Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So I'm watching A Bridge too Far, a 1977 film telling the story of Operation Market Garden in 1944, an attempt to reach the German border with a massive airdrop of troops.

It's not what I would call a great film, it has no real focus, but it is an epic one with a lot of interesting choices.

First off it's pre-CGI so they went out and bought dozens of planes and tanks and have 100s of real men running around - not the same 10 guys cut and pasted.

They don't use much music, a parachute squence is silent except for roaring wind and grunts.

The Germans actually speak German.

THe all-star cast is distracting and keeps reminding me this is a movie. Hey there's Sean Connery! Hey there's Gene Hackman!

I'm less than halfway through but I recommend it to all Dakkites, it's a well-made epic and a lot more interesting than most recent WWII films I've seen.

I remember that the film was nicknamed "Richard´s Army" due the amount of RL soldiers and vintage war material in the movie.

One of my favorite war movies.

M.

The title nags at me as familiar, but i cant recal ever having seen it. Will have to look into it.

Its a great movie, I also recommend The Longest Day as well if you're into those kinds of movies.

Both a Bridge too Far and The Longest Day are very good films,I've watched them each a half dozen times and enjoyed them a lot.
While we're on the subject of good WW ll films,I highly recommend Sahara,staring Humphrey Bogart...some of the acting is a bit wooden..but the story itself is great.

Patton is another goodie.

I was bit annoyed at them using 1960s US tanks for both sides but I can also understand it was the only way that movie could have been made.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
THis was Bridge week on Netflix for me, Bridge over the River Kwai was my last film and it's also a great one.

George C. Scott was epic as Patton, I had a Great (great?) Uncle who served in the Third Armoured Division and he once said that GCS portrayal of Patton was pretty damn accurate.

Tora, Tora, Tora!
Midway
not an "Epic", but i can't talk WWII movies without mentioning Kell'y Heroes. they actually had Tigers vs. shermans!

But for me, A bridge too far was the Best of the best!

We Were Soldiers. Not about WW2, but still good.

alarmingrick wrote:Tora, Tora, Tora!
Midway
not an "Epic", but i can't talk WWII movies without mentioning Kelly Heroes. they actually had Tigers vs. shermans!

But for me, A bridge too far was the Best of the best!

Tora,Tora,Tora was very good ,and Midway and Kellys Heroes are defiantly worth a look.

Although it doesn't take place in World War ll, I believe the World War l film Sergent York is worth a mention when it comes to " must see" War films.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

coolyo294 wrote:We Were Soldiers. Not about WW2, but still good.

Not a bad film at all,but when it comes to " Vietnam-era" war films,I'll take Full Metal Jacket,Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter any day.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Patton is another goodie.

I was bit annoyed at them using 1960s US tanks for both sides but I can also understand it was the only way that movie could have been made.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
THis was Bridge week on Netflix for me, Bridge over the River Kwai was my last film and it's also a great one.

Bridge over the River Kwai was a fantastic book and movie, got to see it in English class. I did love Patton but I now associate it with another unpleasant experience which ruins the movie.

Tora, Tora, Tora is another great film. It seems like all of the good WW2 movies were made prior to the 90's.

My friend's dad was in the regiment that We Were Soldiers is based off of.

A Bridge Too Far and Patton are my favorite WW2 films.

A Bridge too Far is from a period where studios were just happy to retell the events of major military campaigns. There was no attempt to tell how any character grew over the movie, or any effort to put a greater moral over the movie, they just tried to tell the story of the military campaign, and figured that'd be entertaining enough by itself. I really wish they'd go back to doing this, I'd love to see a retelling of the sinking of the Bismarck, or Kursk or something like that.

That said, Bridge has the problem that unless you know the campaign really well, or at least know the geography it can all get pretty confusing. I hunted the movie down after I fell in love with the Close Combat: Bridge Too Far game, and while I loved the movie my mates were like 'the feth was going on?'. Afterwards a couple got the game as well, rewatched the movie and really enjoyed it, because they suddenly knew which bridge was which, and how each event impacted the others.

coolyo294 wrote:We Were Soldiers. Not about WW2, but still good.

I thought that movie was really cheesy, to be honest. It had a really good idea behind it, but it just couldn't respect the audience enough to show some restraint. I mean, that bit where the asian guy says 'look I just had a baby!', then he gets napalmed like a minute later, inspiring the photographer to go back to recording the war, complete with him doing all these little stunt poses as he pretends to take pictures? Pretty cheesy.

FITZZ wrote: George C. Scott was epic as Patton, I had a Great (great?) Uncle who served in the Third Armoured Division and he once said that GCS portrayal of Patton was pretty damn accurate.

Everything except the voice, Patton had such a squeaky voice, that if he would yell, he wouldn't emit noise.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
A Bridge Too Far and The Great Raid are two of the more accurate war movies I have seen.

I recommend Kelly's Heroes not a serious war movie but an entertaining one at least.

A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day were both written from thick history books by Cornelius Ryan. They make a good read in their own right, as does The Last Battle, about the battle to capture Berlin.

A Bridge Too Far is definitely a great film.

Wasn't it once described by someone as a bridge too far, an hour too long, and a star too many?

Not a WWII film, but I also really like Paths of Glory.

sebster wrote:A Bridge too Far is from a period where studios were just happy to retell the events of major military campaigns. There was no attempt to tell how any character grew over the movie, or any effort to put a greater moral over the movie, they just tried to tell the story of the military campaign, and figured that'd be entertaining enough by itself. I really wish they'd go back to doing this, I'd love to see a retelling of the sinking of the Bismarck, or Kursk or something like that.

And if they could stop making "America wins everything even if we have to re-write history to do it" movies (I'm looking at you, U571 *shakes fist* ) that would be even better

All I want is a simple movie that shows what happened with lots of explosions (if appropriate).

I loved the movie, definitely in my top three favorite WWII movie lists. The other two would be Enemy at the Gates and Memphis Belle. These are very different in how the directors went about in portraying them, but i enjoyed them all the same.

SilverMK2 wrote:
All I want is a simple movie that shows what happened with lots of explosions (if appropriate).

Love it.

Hehe

If you replace the word movie with codex then the combined quotes are even funnier.

I have found it is a phrase which suits many an occasion.

It is a good film, there are several little moments depicted that actually occurred which has to be a result of having people advising the film who were actually there.

I've not seen it in a long time though, but I have been to Arnhem and seen the bridge. Didn't go over it as we weren't travelling that way but there was a museum in one of the buildings used as the British command centre that we went to.


As for other war films, both versions of Sahara, the original 1943 one but the 1995 colour version with James Belushi is well worth a look too.

Just rewatched Where Eagles Dare http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065207/ (granted, not historicly right but its a dam fun ride) and The Heroes of Telemark http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059263/ as well as Battle of Britain http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064072/.
Good films that get over shadowed.

Jayce_The_Ace wrote:

Wasn't it once described by someone as a bridge too far, an hour too long, and a star too many?

Definitly how I felt.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:So I'm watching A Bridge too Far, a 1977 film telling the story of Operation Market Garden in 1944, an attempt to reach the German border with a massive airdrop of troops.

It's not what I would call a great film, it has no real focus, but it is an epic one with a lot of interesting choices.

First off it's pre-CGI so they went out and bought dozens of planes and tanks and have 100s of real men running around - not the same 10 guys cut and pasted.

They don't use much music, a parachute squence is silent except for roaring wind and grunts.

The Germans actually speak German.

THe all-star cast is distracting and keeps reminding me this is a movie. Hey there's Sean Connery! Hey there's Gene Hackman!

I'm less than halfway through but I recommend it to all Dakkites, it's a well-made epic and a lot more interesting than most recent WWII films I've seen.

I have the DVD. Its awesome.

SilverMK2 wrote:

sebster wrote:A Bridge too Far is from a period where studios were just happy to retell the events of major military campaigns. There was no attempt to tell how any character grew over the movie, or any effort to put a greater moral over the movie, they just tried to tell the story of the military campaign, and figured that'd be entertaining enough by itself. I really wish they'd go back to doing this, I'd love to see a retelling of the sinking of the Bismarck, or Kursk or something like that.

And if they could stop making "America wins everything even if we have to re-write history to do it" movies (I'm looking at you, U571 *shakes fist* ) that would be even better

All I want is a simple movie that shows what happened with lots of explosions (if appropriate).

Hey U571 was a decent movie if you just look at it as a movie. I remember the first time I watched it, that scene with all the depth charges was pretty damn tense. But such is Hollywood. I try to like enemies at the gate. Because historically the real story is just awesome. But I watch that movie and get all kinds of WTF going on.

KingCracker wrote:Hey U571 was a decent movie if you just look at it as a movie. I remember the first time I watched it, that scene with all the depth charges was pretty damn tense. But such is Hollywood.

I don't disagree that the movie, taken simply as a movie is not bad. However, it would be kind of like making a movie set in the vatican where the pope has a wife.

Any wargamer worth his salt has heard of and seen this film I would assume...

Kid_Kyoto wrote:THis was Bridge week on Netflix for me, Bridge over the River Kwai was my last film and it's also a great one.

Unfortunately the Bridge over the River Kwai is another "westernized" version of (reasonably) realistic events. A good movie, but not so great on the history.

I really enjoyed the recent Band of Brothers and (to a lesser extent) Pacific. Both were pretty good (although again, western/American-centric) portrayals of WWII.