.jeri.

I was messing around with one of TiVo's cool features, the Universal Swivel Search (yet another reason why dish/cable DVRs will never compare), and was searching with Liv Ullman, of all people, and found a listing for A Bridge Too Far. The name seemed vaguely familiar, and then I saw the cast (alphabetical): James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell, and Liv Ullman. All they had to say was "Hopkins" and I was in, but add all of these other amazing actors, and we've got a darn good cast in a somewhat epic movie. Their roles: mostly military men involved in a late WWII attempt to take on Germany via Holland, capturing several bridges along the way, in a an operation called Market-Garden.

I had not heard of this operation, but apparently, director Richard Attenborough and the rest of the movie's makers went all out in capturing historic accuracy in facts as well as use of costume and machinery. And let me tell you, it certainly is detailed. In fact, there are so many characters and locations that it's easy to get bogged down and lose track of who's trying to accomplish what. In some ways I think of that as a negative about the film, but in others, I think it's somewhat reflective of how the situation must have felt for all of the people involved.

The movie begins at a calm pace, and feels organized, just as the men about to go on this mission feel. And, as quickly as their individual tasks go awry and confusion sets in, the movie itself becomes harder to follow. I was able to figure out, for the most part, what each group of people was trying to accomplish, but as I read on another review, the geography was a bit hazy in my mind. I was never quite sure who was closest to the final bridge, or where the Germans were in relation to them (with the exceptions of close combat scenes).

Nevertheless, this movie is massive in terms of scope. The firepower, the locations, the men, the details, the direction, and the script are great. Speaking of script, the screenplay by William Goldman is loaded with scrumptious wit and English class. I love the banter between some of the men. It adds just enough relief from the otherwise stressful situations.

I like how the movie appears to be of that traditional soft look of the 70s at the start. The mood is calm and the directing moves at an appropriate pace, then shocks us with quick edits of ammunition being fired off one by one. Looking up Attenborough, I see now that he directed The Remains of the Day. No wonder this movie had that familiar feeling.

The story itself is an interesting one to take on. I'm not sure how familiar other people are with it, but it was new to me, thus I had no idea in which direction the movie would go. The title gives a hint towards where things will end up, but I had no idea what I was in for, and it was pretty interesting to hear about all of the mishaps, mistakes, judgment lapses, and senses of overconfidence that happened in those few days.

A Bridge Too Far is interesting, confusing, detailed, and impressive. I can't say that I absolutely loved it, but I appreciated many aspects of it. As far as war movies go, I definitely have other favorites, but the particular style this one took was unique and interesting, so I'm glad I watched it.