A Bridge Too Far: Blu-ray Review

The Movie Itself is directed by Academy Award winning director, Richard Attenborough (of Ghandi-directing fame). The film’s cast is filled to the brim with A-list actors, including Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, James Caan, and Anthony Hopkins.

The film’s screenplay is adapted from the book by Cornelius Ryan, and it shares the same name. Given the film’s literary roots, and the old stature of the film, it doesn’t play at all like the war films that we’ve all come accustomed to. Instead, it ambles along — sometimes all-too-leisurely — whilst bombs, bullets and bodies fly through the air. I’d like to say that this works to the film’s advantage — providing us a rare glimpse at something new — but more often than not, it tends to hurt the progression of the film’s narrative, and it does little to engage the audience. As a result, by the time the film’s bloated 176 minute running time expires, the viewer will lack any sort of compassion, whatsoever, for anyone on screen that the film will seem — in retrospect — as meaningless as the botched offensive, Operation Market Garden.

I myself, am a huge fan of “epic” films. In fact, I typically relish the excitement of discovering a film with a running time far beyond the 90-120 minute norm. When done right, films with an above average running time can soar far beyond the likes of their shorter-running brethren. Given a longer span of time, and more room to breathe, most films flourish. Far more story-lines can be introduced/explored and characters fleshed out, among other things (ex: The Departed, Heat, The Godfather, Titanic).

On the flip-side, when done wrong, the results can be catastrophic. Thankfully though, A Bridge Too Far, is no train wreck, and despite its lofty ambitions and bloated running time, there are a number of redeeming scenes, shots and performances that salvage this film. Ultimately though, the film strikes me as being overly dull, and I believe that this stems mostly from the film’s production value, age and source material — though I can’t be entirely sure having never read the book from which the movie spawned.

In the end, with such superb talent at Attenborough’s disposal, it is a pity that the resultant film flounders and bores more than it entertains or excites. Therefore, what could have been a fantastic and exhilarating movie, ends up earning nothing more than a slightly below average rating of 2 1/2 stars.