# Movie - A Bridge Too Far



## Thorlifter (Apr 2, 2009)

This movie came on this morning and it's been years since I've seen it. I am impressed by the number of A-list actors in that movie.

Michael Caine
James Caan
Sean Connery
Elliott Gould
Gene Hackman
Anthony Hopkins
Ryan ONeil
Lawrence Olivier
Robert Redford

One of those all star war movies like Midway and Battle of the Bulge.


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## evangilder (Apr 2, 2009)

It's one of the greats, and in my DVD collection.


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## Wurger (Apr 2, 2009)

I have seen the movie a couple of times and always enjoy it.


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## rochie (Apr 2, 2009)

great film i love Gene Hackman's polish accent


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## Thorlifter (Apr 2, 2009)

Yeah, that was funny listening to his "accent" go in and out as he is talking.


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## rochie (Apr 2, 2009)

on a similar theme i picked up the longest day on dvd the other week and wonder who *wasnt* in that movie ?


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## Ferdinand Foch (Apr 2, 2009)

rochie said:


> on a similar theme i picked up the longest day on dvd the other week and wonder who *wasnt* in that movie ?



Sean Penn?  

On a different note, A Bridge Too Far is probably one of my favorites war movies, next to Saving Private Ryan of course.


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## evangilder (Apr 2, 2009)

Agreed, Rochie. That one is an all star cast. Another one in my DVD collection. I finally found Command Decision the other day and was pretty happy to find that one.


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## Vassili Zaitzev (Apr 2, 2009)

Yeah, A Bridge Too Far and the Longest Day are some of my favorite war movies. Got them both on DVD.


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## pbfoot (Apr 2, 2009)

rochie said:


> on a similar theme i picked up the longest day on dvd the other week and wonder who *wasnt* in that movie ?


The Canadians


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## Wurger (Apr 2, 2009)

rochie said:


> great film i love Gene Hackman's polish accent



Have you ever heard the Polish accent Karl?


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## rochie (Apr 2, 2009)

Wurger said:


> Have you ever heard the Polish accent Karl?



i have master Wojtec we hade a guy called Mareck and his wife Dorota working in our kitchen last year.
lovely couple and very hard working, i wish i could of sacked some english people and made them stay


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## Marcel (Apr 2, 2009)

I didn't like "A bridge too far". As far as I'm concerned, it should be called "A star too many". I hate the picture made of the Dutch people singing the same silly song over and over (and an irrelevant one, too). It seems like it didn't matter to the movie makers as long as it was Dutch. 
I thought the movie didn't justice to the real effort made by Allied soldiers on our soil in market garden.


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## Gnomey (Apr 2, 2009)

Got both (Bridge to Far and Longest Day) on DVD somewhere at home. Liked them both, of course there are some points where they are off but it is only a film and both are enjoyable.


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## RabidAlien (Apr 2, 2009)

Marcel said:


> I didn't like "A bridge too far". As far as I'm concerned, it should be called "A star too many". I hate the picture made of the Dutch people singing the same silly song over and over (and an irrelevant one, too). It seems like it didn't matter to the movie makers as long as it was Dutch.
> I thought the movie didn't justice to the real effort made by Allied soldiers on our soil in market garden.



What movie ever did do justice to the efforts made by the soldiers involved? The directors weren't there, and typically by the time a movie comes out its so far past the actual events that the memories of those involved have faded a bit. Besides....the era of movies that those came out in weren't going for blood and gore and realism. Not by today's standards, of course. Great movies, otherwise.


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## Airframes (Apr 2, 2009)

A Bridge too Far was a very good movie, especially for the time it was made. Attenborough took on a very difficult task in trying to portray the battle, and the major **** up, in the relatively short space of the movie, even though it was a long programme.
I was fortunate enough to be one of the 'extras', one of the hundreds of British Paras, parachuting somewhere way off in the background. Unfortunately, I didn't get to 'jump' one of the C47's, being in one of the C130's, above, and out of shot, of the Dak's as they flew over the DZ. Still a great experience though, even though we were given wooden mock-ups of Lee enfield No.4 rifles, in case we would be 'in shot' when leaving the DZ.


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## muller (Apr 2, 2009)

Was in Tesco today, picked up a 3 DVD set, A Bridge Too Far, The Longest Day and Battle of Britain. Planning to have a WW2 movie day on Sunday! 

I'll keep an eye out for you Terry!


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## Thorlifter (Apr 2, 2009)

Terry, you were in the movie???? How cool is that!!!!!!


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## Vassili Zaitzev (Apr 2, 2009)

Pretty cool Airframes.


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## Airframes (Apr 2, 2009)

Sounds cool, but nothing special, just another jump. The only real difference was, that instead of just the Company Sergeant Major shouting at us, we had some bl**dy 'luvvy' doing the same!
But it was special inasmuch as we were dropping onto those DZ's.....


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## Njaco (Apr 2, 2009)

You guys missed John Rastenberger in "A Bridge Too Far" - also known as Cliff on "Cheers".


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## mkloby (Apr 2, 2009)

Airframes said:


> A Bridge too Far was a very good movie, especially for the time it was made. Attenborough took on a very difficult task in trying to portray the battle, and the major **** up, in the relatively short space of the movie, even though it was a long programme.
> I was fortunate enough to be one of the 'extras', one of the hundreds of British Paras, parachuting somewhere way off in the background. Unfortunately, I didn't get to 'jump' one of the C47's, being in one of the C130's, above, and out of shot, of the Dak's as they flew over the DZ. Still a great experience though, even though we were given wooden mock-ups of Lee enfield No.4 rifles, in case we would be 'in shot' when leaving the DZ.



That's pretty awesome man. Maybe I'll get a movie chance one day


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## wombat40 (Apr 2, 2009)

The book by Cornelius Ryan is worth a read, movies by necessity never will tell the full story. Turn off your DVD players, go for a walk, find the book and read it. Then you will understand what REALLY happened.


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## GrauGeist (Apr 2, 2009)

Dang...that's cool, Terry!


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## 109ROAMING (Apr 3, 2009)

Terry ,your 'A' Class you are! ,Very cool mate


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## RabidAlien (Apr 3, 2009)

wombat40 said:


> The book by Cornelius Ryan is worth a read, movies by necessity never will tell the full story. Turn off your DVD players, go for a walk, find the book and read it. Then you will understand what REALLY happened.



I've got three of his books on my "to be read" shelf.


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## timshatz (Apr 3, 2009)

Njaco said:


> You guys missed John Rastenberger in "A Bridge Too Far" - also known as Cliff on "Cheers".



I remember him. Gets shot in the eye crossing the river.


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## Gnomey (Apr 3, 2009)

Very cool Terry. 8)


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## drgondog (Apr 3, 2009)

Airframes said:


> Sounds cool, but nothing special, just another jump. The only real difference was, that instead of just the Company Sergeant Major shouting at us, we had some bl**dy 'luvvy' doing the same!
> But it was special inasmuch as we were dropping onto those DZ's.....



I lost an uncle on the 504PIR DZ near Nijmegen... and another the same week in a Stateside accident as an instructor - all this while my father was leading the Frantic 7 drop on Warsaw. He found out about both after he got back from Russia.

Sad week for Marshall clan.

That would have been a major highlight for me to actually jump in that area.. fantastic


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## bigZ (Apr 4, 2009)

Theirs a scene in a Bridge Too Far where the camera focuses on a shocked Michael Caine is observing hell break out from his armoured car.

Aparently the FX guys spent 3 days setting the explosives for the scene. The director delibrately didn't inform Micheal Cain of what was going to happen when the scene was shot. So what you see is his genuine reaction.

Terry very cool. Can you make yourself out in the film?

Saving Private Ryan could have been one of the best films ever but it didn't seem to work for me after the beach assault. It did seem to capture the spirit of Cappa's shots of that day.


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## armchair (Apr 4, 2009)

The highlight of the film for me was Edward Fox as Lt Gen Horrocks, I 

remember Gen Horrocks as a tv presenter in the late 1950s and early 60s,

he presented several series of programmes about the battles of WW2.

As I remember he was a natural tv person, devoid of any pomposity.

Obviously he was particularly lucid when he spoke about the battles in

which he was involved.

Edward Fox seemed to capture the spirit of the man as I remembered seeing 

him.

Bryan


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## muller (Apr 6, 2009)

Well I had my WW2 movie day yesterday afternoon, my GF fell asleep during Battle of Britain, too much wine over lunch. She woke up during A Bridge Too Far, when she saw Michael Caine she said 'I thought he got shot down and didn't come home?'


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## Njaco (Apr 6, 2009)

and how did that pilot become a Lt. General? (_Edward Fox_)


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## Airframes (Apr 6, 2009)

What, after landing in a greenhouse?!
Bill, the feeling of jumping onto that particular DZ was very special, as were the much later visitis to Arnhem and Oosterbeek. Until two years ago, I had a girlfriend, now sadly deceased, who lived in Nijmegen, and visited a couple of times, preferably on, or near, the Nijmegen Marches day, when the whole city came out to honour the liberation, and the sacrifices made by Airborne troops.
BigZ, it's possible that I'm just about visible, in a background shot, walking off the DZ. But there were so many of the lads with black hair and a moustache, it could have been any one of them! 
Oh, and I agree, the Cornelius Ryan book, on which the movie was based, is well worth reading for the true story, as is a more recent book 'It Never Snows in September'. Unfortunately, I can't remember the author's name for the latter.


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## Njaco (Apr 6, 2009)

Robert Kershaw

Amazon.com: It Never Snows in September: The German View of Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem, September 1944: Robert Kershaw: Books


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## Airframes (Apr 6, 2009)

That's the one Chris! He was a serving officer in The Parachute Regiment when he wrote it. Well illustrated with maps and photographs, many hitherto unpublished at the time, and well worth reading.


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## Freebird (Apr 7, 2009)

Njaco said:


> You guys missed John Rastenberger in "A Bridge Too Far" - also known as Cliff on "Cheers".



Yeah, there were a few other European or British "extras" in the film that you might have noticed too...  

Dirk Bogarde ... Lt. Gen. Frederick A.M. Browning 

Edward Fox ... Lt. Gen. Brian G. Horrocks 

Maximilian Schell ... Lt. Gen. Wilhelm Bittrich


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## imalko (Apr 10, 2011)

I've seen this movie again the other day. One of the best WW2 movies there is. I've read the book too. Edvard Fox is one of my favorite British actors (noticed him for the first time in the Shaka Zulu mini series).

Hey, Terry didn't know you were "starring" in this movie mate. Must have been some experience.


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## Marcel (Apr 10, 2011)

It's a nice film, although not as good as the longest day. They annoying part is where you constantly hear the Dutch sing "Oranje Boven", as if they don't know anything other than that. And I suppose this song would not have been the one they really sang.


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