First of all I commend your excellent taste in movies, almost the same as mine 😀 Great review of a great film. I have it on BluRay and regularly watch it. For me it never gets tired, both the military operation and the film itself. As you say, the release of previously classified material opens up new perspectives which are astonishing. The bravery and heroism of the British paratroopers who did everything that was asked of them and more is remarkable and deserves our admiration and respect. I recommend these videos based on Operation Market Garden: Battlefields by Richard Holmes - Holmes is a military historian and he has the ability to present his subject in an accessible manner. History Buffs critiques the film from a historical perspective and discusses where it got it wrong and why. Jeremy Clarkson presents a programme about the Victoria Cross and gives the story of Major Robert Cain who received the VC for his part in Market Garden. There’s a bit of a surprise towards the end so worth holding on. Tikhistory has a documentary on “The Real Operation Market Garden”. “Theirs is the Glory”. This is a film made toward the end of 1945 by a British military film unit. It was filmed in and around the Arnhem area with many of the paratroopers who had been there in the battle now returned to serve as extras in the film. All of these are available on RUclips. Another great review, looking forward to the next.
Thanks, Roy - always great to hear from you. I will check out a number of the vids you recommend. Meanwhile, I avoid other "reviews" of the movie before I do my own, to avoid any influence. And I think I have heard of Theirs is the Glory; it struck me it must have been very challenging for those Red Devils to go back near Arnhem and play act less than a year after the trauma they suffered there. Working on my own video, I was delighted to learn about the Dirk Bogarde and Daphne du Maurier connections - also finding that Attenborough had served in the RAF 20 years before he donned an RAF uniform in the great escape. Cheers!
@@Vlad65WFPReviews when one of the paratroopers returned home he was quite affected by the whole thing. His mother gave him a kitten to look after which worked. The kitten was always with him 24/7, tucked into his jacket and poking its head out of the top of his jacket. I tell you this because in Theirs Is The Glory you actually see the cat poking his head out for a look as the paratroopers are sitting in the plane waiting for takeoff.
Another of my favourite movies. I was in the RAF based at Upavon in Wiltshire during the 70's and saw the assembled aircraft being formed up for the parachute jump sequence. I rather like John Addison's soundtrack to the film though.
Hi, thanks for the feedback. I should clarify that I think Addison's march and music are good (and I was a cadet brass player a million years ago) - but at times I found it an awkward fit with what is a very downbeat true story. Getting the music right for this kind of movie is a challenge.
The composer, John Addison, served throughout the campaign, including Market Garden, as a tank officer with the 23rd Hussars. I think the music fits the attitude of the average squaddie, "Bugger, that didn't go well. Let's go and kick them again."
Thanks for posting that - interesting to learn about Addison's service with the armour. I wonder what he thought of how the movie showed the operation.
My favourite film. Pity about this commentator who.....can't speak more than......one sentence without......taking an unnecessarily......noisy breath. Extremely off-putting, which is why I stopped watching after about 20 seconds.
I remember when this film was released. I was impressed someone made a movie about an Allied defeat. A notable break from every war movie where the US won. In later years as a skydiver I was impressed the number of static line jumpers and aircraft they assembled for this movie. Probably something that will never be done again.
Definitely won't be done again. Thanks for your comment. Interesting, Tora-Tora-Tora was about an "allied defeat" and that did not do well at the box office I recall - though now it is rightly regarded an as excellent historical movie.
You are wrong about the musical score,it is stirring and awesome, very well written,love that film,great acting,good cast,much appreciated from Commonwealth citizen.
Thanks very much for watching and commenting - and allow me to clarify my point. As a former cadet bandsman (also from a Commonwealth country), I totally agree the music is "stirring" - it is a very good march. I recall really liking it in the first half when I saw the movie in a theatre. The challenge in movies such as Bridge, Tora, Tora, Tora; Zulu Dawn is having dramatic music that fits the downbeat direction of the story. This music is heroic, but it is a tough fit given the fate of the campaign. i will also acknowledge getting the "right musical balance" for stories such as this is very challenging. Regards
If you want to watch the 'lose heroically' version, and a far better film, I recommend the 1946 "Theirs is the Glory". Its cast was the real people, not actors, and it doesn't get bogged down in poorly depicted discussions of high-level blame. Most importantly, it doesn't depict British soldiers as powerless, ineffectively armed pessimists with a tendency to sit around doing nothing when things get tough nor as effete, tea-drinking limeys who need their allies to show them how a war should be fought. 'The Longest Day' worked well because it told the stories of the characters through their eyes on that day, 'A Bridge Too Far' didn't work because it tried to blend the telling of too many stories that were seen too differently by too many different characters over too long a period with too much hindsight and, somehow, present all of it as a single story told through a condensed chronological depiction of events.
This film is a tremendous disappointment mainly, as is often the case with 'history" movies, because the real story is so much more dramatic and adventurous than this dreary famous-faced concoction. You got it right; Monty is the main culprit here and he gets a pass. It was an Allied Midway on land. The politics of the plan is a film on its own. Poor Dirk Bogard. The movie is a Rubic cube of set pieces - pretty, ungritty and predictable with dated, "Patton style' camera work, lighting and words. The irony is laid on thick and sweet, building affection for characters and then killing them. Yes, Michael Caine is killer in that tank, but the star power is literally blinding. O'Neal and Redford walking the tarmac as army officers is the cheesiest thing ever. Worst of all, the music sucks. You are absolutely right that bad music can ruin good pictures and words. You are also right that good music can save, or make watchable, a bad movie. Better music might have glued this thing together and flown it out of the desert or at least someplace with water.
What makes it strangely undynamic despite the thousands of parachutes is that very early on everybody who is not German is trapped. Hopkins, Connery, Ullman and Olivier are trapped in houses and on the wrong side of the river. Redford is trapped in a dinghy and then on the wrong side of the river. Elliott Gould is trapped on the wrong side of the river. Gene Hackman is trapped by the idea that 50 caliber fire might not sink rubber rafts. Michael Caine is trapped in traffic. Every piece is a static battle of attrition except James Caan who gets to drive around like a son of a gun and bring dudes back from the dead. Best part of the movie
Well, Longest Day give ABTF a run for its money, but this movie deals with a darker outcome which does leads to some meatier scenes for the stars. Cheers!
Perhaps it is, if you are older and your date is writing a dissertation in History. After all, we recently visited family for a holiday and four of us (two sisters and husbands) watched Tora, Tora, Tora and everyone liked it!
Think you wrong about Addison's music, as it alters fractioning the tempo and light & darkness. Brian Urquhart who got benched due to his concerns of the safety of allied troops, after the war created the UN peacekeeping force, I think he died this year. Like your reviews
Great post - and so interesting to learn about Urquhart's strong work for UN peacekeeping. As a Canadian that is particularly noteworthy and it is a crime peacekeepers are not used in these difficult and deadly times. Thanks for that. I cannot disagree with you about the music as it is a very subjective thing. I will admit it is very very difficult to strike the right balance in films dealing with downbeat military subjects. For example, I was always challenged by the rather "distant" score in the Charge of the Light Brigade remake (1968), Of course it was an extremely expensive movie (it helped kill United Artists) that faced the tough task of being an anti-war epic during the height of the Vietnam War. Today many history buffs like it while the general public found it preachy.
Any movie with downbeat ending difficult to sell. Critics (of certain age) claim Empire strikes back (1980) was guaranteed money maker. Which isn't quite true as (for a family-friendly event movie the final third was bleak. And ambiguous. War movies about failure always seem to tank, which is unfortunate. ABTF a real favourite of mine largely because the cast work as one. No matter how big the name. There's a contemporary documentary on RUclips called behind a bridge to far well worth looking at.
An excellent film. Perhaps not frivolous enough for mass market appeal (being the examination of historic events without overly glamming things up with additional drama or a happy ending) but I see this more as a strength than a weakness. Wouldn't it be better if the public rose to meet this sort of film rather than films being dumbed down to a level aimed at vapid idiots? The public are under-estimated today. Entertainment is largely calibrated to the idiot. This film is hardly complex, but it at least respects the audience enough that no sugar coating or over simplification is seen as necessary.
"Entertainment is largely calibrated to the idiot." - wonderful statement. With my interest in "classic" films I clearly prefer the decades when films like "Bridge" were more common. That said, there still is some hope looking at projects like Dunkirk (the new version), Oppenheimer, the series and movie on Napoleon and the long-awaited series on the US 8th Airforce.
Absolutely. He plays James Caan's friend who gets shot. It was one of those things I left out to prevent the video from being too long. Another fact is that a number of junior officers with the Brits were trained Canadians on loan.
I have to disagree with your opinion of the music. To me every time I hear it I get a lump in my throat. It both symbolises the terrible cost of war, while at the same time rousing pride in the viewer for what the individual soldiers achieved, their heroism and courage.
We share the same opinions on this movie. I enjoyed the movie, but the music I found irritating at times. The bridge battle was worth the price of admission. All the actors accomplished themselves in their individual roles. Lawrence Olivier was wasted in this film though.
Thor, yes, you are bang on - I agree about Sir Lawrence - that was an era when he was in just about everything. And while I didn't want to denigrate John Addison too much, I also had issues with his score for another expensive movie about a military disaster - 1968's The Charge of the Light Brigade. That score isn't inappropriate as it is in ABTF, but it somehow keeps you at an emotional distance in "Charge". I see that Addison also replaced the fabulous Bernard Herrmann for Torn Curtain and that didn't go well either. One of my pet theories is that for people who don't like a movie but can't tell you why not - it's usually the score. Thanks again. Btw, speaking of the umbrella, as I am also a tabletop gamer, this week my miniature gaming group is playing a scenario based on Arnhem.
Thanks, Roy. This one took a lot of hours - I trust you enjoy it. Also, I'm struck by the similarity of Market Garden's failure with the fate of Putin's thrust ay Kyiv; he sent "elite" troops to hold a key objective (airport) and then wait for a tank column that never made it. (Long live Ukraine!)
Excellent video and precis of both the movie and the operation itself. Market Garden is an excellent example of the old saying "you're only as good as your last job", it failed for a number of reasons but the inevitable blame game afterwards sealed Montgomery's reputation, he will always be remembered for Arnhem. The movie got lost in its own massive scope I think, a movie can be too long and this was one. It was also very down beat, lots of back biting between characters, and of course it was a defeat, but it wasn't a documentary and when I saw it on release it became boring as a result.
This film about one of the worst allied disasters of World War II is a disaster in itself. It is much too long giving us one military disaster after another while the British generals portrayed only seem to do is just "Keep a Stiff Upper Lip." Then we have John Addison's awful music which is more suited for a military parade ground than for a combat film.
Yeah, getting the tone right was a big challenge given it is a downbeat subject. And I recall seeing the movie when first released and was struck by Addison's rousing march - it wasn't a bad march but it was out of place given the gravity of the story.
I'd say a very minor setback (given the scope of the war) and a very good retelling of it. One of the best war films out there in my opinion and one I wish modern film makers would look at (that focusses on important events rather than the film maker's made up character melodramas).
@@kurukblackflame I don't view Operation Market Garden as "a very minor setback" given that one of the biproducts of its failure was the starvation endured in the Netherlands by the Nazis during the winter of 1944-1945. One thing this movie DOES show was the British military running the operation were much too overconfident of its success to the point of being downright incompetent.
First of all I commend your excellent taste in movies, almost the same as mine 😀
Great review of a great film. I have it on BluRay and regularly watch it. For me it never gets tired, both the military operation and the film itself. As you say, the release of previously classified material opens up new perspectives which are astonishing. The bravery and heroism of the British paratroopers who did everything that was asked of them and more is remarkable and deserves our admiration and respect.
I recommend these videos based on Operation Market Garden:
Battlefields by Richard Holmes - Holmes is a military historian and he has the ability to present his subject in an accessible manner.
History Buffs critiques the film from a historical perspective and discusses where it got it wrong and why.
Jeremy Clarkson presents a programme about the Victoria Cross and gives the story of Major Robert Cain who received the VC for his part in Market Garden. There’s a bit of a surprise towards the end so worth holding on.
Tikhistory has a documentary on “The Real Operation Market Garden”.
“Theirs is the Glory”. This is a film made toward the end of 1945 by a British military film unit. It was filmed in and around the Arnhem area with many of the paratroopers who had been there in the battle now returned to serve as extras in the film.
All of these are available on RUclips.
Another great review, looking forward to the next.
Thanks, Roy - always great to hear from you. I will check out a number of the vids you recommend. Meanwhile, I avoid other "reviews" of the movie before I do my own, to avoid any influence. And I think I have heard of Theirs is the Glory; it struck me it must have been very challenging for those Red Devils to go back near Arnhem and play act less than a year after the trauma they suffered there. Working on my own video, I was delighted to learn about the Dirk Bogarde and Daphne du Maurier connections - also finding that Attenborough had served in the RAF 20 years before he donned an RAF uniform in the great escape. Cheers!
@@Vlad65WFPReviews when one of the paratroopers returned home he was quite affected by the whole thing. His mother gave him a kitten to look after which worked. The kitten was always with him 24/7, tucked into his jacket and poking its head out of the top of his jacket. I tell you this because in Theirs Is The Glory you actually see the cat poking his head out for a look as the paratroopers are sitting in the plane waiting for takeoff.
Another of my favourite movies. I was in the RAF based at Upavon in Wiltshire during the 70's and saw the assembled aircraft being formed up for the parachute jump sequence. I rather like John Addison's soundtrack to the film though.
Hi, thanks for the feedback. I should clarify that I think Addison's march and music are good (and I was a cadet brass player a million years ago) - but at times I found it an awkward fit with what is a very downbeat true story. Getting the music right for this kind of movie is a challenge.
Epic War drama 100 points.
Good stuff! Thanks for bringing so much to light about Market Garden and A Bridge Too Far.
You are very welcome. It is always a challenge about how much to stuff in - and how to keep it well paced. Thanks for your support!
This movie gets better everytime I see it.
Very interesting take. I am also clearly a fan but find the last third hard to watch, ironically due to its historical accuracy.
The composer, John Addison, served throughout the campaign, including Market Garden, as a tank officer with the 23rd Hussars. I think the music fits the attitude of the average squaddie, "Bugger, that didn't go well. Let's go and kick them again."
Thanks for posting that - interesting to learn about Addison's service with the armour. I wonder what he thought of how the movie showed the operation.
My favourite film. Pity about this commentator who.....can't speak more than......one sentence without......taking an unnecessarily......noisy breath. Extremely off-putting, which is why I stopped watching after about 20 seconds.
That's just fine.
I remember when this film was released. I was impressed someone made a movie about an Allied defeat. A notable break from every war movie where the US won. In later years as a skydiver I was impressed the number of static line jumpers and aircraft they assembled for this movie. Probably something that will never be done again.
Definitely won't be done again. Thanks for your comment. Interesting, Tora-Tora-Tora was about an "allied defeat" and that did not do well at the box office I recall - though now it is rightly regarded an as excellent historical movie.
You are wrong about the musical score,it is stirring and awesome, very well written,love that film,great acting,good cast,much appreciated from Commonwealth citizen.
Thanks very much for watching and commenting - and allow me to clarify my point. As a former cadet bandsman (also from a Commonwealth country), I totally agree the music is "stirring" - it is a very good march. I recall really liking it in the first half when I saw the movie in a theatre. The challenge in movies such as Bridge, Tora, Tora, Tora; Zulu Dawn is having dramatic music that fits the downbeat direction of the story. This music is heroic, but it is a tough fit given the fate of the campaign. i will also acknowledge getting the "right musical balance" for stories such as this is very challenging. Regards
If you want to watch the 'lose heroically' version, and a far better film, I recommend the 1946 "Theirs is the Glory". Its cast was the real people, not actors, and it doesn't get bogged down in poorly depicted discussions of high-level blame. Most importantly, it doesn't depict British soldiers as powerless, ineffectively armed pessimists with a tendency to sit around doing nothing when things get tough nor as effete, tea-drinking limeys who need their allies to show them how a war should be fought. 'The Longest Day' worked well because it told the stories of the characters through their eyes on that day, 'A Bridge Too Far' didn't work because it tried to blend the telling of too many stories that were seen too differently by too many different characters over too long a period with too much hindsight and, somehow, present all of it as a single story told through a condensed chronological depiction of events.
thanks - other viewers have mentioned that film and it certainly offers a different perspective.
This film is a tremendous disappointment mainly, as is often the case with 'history" movies, because the real story is so much more dramatic and adventurous than this dreary famous-faced concoction. You got it right; Monty is the main culprit here and he gets a pass. It was an Allied Midway on land. The politics of the plan is a film on its own. Poor Dirk Bogard. The movie is a Rubic cube of set pieces - pretty, ungritty and predictable with dated, "Patton style' camera work, lighting and words. The irony is laid on thick and sweet, building affection for characters and then killing them. Yes, Michael Caine is killer in that tank, but the star power is literally blinding. O'Neal and Redford walking the tarmac as army officers is the cheesiest thing ever. Worst of all, the music sucks. You are absolutely right that bad music can ruin good pictures and words. You are also right that good music can save, or make watchable, a bad movie. Better music might have glued this thing together and flown it out of the desert or at least someplace with water.
What makes it strangely undynamic despite the thousands of parachutes is that very early on everybody who is not German is trapped. Hopkins, Connery, Ullman and Olivier are trapped in houses and on the wrong side of the river. Redford is trapped in a dinghy and then on the wrong side of the river. Elliott Gould is trapped on the wrong side of the river. Gene Hackman is trapped by the idea that 50 caliber fire might not sink rubber rafts. Michael Caine is trapped in traffic. Every piece is a static battle of attrition except James Caan who gets to drive around like a son of a gun and bring dudes back from the dead. Best part of the movie
Probably the greatest cast ever assembled.
Well, Longest Day give ABTF a run for its money, but this movie deals with a darker outcome which does leads to some meatier scenes for the stars. Cheers!
Not a good first date movie? Hmm, noted.
Perhaps it is, if you are older and your date is writing a dissertation in History. After all, we recently visited family for a holiday and four of us (two sisters and husbands) watched Tora, Tora, Tora and everyone liked it!
Think you wrong about Addison's music, as it alters fractioning the tempo and light & darkness. Brian Urquhart who got benched due to his concerns of the safety of allied troops, after the war created the UN peacekeeping force, I think he died this year.
Like your reviews
Great post - and so interesting to learn about Urquhart's strong work for UN peacekeeping. As a Canadian that is particularly noteworthy and it is a crime peacekeepers are not used in these difficult and deadly times. Thanks for that.
I cannot disagree with you about the music as it is a very subjective thing. I will admit it is very very difficult to strike the right balance in films dealing with downbeat military subjects. For example, I was always challenged by the rather "distant" score in the Charge of the Light Brigade remake (1968), Of course it was an extremely expensive movie (it helped kill United Artists) that faced the tough task of being an anti-war epic during the height of the Vietnam War. Today many history buffs like it while the general public found it preachy.
Any movie with downbeat ending difficult to sell. Critics (of certain age) claim Empire strikes back (1980) was guaranteed money maker. Which isn't quite true as (for a family-friendly event movie the final third was bleak. And ambiguous. War movies about failure always seem to tank, which is unfortunate. ABTF a real favourite of mine largely because the cast work as one. No matter how big the name. There's a contemporary documentary on RUclips called behind a bridge to far well worth looking at.
An excellent film. Perhaps not frivolous enough for mass market appeal (being the examination of historic events without overly glamming things up with additional drama or a happy ending) but I see this more as a strength than a weakness. Wouldn't it be better if the public rose to meet this sort of film rather than films being dumbed down to a level aimed at vapid idiots? The public are under-estimated today. Entertainment is largely calibrated to the idiot. This film is hardly complex, but it at least respects the audience enough that no sugar coating or over simplification is seen as necessary.
"Entertainment is largely calibrated to the idiot." - wonderful statement. With my interest in "classic" films I clearly prefer the decades when films like "Bridge" were more common. That said, there still is some hope looking at projects like Dunkirk (the new version), Oppenheimer, the series and movie on Napoleon and the long-awaited series on the US 8th Airforce.
Some Canadian content: actor Nicholas Campbell. Though I think he is playing an American.
Absolutely. He plays James Caan's friend who gets shot. It was one of those things I left out to prevent the video from being too long. Another fact is that a number of junior officers with the Brits were trained Canadians on loan.
A bit rich considering we were fighting to liberate them.
I have to disagree with your opinion of the music. To me every time I hear it I get a lump in my throat. It both symbolises the terrible cost of war, while at the same time rousing pride in the viewer for what the individual soldiers achieved, their heroism and courage.
We share the same opinions on this movie. I enjoyed the movie, but the music I found irritating at times. The bridge battle was worth the price of admission. All the actors accomplished themselves in their individual roles. Lawrence Olivier was wasted in this film though.
P.S. I loved the guy with the umbrella
Thor, yes, you are bang on - I agree about Sir Lawrence - that was an era when he was in just about everything. And while I didn't want to denigrate John Addison too much, I also had issues with his score for another expensive movie about a military disaster - 1968's The Charge of the Light Brigade. That score isn't inappropriate as it is in ABTF, but it somehow keeps you at an emotional distance in "Charge". I see that Addison also replaced the fabulous Bernard Herrmann for Torn Curtain and that didn't go well either.
One of my pet theories is that for people who don't like a movie but can't tell you why not - it's usually the score. Thanks again.
Btw, speaking of the umbrella, as I am also a tabletop gamer, this week my miniature gaming group is playing a scenario based on Arnhem.
@@Vlad65WFPReviews Please have fun and we'll talk next time. Tell them I keep mistaking you for Tom Rylance.
@@thorgodofthunder3204 Will do!
Look forward to seeing this one, Walt!
Thanks. I hope you found some of it interesting.
Another one to look forward to. Keep on doing the good work!
Thanks, Roy. This one took a lot of hours - I trust you enjoy it. Also, I'm struck by the similarity of Market Garden's failure with the fate of Putin's thrust ay Kyiv; he sent "elite" troops to hold a key objective (airport) and then wait for a tank column that never made it. (Long live Ukraine!)
Excellent video and precis of both the movie and the operation itself.
Market Garden is an excellent example of the old saying "you're only as good as your last job", it failed for a number of reasons but the inevitable blame game afterwards sealed Montgomery's reputation, he will always be remembered for Arnhem.
The movie got lost in its own massive scope I think, a movie can be too long and this was one. It was also very down beat, lots of back biting between characters, and of course it was a defeat, but it wasn't a documentary and when I saw it on release it became boring as a result.
I agree with everything you state. I still watch big chunks of this film at times, but I rarely stick with it to the end.
This film about one of the worst allied disasters of World War II is a disaster in itself. It is much too long giving us one military disaster after another while the British generals portrayed only seem to do is just "Keep a Stiff Upper Lip." Then we have John Addison's awful music which is more suited for a military parade ground than for a combat film.
Yeah, getting the tone right was a big challenge given it is a downbeat subject. And I recall seeing the movie when first released and was struck by Addison's rousing march - it wasn't a bad march but it was out of place given the gravity of the story.
I'd say a very minor setback (given the scope of the war) and a very good retelling of it. One of the best war films out there in my opinion and one I wish modern film makers would look at (that focusses on important events rather than the film maker's made up character melodramas).
@@kurukblackflame I don't view Operation Market Garden as "a very minor setback" given that one of the biproducts of its failure was the starvation endured in the Netherlands by the Nazis during the winter of 1944-1945. One thing this movie DOES show was the British military running the operation were much too overconfident of its success to the point of being downright incompetent.
A gamble like all Airborne ops, one worth taking.
But often so costly, given the excellence of the troops and the often heavy-weapon advantage of the enemy.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiaan_Lindemans