Welcome back to my blog. Here’s my recommendation of a movie to check out today and hope you punch your “Ticket to the Movies!” OK, today, let’s jump back to 1977 and to my favorite genre in cinema: the World War II big-screen, big-cast flick “A Bridge Too Far.” Here’s a film that’s not just star-studded, it has just about everyone who was anyone in Hollywood from the 1970s.
Directly from my review: “You want star power? It’s here from Bob Redford to Mike Caine to Gene Hackman to Ryan O’Neil to Sean Connery to Sir-to-be Tony Hopkins. Not impressed? How about adding Jimmy Caan, Max Schell, Hardy Kruger, Liv Ulman, Elliott Gould and “Chariots of Fire’s” Ben Cross? Not yet? How about adding Larry Olivier and “Cheers’” John Ratzenberger from TV? Ratzenberger? OK, he’s a stretch among this star power and I hope I can be forgiven for calling Olivier by the name ‘Larry.’”
With very, very few exceptions over the past two decades, Hollywood hasn’t churned out the big-cast war extravaganzas such as “A Bridge Too Far.” Where you used to see “Battle of the Bulge,” “The Great Escape,” “The Longest Day” or even the more modern “Saving Private Ryan,” you get a wasteland of “superhero” flicks that are about as interesting as watching the proverbial drying of paint.
As for “A Bridge Too Far,” it is the story of the WWII campaign known as “Operation Market Garden” that failed because of defective planning by legendary British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery. It didn’t fail for want of trying by the troops, but simply because the plan stretched by having to capture a bridge literally too far for practical application.
“A Bridge Too Far” is filled with the usual wartime stereotypes, but manages to elevate itself by doing those stereotypes well. One impressive piece of filmmaking and acting is how Hopkins’ character is shown initially to be sort of soft (he’s asked if his staff should bring his golf clubs), but turns out to be one of the toughest, strongest officers in the story.
So, I say punch your “Ticket to the Movies!” and you can find “A Bridge Too Far” on several subscription services or for rent on other streaming platforms. So, find it! Watch it! Don’t worry, you’ll thank me later for “A Bridge Too Far.”
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