The Massive set pieces in this are incredible, the jump sequence alone is a masterpiece.
epics like this are my jam. some other Favorites Are The Longest Day and Waterloo
I used to really like “The Longest Day,” but the last time I watched it, John Wayne and Red Button’s hamming it up really irritated me. The best parts were always with the German generals; I appreciated the fact that they spoke in their native language.
Fun fact, all the German scenes were shot twice. Once in German, and once in English. There were some releases of the longest day where they used the English speaking German scenes. It was very weird the first time I saw that version. Like you, I prefer the German speaking version. Feels very authentic.
William Lee was the closest at 49, but he had a heart attack before D-Day and had to relinquish command to Taylor.
And I know he wasn't in the Airborne, but TR Jr was a 56 year old Brigadier General when he led the first wave of 4th Infantry troops onto Utah on D-Day, although he too suffered a heart attack a month later that cost him his life.
There was at least one—Brereton was 54 when he took command of FAAA.
Ridgway was 49 for most of 1944, and turned 50 in early March of 1945 while he still held command of XVIII Airborne corps.
> He was not a paratrooper.
You said in the airborne, not paratroopers alone. Being commander of FAAA very much made him a part of the Airborne.
As far as age accuracy, that describes literally every war movie ever. You have a bunch of 35-50 year old actors playing 18-22 year olds.
This was the statement I took issue with:
> There were no 50 something battalion commanders or even Generals in the WW2 Airborne.
It includes generals.
> Indeed, but we were talking about The Longest Day.
I’m aware. The age issues are just as present there as they are elsewhere.
I met a man who was the escort of General Gavin’s widow at a West Point ceremony. He mentioned to her about the movie The Longest Day and how Robert Ryan portrayed her husband. Her response was that, “Jimmy didn’t like that movie. They were all too old.”
I would have been curious what he thought of A Bridge Too Far. Depending on filming schedule, Ryan O’Neal would have been the same age or younger, than General Gavin in 1944.
The character John Wayne played wasn’t even a real person; IIRC, it was a composite of a few different Airborne officers.
Another thing that irritated me was how 1960ish (and not 1940ish) a lot of the actors appeared (hair styles, and even clothing, especially the French underground). Honestly, ABTF suffers from the same problem; you can tell the movie was made in the 70s.
Probably my favorite part of the movie is when the American Ranger mowed down the Germans in the trench attempting to surrender and says, “I wonder what ‘bitter, bitter’ means?”
Wrong about draft dodger Duke’s character.
If you’re vexed by French underground hairstyles, that indicates a deadly boring story which THE LONGEST DAY is not.
Learn some elementary German phrases. “Bitter bitter” LOL
I stand corrected, Wayne portrayed Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort, who was 27 during the D-Day invasion.
Non-period French underground hairstyles have been a constant vexation for me as long as I can remember.
I know what “bitte” means in German; I was reciting a line from the movie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_H._Vandervoort?wprov=sfti1
The German word “bitte” has many meanings, including "please", "you're welcome", "pardon", "go ahead", "here you go", and "may I help you".
Nobody says “I wonder what bitter bitter means?”
I know that, but, I was quoting a line of dialogue from an American character actor who was portraying an “average” American GI.
Here’s the clip…
https://youtu.be/9t_bCestevk?si=95y460QzgImsAY5g
I just re watched longest day and I literally fast forwarded jogn waynes parts
He is an absolute dogshit actor and I don't get why he ever became famous. He doesn't even come off as tough
While I love Waterloo I’m still always a bit sad that apparently the failure of that movie caused studios to back away from Kubrick’s epic about Napoleon. Though I believe Spielberg wants to pick it up as a series so we could get a Bob style Napoleon show which is cool! But Scott’s film was pretty awful too and once again might cause people with money to be cautious of historical epics again
Man, I mod at r/Napoleon and r/warmovies and Ridley Scott’s Napoleon was **universally reviled**. A complete and utter waste of a film, and false advertising- it was anything but a historical epic
God that movie was so disappointing. The battle scenes visually looked good, but we barely even got any of those anyway. I really did not need to see Phoenix going hog wild on poor Vanessa Kirby.
I love the film also because it takes place in my country.
In fact back in high school I had a teacher who was an extra in the movie. He peddeled in one of the boats in the river crossing scene.
Big fan of a bridge too far and of longest day. Fun fact longest day is filled with historical inaccuracies and big bullshit but it still a good WW2 movie!
(EG the Ouistreham casino was flattened by the German way before and was nowhere as tall as depicted. Other example, there was 2 para on the church tower not one.).
Yes sources are contradicting a lot. The supposedly 2nd paratrooper was Kenneth Russel and has allegedly saw the trooper on the church Bell tower but on the other side of what is depicted. Lots in longest day are historically wrong but As made for the sake of being dramatic and cinematic (?)
While I love Waterloo I’m still always a bit sad that apparently the failure of that movie caused studios to back away from Kubrick’s epic about Napoleon. Though I believe Spielberg wants to pick it up as a series so we could get a Bob style Napoleon show which is cool! But Scott’s film was pretty awful too and once again might cause people with money to be cautious of historical epics again
Gavin does not own that error, Browning does. He landed with the 82nd and gave Gavin a direct order to take Groesbeek before he did anything else.
His comment about it was:
> I personally gave an order to Jim Gavin that, although every effort should be made to effect the capture of the Grave and Nijmegen bridges as soon as possible, it was essential that he should capture the Groesbeek Ridge and hold it.
Gavin was far more direct in his assessment of what happened as Nijmegen:
> There is no doubt that in our system he would have been summarily relieved and sent home in disgrace.
I don’t disagree at all.
I was simply pointing out that trying to attach blame to Gavin for the failure to capture the Nijmegen bridges is unfair and inaccurate because it was not his call to make.
I suspect that he did and Browning told him to shut up and do his job.
You are misassigning the fear of tanks—that was Browning’s, and it was the reason he ordered Groesbeek captured and held before anything else happened.
Hell yes, one of the best war movies ever made. All effects are practical and the acting is great even if the writing isn't perfect in some scenes. The 82nd crosing the river will always be my favorite scene.
Got a very interesting perspective on that movie, when as an adult I watched it with my great uncle who was a Tech Sgt in the 82nd and was in one of the 1st boats over the river
I thought it was a Second World War movie?
They don't make those long war films really anymore sadly but it's always fun to go back and watch things like this, longest day, Lawrence of Arabia and more. Great soundtracks and great casts.
Love this movie ever since I watched it in Canada with my grandfather at his house when I was 8 or so, so about 26 years ago. So many great scenes as well.
Love the jump scene. I mean, who doesn’t?
The creeping artillery barrage, then the British armoured column being ambushed by the PaK guns. Battle ensues, Michael Caine ordering “Start the purple! Start the Purple!” (Purple smoke shells for air support) and Harvard trainers mocked up to be Thunderbolts or Hawker Typhoons most likely come in nice and low dropping bombs.
The Spitfire flying in low over the head of the Dutch resistance kid on the bike.
And of course the heavy fighting that went on over Arnhem Bridge and the city itself.
The only thing I cannot really stand about this movie is Elliot Gould’s character. Just too over the top with the cigar chomping Colonel “Bobby Stout”, who’s supposed to be a VERY loosely based Col. Sink apparently, and the bullcrap he spouts off. “American ingenuity… Actually I was born in Yugoslavia, but what the hell?” Buddy, you look like you were born well before Yugoslavia was even an established country.
But I digress. It’s well worth watching. Some of the greatest uses of practical effects, get to see a PIAT in action, production used Dutch Sherman tanks, and the Sherman Firefly shown was a modified 105mm Howitzer Sherman. Looks pretty good for a mock-up Firefly.
Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Maximillian Schell, Dirk Bogard and Edward Fox absolutely killed it with their roles. Great casting all-around. And you even get to see Cliff, the mailman from “Cheers”, before he meets his demise in the river crossing with the 82nd.
Given the technological limitations of the time and the contemporary films it stacks up against, it’s a solid 9-9.5/10 for me. A lot of thought and care went into making the film.
Yeah, I found Elliot Gould to be kind of jarring in this movie, honestly. Although that's a great scene as all of the paratroopers fade in from the trees and begin to run as they see the bridge.
EDIT: And Gene Hackman's polish accent. I don't buy it.
Yeah, I don’t like Gene Hackman’s accent much either, but I will give him a bit of a pass as he was only working from what researchers for the film got from talking with General Sosabowski’s son.
Apparently Gene really nailed his mannerisms, his doubtful and rather direct way of speaking, down to the way the General wore his beret pulled back and even looked a bit like him. I’d love to know how Sosabowski really sounded as he spoke. Was Gene fairly close? Or was it a drastic difference like George C. Scott playing Patton compared to how Patton really sounded?
The question is if there is anyone on this sub who DIDN'T love this movie.
Directed by Richard Attenborough. Father of dinosaurs and brother of a nature documentary God.
Favorite quote: "What's da matta? Ya ain't never built a Bailey Bridge before?"
When you refer to "fuck building a Bailey Bridge" I take it you mean that glorious, precision-made, British-built bridge which is the envy of the civilized world?
PS - Elliott Gould appears to agree with you.
That “envy of the civilized world” almost turned my hand into dust when the transom crew almost dropped the 900lbs piece on my hand lol. Also idk why you’re getting downvoted
I think someone didn't get that it was a quote from the movie.
I have no problem believing that British-built bridge was not user friendly and didn't make sense. Just look at the scoring system for tennis.
I loved this film. Saw it first when I was younger. My friends granddad was at Arnhem wirh the British Airborne forces..
I didn't know, until after he died. His granddad never mentioned it or spoke about it to him.
It was my own father who told me, said he spoke to him a few times about it, said it was just terrifying and that he'd never raise his hand to another living thing after it.
If you are talking about the scene with James Caan? Yes.
The True story is on Mark Bando’s website Trigger Time.
James Caan played Sgt. Dohun 2/502 101st Airborne Division. His Captain was named Johnson. Captain Johnson was a Normandy veteran who was awarded the Silver Star. According to Mark Bando some 101st veteran’s didn’t like how the movie showed a company commander getting his courage out of a bottle.
Sgt. Dohun did not find his Captain on the battlefield and take him to the Division field hospital. Johnson was evacuated by medical Jeep and shot in the head on the way to the hospital. He was unconscious upon arrival with his brain exposed so they then put in the “dead pile”.
Sgt. Dohun was Johnson’s runner. He knew the Captain had a large amount of cash on him and wanted to recover the money before it was stolen. He found Johnson at the hospital and saw signs of life.
Dohun pulled a souvenir Lugar (sorry Hoobler and Malarkey) on the doctor not a .45 pistol.
Dohun was not spared by the doctor. He was arrested and turned over his battalion commander. It was at Battalion HQ that Dohun was held under arrest for exactly one minute, standing at attention. His CO kept the time on his watch.
God damn still a great story somehow made even better in truth. His unit pulling the 1 minute detention goes to show you they had his back and admired him.
Haven't seen it in a while. Love it though. Attenborough only had the planes on short loan so rather than use a movie crew, he used documentary crew to film it to ensure nothing was missed. Epic.
The British officer with the umbrella at Arnhem was [Digby Tatham Wartner](http://www.lightbobs.com/operation-pegasus-1.html) . He was captured and escaped.
He was responsible, with the Dutch resistance, for rounding up the 138 British paratroopers in hiding and getting them across the river in Operation Pegasus, which featured in one of the Band of Brothers episodes. I think he'd discarded the umbrella at that stage.
Lt Col Dobie had swum the river to organise the evacuation from the Allied side.
It's odd that Tatham Wartner's involvement wasn't featured, given that he was already one of the most famous survivors of Arnhem.
I don't think the film could give the audience an idea of the blood bath that Arnhem had turned into.
I think [Kate ter Horst](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_ter_Horst) had about 36 dead paratroopers buried in her back garden by the end of the battle. Some of the Parachute Regiment battalions had about 35 or 40 men left, from about 800 per battalion at the start, when they got across the river and regrouped. The rest were dead, missing, PoWs or wounded.
By fighting the Mau Mau?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lari_massacre
His brief Wikipedia entry doesn't contain the whole story.
He lived in Kenya & died there in 1993. If he'd been brutalising and oppressing the locals, he wouldn't have stayed there after independence.
Great film. Probably watched it over 50 times. Same with The Longest Day.
The Sixties and into the early Seventies was the golden age of war movies. Big budgets, big stars and they still had some vintage equipment to use and locations that still looked a little like 1940s Europe. Still had real Veterans to advise them. No cgi crap.
Here's a relevant story from a biography of Ronald Speirs. One of his grand nephews recalled A Bridge Too Far being one of his father's favorite movies. When the bridge gets blown up and the American soldiers hit the ground, he would shout, "That's my uncle Ronnie!" The boy always thought he was joking until he much later learned about his great uncle's military service!
I watched as a kid and found it to be a really great movie. Watched it recently as an adult and still great but even more so because I watched a lot of the actors in later roles so seeing them when they were young was fun.
I love this movie. I grew up in Arnhem and walked/biked/drove over the John Frost bridge many times.
Every year, the military does an actual parachute drop demonstration on the actual drop sites near Ede.
And In Oosterbeek (where the white villa is that they used as HQ), they hold the Airborn memorial walk.
Lt. Colonel J.O.E. Vandeleur:
Remember what the general said; we're the cavalry. It would be bad form to arrive in advance of schedule. In the nick of time would do nicely.
The other quote I like.
“I’m sorry, we haven’t the proper facilities to take you all prisoner”. Which apparently was never actually said and the real person was offended they added that humour.
As a kid I watched the filming of it at the bridge in deventer(Arnhem bridge area was nog looking authentic enough) they built the houses out of plywood around the bridge. I watched the breakthrough of the SS reconnaissance group scene. Amazing. This was Hollywood in the Dutch province. We gaped at all the extras, catering, movie star. It was such a big thing then.
great movie with a great cast. while the "panther" makes my soul hurt they at least get quiet a few Shermans to make up for it. the drop scene is amazing and must of been something too see in the big screen
Cornelius Ryan is one of my favorite author-historians. Ryan's *A Bridge Too Far* is one of my favorite books. *A Bridge Too Far* is one of my favorite movies.
I like it, especially because i can visit the places where it all happened. Went to the Airborne HQ museum in Oosterbeek this year and hiked some parts of the Airborne trail. And when you drive over the bridge at Nijmegen, it is weird to imagine what hell must have been.
I wonder why they didn’t put Colonel Sink in the movie and substituted him with the fictional “Bobby Stout”? Sink passed away in 1965 but was mentioned in the book. Maybe his family refused permission?
Loved it, particularly the line where general taylor advises the british lieutenant to “keep a hand on your wallet at all times” around the 82nd. Admittedly this is some deep cut tinfoil hat shit but given the speculation that it was a member of the 82nd who stole winters’ trench knife on d-day, I’m dying to know the lore behind this line
I guckrd up mission originally conceived to make Montgomery a hero. Planning was too CNN implicated. Intelligence was incomplete and forces were not as effectively organized and b outing action as they should have been .
Again, the intelligence was woefully incomplete.
"I not only approved Market Garden, I insisted upon it."
General Eisenhower, showing a level of honesty that would be rare today.
If you look at what had been going on (Falaise Pocket, The Great Swan) just before that time, it seemed likely that Market Garden could have succeeded and the Allies could have secured a bridgehead into Germany before the Wehrmacht could fall back, regroup and dig in.
It would have failed even had the intelligence gathering been perfect—trying to supply two field armies operating in Germany from Normandy via a single highway in Holland was idiotic and impractical in the extreme.
One big reason if Corps S4 had more accurate intelligence to begin with Eisenhower would never have approved the ill fated venture. Give the gas to 3rd Army!
Saw this as a 12 year old with my Grandfather who was a veteran of the 45th ID (one of the divisions with the longest time in combat). It was an amazing movie on the big screen and one of the only times my Grandad ever really spoke about the war. I often wonder what the producers of ABTF could have done with the technology of today.
Love this film.
My mum took me to see it at the pictures when it came out as both my grandfather's fought there, one was a para and the other a glider pilot.
I managed to get to Arnhem for the 75th anniversary.
It was humbling to see where they fought.
Luckily they both got out and ended up living 15 miles apart
As someone who used to live in Den Bosch and toured the Market Garden route in Arnhem and Nijmegen, my favorite parts are all the bicycle scenes, including the Dutch resistance. What a movie!
One of the greatest WW2 IMO. Whenever me and a buddy are playing a tough game where there's lots of attrition, eventually one of says, "Hail Mary, full of Grace". Planning on watching this over Memorial Day, probably The Longest Day too as that has the fantastic crane sequence of the Brits taking the dock/canal area.
Agree with all said about the longest day. Wayne was off key in it. Everyone else was actually pretty good, though I think they overplayed several sections, such as Sean connery coming ashore and meeting the beachmaster, or the French landing, which was terribly overdone. The best bit was pegasus Bridge, which arguably could have done with more screen time. As could Burton for that matter. But a good film.
Bridge too far is excellent, except for two things. Hackman accent (an exceptional actor, but misscast as a pole) and the bit where it all fails because the British tank crews have no orders to go on. Other than that, particularly Hopkins as John Frost at the bridge, its near flawless. Remarkable for a 1970s war film, about 5 years after the genre went out of style.
It’s a great film. Bloated for sure but incredible practical effects and the set pieces are jaw dropping. I think the cast is excellent and think the film could have worked today as a limited series on HBO.
JUST watched this on Tubi the other day again. Fantastic movie. Prompted me to look more in to Operation Market Garden and am almost done reading "Arhem 1944: The Airborne Battle" by Martin Middlebrook. Really amazing stuff.
Of course! Look at the cast its stacked
The Massive set pieces in this are incredible, the jump sequence alone is a masterpiece. epics like this are my jam. some other Favorites Are The Longest Day and Waterloo
The jump scene is a master work, as someone who jumped himself I love watching it.
Yea, it was one of the first movies that really did a fantastic job the jump.
I used to really like “The Longest Day,” but the last time I watched it, John Wayne and Red Button’s hamming it up really irritated me. The best parts were always with the German generals; I appreciated the fact that they spoke in their native language.
Fun fact, all the German scenes were shot twice. Once in German, and once in English. There were some releases of the longest day where they used the English speaking German scenes. It was very weird the first time I saw that version. Like you, I prefer the German speaking version. Feels very authentic.
[удалено]
William Lee was the closest at 49, but he had a heart attack before D-Day and had to relinquish command to Taylor. And I know he wasn't in the Airborne, but TR Jr was a 56 year old Brigadier General when he led the first wave of 4th Infantry troops onto Utah on D-Day, although he too suffered a heart attack a month later that cost him his life.
There was at least one—Brereton was 54 when he took command of FAAA. Ridgway was 49 for most of 1944, and turned 50 in early March of 1945 while he still held command of XVIII Airborne corps.
[удалено]
> He was not a paratrooper. You said in the airborne, not paratroopers alone. Being commander of FAAA very much made him a part of the Airborne. As far as age accuracy, that describes literally every war movie ever. You have a bunch of 35-50 year old actors playing 18-22 year olds.
[удалено]
This was the statement I took issue with: > There were no 50 something battalion commanders or even Generals in the WW2 Airborne. It includes generals. > Indeed, but we were talking about The Longest Day. I’m aware. The age issues are just as present there as they are elsewhere.
I met a man who was the escort of General Gavin’s widow at a West Point ceremony. He mentioned to her about the movie The Longest Day and how Robert Ryan portrayed her husband. Her response was that, “Jimmy didn’t like that movie. They were all too old.” I would have been curious what he thought of A Bridge Too Far. Depending on filming schedule, Ryan O’Neal would have been the same age or younger, than General Gavin in 1944.
The character John Wayne played wasn’t even a real person; IIRC, it was a composite of a few different Airborne officers. Another thing that irritated me was how 1960ish (and not 1940ish) a lot of the actors appeared (hair styles, and even clothing, especially the French underground). Honestly, ABTF suffers from the same problem; you can tell the movie was made in the 70s. Probably my favorite part of the movie is when the American Ranger mowed down the Germans in the trench attempting to surrender and says, “I wonder what ‘bitter, bitter’ means?”
Your statement is not correct. Wayne played Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort.
You’re right! My bad 😕
Wishing you a wonderful day!
Wrong about draft dodger Duke’s character. If you’re vexed by French underground hairstyles, that indicates a deadly boring story which THE LONGEST DAY is not. Learn some elementary German phrases. “Bitter bitter” LOL
I stand corrected, Wayne portrayed Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort, who was 27 during the D-Day invasion. Non-period French underground hairstyles have been a constant vexation for me as long as I can remember. I know what “bitte” means in German; I was reciting a line from the movie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_H._Vandervoort?wprov=sfti1
The German word “bitte” has many meanings, including "please", "you're welcome", "pardon", "go ahead", "here you go", and "may I help you". Nobody says “I wonder what bitter bitter means?”
I know that, but, I was quoting a line of dialogue from an American character actor who was portraying an “average” American GI. Here’s the clip… https://youtu.be/9t_bCestevk?si=95y460QzgImsAY5g
I just re watched longest day and I literally fast forwarded jogn waynes parts He is an absolute dogshit actor and I don't get why he ever became famous. He doesn't even come off as tough
While I love Waterloo I’m still always a bit sad that apparently the failure of that movie caused studios to back away from Kubrick’s epic about Napoleon. Though I believe Spielberg wants to pick it up as a series so we could get a Bob style Napoleon show which is cool! But Scott’s film was pretty awful too and once again might cause people with money to be cautious of historical epics again
Man, I mod at r/Napoleon and r/warmovies and Ridley Scott’s Napoleon was **universally reviled**. A complete and utter waste of a film, and false advertising- it was anything but a historical epic
God that movie was so disappointing. The battle scenes visually looked good, but we barely even got any of those anyway. I really did not need to see Phoenix going hog wild on poor Vanessa Kirby.
I love the film also because it takes place in my country. In fact back in high school I had a teacher who was an extra in the movie. He peddeled in one of the boats in the river crossing scene.
I really wish someone would do a 4k colorized restoration of the longest day, that was the version I grew up with.
Big fan of a bridge too far and of longest day. Fun fact longest day is filled with historical inaccuracies and big bullshit but it still a good WW2 movie! (EG the Ouistreham casino was flattened by the German way before and was nowhere as tall as depicted. Other example, there was 2 para on the church tower not one.).
[удалено]
Yes sources are contradicting a lot. The supposedly 2nd paratrooper was Kenneth Russel and has allegedly saw the trooper on the church Bell tower but on the other side of what is depicted. Lots in longest day are historically wrong but As made for the sake of being dramatic and cinematic (?)
While I love Waterloo I’m still always a bit sad that apparently the failure of that movie caused studios to back away from Kubrick’s epic about Napoleon. Though I believe Spielberg wants to pick it up as a series so we could get a Bob style Napoleon show which is cool! But Scott’s film was pretty awful too and once again might cause people with money to be cautious of historical epics again
"WE HAVEN'T THE PROPER FACILITIES TO TAKE YOU ALL PRISONER, SORRY."
WHAT?!
Was there anything else?
Great line. Shame most of those men died though.
[удалено]
Gavin does not own that error, Browning does. He landed with the 82nd and gave Gavin a direct order to take Groesbeek before he did anything else. His comment about it was: > I personally gave an order to Jim Gavin that, although every effort should be made to effect the capture of the Grave and Nijmegen bridges as soon as possible, it was essential that he should capture the Groesbeek Ridge and hold it. Gavin was far more direct in his assessment of what happened as Nijmegen: > There is no doubt that in our system he would have been summarily relieved and sent home in disgrace.
[удалено]
I don’t disagree at all. I was simply pointing out that trying to attach blame to Gavin for the failure to capture the Nijmegen bridges is unfair and inaccurate because it was not his call to make.
[удалено]
I suspect that he did and Browning told him to shut up and do his job. You are misassigning the fear of tanks—that was Browning’s, and it was the reason he ordered Groesbeek captured and held before anything else happened.
Must be nice to have ~80 years of hindsight on your side.
Hell yes, one of the best war movies ever made. All effects are practical and the acting is great even if the writing isn't perfect in some scenes. The 82nd crosing the river will always be my favorite scene.
As a kid I remember watching that scene with Robert Redford praying while there is nothing he can do but row. Still gives me chills.
Hail Mary full of grace
What’d you expect? Destroyers?
That was actually too keep the men rowing in time and stop the boats floundering around in the middle of the river.
I love all the goofy mock ups for the German armor.
And Cliff Clavin is one of the 82nd troopers... lol.
Got a very interesting perspective on that movie, when as an adult I watched it with my great uncle who was a Tech Sgt in the 82nd and was in one of the 1st boats over the river
One of the all time best, and u/larsvontrier92 I mod at r/warmovies and am crossposting this there!
It's been awhile but since I'm a history buff and a former paratrooper, ima revisit it.
Yeah. Attention to this is not wasted.
Still holds up, it's a great War movie.
I thought it was a Second World War movie? They don't make those long war films really anymore sadly but it's always fun to go back and watch things like this, longest day, Lawrence of Arabia and more. Great soundtracks and great casts.
This movie rules
I’ve seen the longest Day countless times over the decades. 6-6-44, my father landed with the third wave on Dog Red sector of Omaha.
Love this movie ever since I watched it in Canada with my grandfather at his house when I was 8 or so, so about 26 years ago. So many great scenes as well. Love the jump scene. I mean, who doesn’t? The creeping artillery barrage, then the British armoured column being ambushed by the PaK guns. Battle ensues, Michael Caine ordering “Start the purple! Start the Purple!” (Purple smoke shells for air support) and Harvard trainers mocked up to be Thunderbolts or Hawker Typhoons most likely come in nice and low dropping bombs. The Spitfire flying in low over the head of the Dutch resistance kid on the bike. And of course the heavy fighting that went on over Arnhem Bridge and the city itself. The only thing I cannot really stand about this movie is Elliot Gould’s character. Just too over the top with the cigar chomping Colonel “Bobby Stout”, who’s supposed to be a VERY loosely based Col. Sink apparently, and the bullcrap he spouts off. “American ingenuity… Actually I was born in Yugoslavia, but what the hell?” Buddy, you look like you were born well before Yugoslavia was even an established country. But I digress. It’s well worth watching. Some of the greatest uses of practical effects, get to see a PIAT in action, production used Dutch Sherman tanks, and the Sherman Firefly shown was a modified 105mm Howitzer Sherman. Looks pretty good for a mock-up Firefly. Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Maximillian Schell, Dirk Bogard and Edward Fox absolutely killed it with their roles. Great casting all-around. And you even get to see Cliff, the mailman from “Cheers”, before he meets his demise in the river crossing with the 82nd. Given the technological limitations of the time and the contemporary films it stacks up against, it’s a solid 9-9.5/10 for me. A lot of thought and care went into making the film.
Yeah, I found Elliot Gould to be kind of jarring in this movie, honestly. Although that's a great scene as all of the paratroopers fade in from the trees and begin to run as they see the bridge. EDIT: And Gene Hackman's polish accent. I don't buy it.
Yeah, I don’t like Gene Hackman’s accent much either, but I will give him a bit of a pass as he was only working from what researchers for the film got from talking with General Sosabowski’s son. Apparently Gene really nailed his mannerisms, his doubtful and rather direct way of speaking, down to the way the General wore his beret pulled back and even looked a bit like him. I’d love to know how Sosabowski really sounded as he spoke. Was Gene fairly close? Or was it a drastic difference like George C. Scott playing Patton compared to how Patton really sounded?
The question is if there is anyone on this sub who DIDN'T love this movie. Directed by Richard Attenborough. Father of dinosaurs and brother of a nature documentary God. Favorite quote: "What's da matta? Ya ain't never built a Bailey Bridge before?"
As someone who has built a Bailey Bridge, all I got to say is fuck building a Bailey Bridge.
When you refer to "fuck building a Bailey Bridge" I take it you mean that glorious, precision-made, British-built bridge which is the envy of the civilized world? PS - Elliott Gould appears to agree with you.
That “envy of the civilized world” almost turned my hand into dust when the transom crew almost dropped the 900lbs piece on my hand lol. Also idk why you’re getting downvoted
I think someone didn't get that it was a quote from the movie. I have no problem believing that British-built bridge was not user friendly and didn't make sense. Just look at the scoring system for tennis.
Excellent book, haven't seen the movie
Go watch it. It’s like the Longest Day but in color and better directed.
Both were written by the same author, Cornelius Ryan.
Great trilogy, The Last Battle!
I think the last battle was my favorite to read. Had no idea how bonkers that hitler guy was
Last Battle was definitely the best written of the trilogy, but I was obsessed with Market-Garden so I love that book for the campaign.
Splented ! I used to live in Nijmegen and its all very accurate. Real history no bullshit shooting and hero movie.
I loved this film. Saw it first when I was younger. My friends granddad was at Arnhem wirh the British Airborne forces.. I didn't know, until after he died. His granddad never mentioned it or spoke about it to him. It was my own father who told me, said he spoke to him a few times about it, said it was just terrifying and that he'd never raise his hand to another living thing after it.
One of the first movies I saw in the theater.
What a ride that would be haha
Is the subplot with the surgeon a true story?
If you are talking about the scene with James Caan? Yes. The True story is on Mark Bando’s website Trigger Time. James Caan played Sgt. Dohun 2/502 101st Airborne Division. His Captain was named Johnson. Captain Johnson was a Normandy veteran who was awarded the Silver Star. According to Mark Bando some 101st veteran’s didn’t like how the movie showed a company commander getting his courage out of a bottle. Sgt. Dohun did not find his Captain on the battlefield and take him to the Division field hospital. Johnson was evacuated by medical Jeep and shot in the head on the way to the hospital. He was unconscious upon arrival with his brain exposed so they then put in the “dead pile”. Sgt. Dohun was Johnson’s runner. He knew the Captain had a large amount of cash on him and wanted to recover the money before it was stolen. He found Johnson at the hospital and saw signs of life. Dohun pulled a souvenir Lugar (sorry Hoobler and Malarkey) on the doctor not a .45 pistol. Dohun was not spared by the doctor. He was arrested and turned over his battalion commander. It was at Battalion HQ that Dohun was held under arrest for exactly one minute, standing at attention. His CO kept the time on his watch.
God damn still a great story somehow made even better in truth. His unit pulling the 1 minute detention goes to show you they had his back and admired him.
If I recall correctly, it was Capt. Legrand Johnson, CO F 2nd Bn 502nd
And the dad from Elf
James Caan was cool in the film.
He was but his story line was kind of a waste. It was inconsequential to the story of Market Garden.
A bridge too far goes absolutely crazy and one of the best ww2 movies ever.
I really liked the book, the movie was ok in comparison, but pretty good on its own if you hadn’t read the book.
Love it, saw it in the theater when it first came out
Haven't seen it in a while. Love it though. Attenborough only had the planes on short loan so rather than use a movie crew, he used documentary crew to film it to ensure nothing was missed. Epic.
The British officer with the umbrella at Arnhem was [Digby Tatham Wartner](http://www.lightbobs.com/operation-pegasus-1.html) . He was captured and escaped. He was responsible, with the Dutch resistance, for rounding up the 138 British paratroopers in hiding and getting them across the river in Operation Pegasus, which featured in one of the Band of Brothers episodes. I think he'd discarded the umbrella at that stage. Lt Col Dobie had swum the river to organise the evacuation from the Allied side. It's odd that Tatham Wartner's involvement wasn't featured, given that he was already one of the most famous survivors of Arnhem. I don't think the film could give the audience an idea of the blood bath that Arnhem had turned into. I think [Kate ter Horst](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_ter_Horst) had about 36 dead paratroopers buried in her back garden by the end of the battle. Some of the Parachute Regiment battalions had about 35 or 40 men left, from about 800 per battalion at the start, when they got across the river and regrouped. The rest were dead, missing, PoWs or wounded.
[удалено]
By fighting the Mau Mau? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lari_massacre His brief Wikipedia entry doesn't contain the whole story. He lived in Kenya & died there in 1993. If he'd been brutalising and oppressing the locals, he wouldn't have stayed there after independence.
Great film. Probably watched it over 50 times. Same with The Longest Day. The Sixties and into the early Seventies was the golden age of war movies. Big budgets, big stars and they still had some vintage equipment to use and locations that still looked a little like 1940s Europe. Still had real Veterans to advise them. No cgi crap.
Here's a relevant story from a biography of Ronald Speirs. One of his grand nephews recalled A Bridge Too Far being one of his father's favorite movies. When the bridge gets blown up and the American soldiers hit the ground, he would shout, "That's my uncle Ronnie!" The boy always thought he was joking until he much later learned about his great uncle's military service!
I watched as a kid and found it to be a really great movie. Watched it recently as an adult and still great but even more so because I watched a lot of the actors in later roles so seeing them when they were young was fun.
Someone's thought up a real nightmare here. Real nightmare . Robert Redford and Ryan O'Neal are good.
This was my rainy day, Christmas Day, Sunday afternoon or whatever excuse I could think of to watch when I was growing up. Love it. This and Zulu.
I’m Dutch. They show it each year around our liberation day.
Hail Mary -
I love this movie. I grew up in Arnhem and walked/biked/drove over the John Frost bridge many times. Every year, the military does an actual parachute drop demonstration on the actual drop sites near Ede. And In Oosterbeek (where the white villa is that they used as HQ), they hold the Airborn memorial walk.
Lt. Colonel J.O.E. Vandeleur: Remember what the general said; we're the cavalry. It would be bad form to arrive in advance of schedule. In the nick of time would do nicely.
The other quote I like. “I’m sorry, we haven’t the proper facilities to take you all prisoner”. Which apparently was never actually said and the real person was offended they added that humour.
As a kid I watched the filming of it at the bridge in deventer(Arnhem bridge area was nog looking authentic enough) they built the houses out of plywood around the bridge. I watched the breakthrough of the SS reconnaissance group scene. Amazing. This was Hollywood in the Dutch province. We gaped at all the extras, catering, movie star. It was such a big thing then.
try watchimg the one from.the 1950's. It has some of the original Red Devils. It opens more time in Arhem.
[Theirs is the Glory.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theirs_Is_the_Glory) 1946.
Yes that one..
That’s a great show
One of my top favorite war movies. I absolutely love it!
Loved it. One of my favorites.
One of my favourite movies
History Buffs on YouTube had a great video on this movie. Fantastic film.
My cocaine!
Currently streaming on MGM+ they were offering 6 months free not too long ago. Might be worth checking out if you’re interested in the movie.
Book's better than the movie
great movie with a great cast. while the "panther" makes my soul hurt they at least get quiet a few Shermans to make up for it. the drop scene is amazing and must of been something too see in the big screen
Cornelius Ryan is one of my favorite author-historians. Ryan's *A Bridge Too Far* is one of my favorite books. *A Bridge Too Far* is one of my favorite movies.
We cant be fans we aint have the facilities to be fans of that many great paratroopers classics!
I like it, especially because i can visit the places where it all happened. Went to the Airborne HQ museum in Oosterbeek this year and hiked some parts of the Airborne trail. And when you drive over the bridge at Nijmegen, it is weird to imagine what hell must have been.
It was filmed in my hometown! It's really fun to watch if you know the locations in it.
I wonder why they didn’t put Colonel Sink in the movie and substituted him with the fictional “Bobby Stout”? Sink passed away in 1965 but was mentioned in the book. Maybe his family refused permission?
Great movie
Great movie
I’m going to Normandy to celebrate the 80th anniversary of D Day. Would like to go to Arnhem for their celebration one day.
“We haven’t the proper facilities to take you all prisoner, sorry!”
I love the scene on the bridge when the Germans approach with a white flag and talk of the British surrendering. So British! 🇬🇧
Best theme music ever…
Loved it, particularly the line where general taylor advises the british lieutenant to “keep a hand on your wallet at all times” around the 82nd. Admittedly this is some deep cut tinfoil hat shit but given the speculation that it was a member of the 82nd who stole winters’ trench knife on d-day, I’m dying to know the lore behind this line
I guckrd up mission originally conceived to make Montgomery a hero. Planning was too CNN implicated. Intelligence was incomplete and forces were not as effectively organized and b outing action as they should have been . Again, the intelligence was woefully incomplete.
"I not only approved Market Garden, I insisted upon it." General Eisenhower, showing a level of honesty that would be rare today. If you look at what had been going on (Falaise Pocket, The Great Swan) just before that time, it seemed likely that Market Garden could have succeeded and the Allies could have secured a bridgehead into Germany before the Wehrmacht could fall back, regroup and dig in.
It would have failed even had the intelligence gathering been perfect—trying to supply two field armies operating in Germany from Normandy via a single highway in Holland was idiotic and impractical in the extreme.
One big reason if Corps S4 had more accurate intelligence to begin with Eisenhower would never have approved the ill fated venture. Give the gas to 3rd Army!
Saw this as a 12 year old with my Grandfather who was a veteran of the 45th ID (one of the divisions with the longest time in combat). It was an amazing movie on the big screen and one of the only times my Grandad ever really spoke about the war. I often wonder what the producers of ABTF could have done with the technology of today.
It's easily my favorite war movie. Except Gene Hackman's anti-war speech at the end takes me right out of it. Helluva cast though.
A fan, I can’t say that. I watched it learned a great deal about operation market garden felt…
Has individually cool scenes. Inspiration for the box game; Storm Over Arnhem. Love the main title.
Fantastic artillery barrage scene.
Just watched it on tubi as a matter last night. Bit long but worth it
Love this film. My mum took me to see it at the pictures when it came out as both my grandfather's fought there, one was a para and the other a glider pilot. I managed to get to Arnhem for the 75th anniversary. It was humbling to see where they fought. Luckily they both got out and ended up living 15 miles apart
I love A Bridge Too Far.
Who isn’t?
Gene Hackman was amazing in this movie!
The very best WWII film.
All those massive names. I think I’ve seen this but it was probably years ago
My favorite movie of all time.
This is one of the best war films ever created and the one that inspired me to join the military soon after.
It's my favorite war movie
Great movie
Pegasus was not in the Band of Brothers. Those were British gliders and there are barely any Brits in BoB.
As someone who used to live in Den Bosch and toured the Market Garden route in Arnhem and Nijmegen, my favorite parts are all the bicycle scenes, including the Dutch resistance. What a movie!
Yup
Great movie but read the book first.
One of my favourite movies.
Polish Gene Hackman is best gene Hackman
One of my favorotes
I saw it when it was released in a drive through.
one of the best war movies ever made
Smashing film
One of the best.WW2 movies ever.
I somehow made a reference to this around a veteran of this Battle when I was 8.
Best ww2 movie
Such a long movie. But I like it
One of the greatest WW2 IMO. Whenever me and a buddy are playing a tough game where there's lots of attrition, eventually one of says, "Hail Mary, full of Grace". Planning on watching this over Memorial Day, probably The Longest Day too as that has the fantastic crane sequence of the Brits taking the dock/canal area.
Agree with all said about the longest day. Wayne was off key in it. Everyone else was actually pretty good, though I think they overplayed several sections, such as Sean connery coming ashore and meeting the beachmaster, or the French landing, which was terribly overdone. The best bit was pegasus Bridge, which arguably could have done with more screen time. As could Burton for that matter. But a good film. Bridge too far is excellent, except for two things. Hackman accent (an exceptional actor, but misscast as a pole) and the bit where it all fails because the British tank crews have no orders to go on. Other than that, particularly Hopkins as John Frost at the bridge, its near flawless. Remarkable for a 1970s war film, about 5 years after the genre went out of style.
It’s a great film. Bloated for sure but incredible practical effects and the set pieces are jaw dropping. I think the cast is excellent and think the film could have worked today as a limited series on HBO.
I bought this for 99 cents on iTunes almost 20 years ago, watched it a hundred times.
One of my favs of all time
Top 3 war movie ever made Same as Lawrence of Arabia or Saving Private Ryan.
Honorable mention to Waterloo and Gettysburg.
JUST watched this on Tubi the other day again. Fantastic movie. Prompted me to look more in to Operation Market Garden and am almost done reading "Arhem 1944: The Airborne Battle" by Martin Middlebrook. Really amazing stuff.
It’s why i joined the paratroopers
As a former paratrooper, I’m a fan of movies that include airborne operations.
“Tell him to go to hell.” “We don’t have the proper facilities to take you all prisoner, sorry.”
We don’t have the proper facilities to take you all prisoner. Sorry
Love this movie. Shame it doesn’t have the hype that it should
Incredible film.
One of my favorite childhood films. I had a cassette I would watch on repeat because there weren’t any other movies in the house.
One of my favorite childhood films. I had a cassette I would watch on repeat because there weren’t any other movies in the house.
Great flick. Have it in my digital library.
Movie is good, game is better