to own.

I must say however, that since the benchmark film 'Saving Private Ryan', and the advances in special effects and cinematography, a film just dedicated to the British and Polish involvement is long overdue. In light of the many books and autobiographies covering the subject, a film made in this style I believe would give the audience an idea as to how bitter the fighting actually was, the complexity of the Operation and the bravery of the Dutch people.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Bridge Too Far- A Cast Too Big
Review: As Much as I love this movie they tried to squeeze too many big names into it.In order to get these fine actors and actresses in they chopped up this movie. With the exception of the Arnhem Bridge sequences, with Anthony Hopkins and others, the flow to Cornielius Ryans book has been destroyed. It wasn't that way in Ryan's "The Longest Day". A fine performance by a younger Anthony Hopkins.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 5 Victoria Crosses, 2 Medals of Honor, Countless Stars
Review: As the title indicates, British, Polish and American paratroopers displayed tremendous heroism fighting German paratroopers and Panzer Divisions in an effort to "end the war by Christmas," in 1944. The cast speaks for itself in terms of the big names that came together to honor the sacrifices so eloquently described in Cornelius Ryan's book of the same name. The movie and book do an admirable job of accurately portraying the series of actions from drop zones to bridges in the different division sectors.

The movie brings out the zeal of the commanders, vying for resources and trying to "get into the fight" before the war is over. Ego drives LTG Browning to ignore intelligence that confirms known Panzer units in the area of Arnhem. Lack of pre-combat checks sends the British into battle without adequate communications. The informed viewer will pick up on the folly of attacking along a single road without having the flexibility to maneuver mechanized forces along multiple axes of advance. Although the paratroopers represent some of the best fighters in the war, without proper lines of resupply and communication light infantry cannot hold out long against armored forces. The director commendably brings to light many of the problems the 82nd, 101st and British 1st Para had during the battle, as well as the tremendous bravery exhibited. The 82nd's forced daylight river crossing and the British stand at Arnhem symbolize two high points of the battles.

This is a classic and should be appreciated by anyone who enjoys war movies or has served in the military. Highly recommended!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Quantitative Evaluation
Review: Audio Merits:6/10;Video Merits:7/10;Scenario Merits:9/10;Cinematographic Merits:9/10:Overall Artistic Performance:9/10;DVD Extras:7/10;Musical Merits:8/10;Recording Total Quality:8/10. Professor's Recommendation:A masterpiece among the WWII films. Nevertheless, DVD version requires reprocessing.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great Movie, terrible DVD
Review: Based upon an outstanding book by Cornelius Ryan, this movie tells the story of Field Marshall Montgomery's ambitious but very risky plan to invade Germany in the fall of 1944, by dropping airborne troops to take strategic bridges, and sending an armored column to link up with the airborne troops. The plan required too much to go perfectly, it didn't, and the plan failed. The movie is told mostly from the British point of view, but that is appropriate because the British planned the operation and took most of the casualties. The British 1st Airborne Division, commanded by Roy Urqhart (Sean Connery) was dropped 64 miles behind enemy lines, right on top of a Panzer division, and was nearly wiped out. Only 2,000 of the 10,000 men in the division made it back to allied lines.

This is a war movie in the grand tradition, made before moviemakers could cheat with digital effects. Thus, the massive air drops, for example, were real. (The same airdrop portrayed in the recent HBO series "Band of Brothers" relied on digital effects to paint in many of the parachutes in the background.)

Unfortunately, the film that this DVD was mastered from was in dreadful, really terrible condition. There are flecks and white spots galore, all throughout the picture. These white flecks can be digitally "repaired," but no one bothered to do that on this DVD. Consequently, this is just about the worst looking DVD I have ever seen. A movie this magnificent deserved a better DVD treatment, authored from a cleaned up, fully restored film. My grade of two stars is for the DVD only; the film is easily a five star film, especially for war movie and WWII movie buffs.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: So close to great.
Review: But no cigar.

I could probably forgive the fact this is 3 hours long, but I have a difficult time understanding how you cast Ryan O'Neal as ....wait hahahahahaha...hang on a sec...hahahaha..a 30's Something General. I can beat that though-Gene Hackman as Polish officer with an accent as bad as Ellie May Clampett. Add Eliott Gould to the cast of allegedly serious action characters and you have just flunked Filmaking 101. Oh yeah, Robert Duvall plays a one-eyed German officer. "Vee have vays of making you tawk!" A monstrous casting disaster, and that's too bad because the rest of the cast and the action sequences are outstanding. Without these silly distractions this film is excellent. I just cant deal with the thought of "Oliver" commanding US troops.

The Widescreen presentation and 2 Channel Dolby are more than adequate. Crank the stereo for this one...to hell with the neighbors.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wonderful Movie but slightly annoyed by subtitle controls
Review: Considering the number of other reviews for this title, I will keep this brief. I'd recommend browsing other reviews too.

I saw the movie for the first time on this DVD. I originally got interested in this title because of Sean Connery. As I scanned the DVD case, I began noticing other names - Gene Hackman, Elliot Gould, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier (which was a shock), Robert Redford, and Maximilian Schell. At this point, I had to get it.

I loved this movie. Plain and simple. I also found the way certain people died to be interesting - even ironic at times. Some scenes showed how senseless some of the deaths were.

One actor bugged me - Ryan O'Neal. I don't like him in this movie. I don't care for his acting style. He doesn't come across as real. I kept wanting to compare him to Buster Crabbe who starred in the old Flash Gordon and Buck Rodgers serials.

The booklet inside the DVD case has some nice trivia information.

The subtitle selection bugged me on this DVD. I'm used to Japanese Anime DVDs where I can easily change the language and subtitles while the movie is playing. This is locked out on this DVD, forcing you to go to the menu to change the settings. ...at least on my player. I'm guessing this was to make things less confusing for the average user. For example, there are two different sets of English subtitles - one that only translates the German dialogue while the other provides subtitles for all dialogue. I sometimes watch DVDs late at night so I like using subtitles so I don't disturb others in the house. That's why I pay close attention to these type of features. Something about my setup seems to interfere with the closed captions. I just started noticing it with multiple DVDs so I don't know what might be up. I can't say it's a defect of the DVD right now.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Worthy Adaptation of Cornelius Ryan's Book
Review: Cornelius Ryan is a legendary writer of the history of World War II. Sometimes ponderous, this movie faithfully reproduces a battle that is little known to most Americans. Most people lose perspective and have never learned of the major battles between D-Day and V.E. Day. The exception is the Battle of the Bulge. The movie explores the situation on many levels, looking at common soldiers, the division between Montgomery and Patton, the courage of airborne forces, the leadership of many of the same generals that led the D-Day invasion, and the trials of fate. The movie hilights the bond between the British and the Americans. Two countries that have always stepped up to right wrong at great sacrifice. Poignant also is the participation of the Poles and their commitment to liberate Europe even as their own country was trading German oppression with Soviet oppression. The all-star cast is top notch. In the days when epic movies do not keep the attention of viewers, this movie is an exception. The sadness one feels as the Allies are eventually stopped in what has become a futile effort is mitigated by the knowledge that the allies would eventually win.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 15 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates