History Film / ABridgeTooFar

* [[BackedByThePentagon Backed By The Dutch Army]]

* WeaponsUnderstudies: The German vehicles are usually played by NATO equipment with some plywood mods added on to make it less obvious, (the German "Panther" tanks are played by modified Dutch Army [[PantheraAwesome Leopard 1's]]}and the close air support planes seen when XXX Corps attacks are T-6 Texan trainers kitted out to look like Typhoons. Also a good deal of the half tracks used in the film were real, but had since been almost completely scrapped since the war and were basically shells. It becomes noticeable when many of they only appear behind convenient low walls to disguise the fact that they have no tracks and are being pulled on sleds. There are also several scenes where some of the enemy armor is lacking its steering mechanisms, treadguards, mounted weapons and the other stuff you lose after sitting in a junkyard for thirty years. Some of the vehicles were loaned by private collectors or museums, but this can only account for a very small number of those needed.
** The two German halftracks seen are genuine: Grabner's Sd.Kfz.250 and the Sd.Kfz.8, both used in the first bridge battle scene, are wartime vehicles with functioning tracks.

'''''A Bridge Too Far''''' is a 1977 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII war film based on Cornelius Ryan's best-selling book. It tells the story of Operation Market Garden, an audacious, but flawed -- and ultimately unsuccessful -- plan to to use British, American and Polish paratroops and British armoured divisions to capture four bridges in the Netherlands in order to cut a path into UsefulNotes/NaziGermany with the hope of ending the war before Christmas. It has an AllStarCast, was written by WilliamGoldman, and was directed by RichardAttenborough.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Field Marshal Model. While it might seem idiotic that he does not accept the captured plans of Operation Market Garden, the last two major Allied invasions (Sicily and Normandy) had massive, elaborate deception campaigns which kept German forces out of key areas until it was too late. The Sicily invasion actually included a corpse washing ashore with a convincing copy of the supposed invasion. In addition, he knows that paratroops are very weak if they are not continuously supplied, so even without the plans, they have a good chance of stopping them.

'''''A Bridge Too Far''''' is a 1977 WorldWarII war film based on Cornelius Ryan's best-selling book. It tells the story of Operation Market Garden, an audacious, but flawed -- and ultimately unsuccessful -- plan to to use British, American and Polish paratroops and British armoured divisions to capture four bridges in the Netherlands in order to cut a path into UsefulNotes/NaziGermany with the hope of ending the war before Christmas. It has an AllStarCast, was written by WilliamGoldman, and was directed by RichardAttenborough.

* WorldWarII
* YanksWithTanks: Averted. Most of the XXX Corps vehicles are American-built (and in the British Army via Lend Lease), but the unit itself was British. The M4 Sherman appears here probably because it is a far more iconic and recognisable vehicle than any of the contemporary British tanks used by XXX Corps.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Field Marshal Model. While it might seem idiotic that he does not accept the captured plans of Operation Market Garden, the last two major Allied invasions (Sicily and Normandy) had massive, elaborate deception campaigns which kept German forces out of key areas until it was too late. In addition, he knows that paratroops are very weak if they are not continuously supplied, so even without the plans, they have a good chance of stopping them.

* {{Badass}}: Exemplified in Major Cook (Redford)'s reaction to being told he and his men are going to have to row across a river covered by enemy machine-guns in order to make an infantry assault on a heavily defended position -- and they're no longer going to be able to do it in the dark.
-->'''Cook:''' Better by daylight.

** General Sosabowski points the holes in the operation plan, only to be ignored by the rest of the staff.
** Maj. Fuller receives intelligence that there is a panzer division in the area. He corroborates this with aerial photos. No one listens.

-->'''Colonel Frost:''' Well...we'll just wait for 30 Corps then.\\

* TemptingFate:
-->'''[[Creator/SeanConnery General Urquhart]]:''' I'll be back shortly.\\
'''Officer:''' I'm sure the radios will be fixed by then, sir.
:: Urquhart spends several days hiding in an attic from German soldiers, only to return to find everything has gone to hell in his absence. And they still can't get the radios working.

* RefugeInAudacity: "I'm sorry, we don't have the facilities to accept your surrender."

* OnlySaneMan

:: Never mind that by that time, Germany was quite definitely losing the war on the Eastern Front -- where the ''real'' blows were delivered. Actually zig-zagged. British and Polish troops have plenty of screen time, and the movie portrays one of the ''failed'' operations.

'''''A Bridge Too Far''''' is a 1977 WorldWarII war film based on Cornelius Ryan's best-selling book. It tells the story of Operation Market Garden, an audacious, but flawed -- and ultimately unsuccessful -- plan to to use British, American and Polish paratroops and British armoured divisions to capture four bridges in the Netherlands in order to cut a path into NaziGermany with the hope of ending the war before Christmas. It has an AllStarCast, was written by WilliamGoldman, and was directed by RichardAttenborough.

*** I have see several films of Sir Brian. Fox nails him so well that it is uncanny.

'''''A Bridge Too Far''''' is a 1977 WorldWarII war film based on Cornelius Ryan's best-selling book. It tells the story of Operation Market Garden, an audacious, but flawed - and ultimately unsuccessful - plan to to use British, American and Polish paratroops and British armoured divisions to capture four bridges in the Netherlands in order to cut a path into NaziGermany with the hope of ending the war before Christmas. It has an [[AllStarCast All-Star Cast]], was written by WilliamGoldman, and was directed by RichardAttenborough.

In addition to the all star cast, it also might qualify as the biggest all realism movie, as the producers went to great lengths (and money) to gather old vehicles and equipment, including 11 Douglas C-47 Skytrain (Dakota) WWII aircraft, along with getting NATO troops with the old fashioned parachutes jumping out of them for the film. It was also the first war film in which actors were put through boot camp prior to filming. The film cost $22 million in 1977. Compare that with ''StarWars'' which also came out in 1977 and cost $10 million.

!!This movie contains examples of:

* AllStarCast

-->'''Narrator:''' "In 1944, the Second World War was in its fifth year and still going Hitler's way. German troops controlled most of Europe. D-Day changed all that."
** Never mind that by that time, Germany was quite definitely losing the war on the Eastern Front - where the ''real'' blows were delivered.
** Actually zig-zagged. British and Polish troops have plenty of screen time, and the movie portrays one of the ''failed'' operations.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking - Robert Redford's character leads a dangerous river crossing and personally inflicts a large amount of the asskicking.
* BadAss - Exemplified in Redford's reaction to being told he and his men are going to have to row across a river covered by enemy machine-guns in order to make an infantry assault on a heavily defended position -- and they're no longer going to be able to do it in the dark.
-->"Better by daylight."

* BilingualBonus - Subverted. Liv Ullman's speech about the plight of the wounded soldiers is completely unintelligible. It required subtitles in dutch cinema and DVD releases.

* ContemplateOurNavels - At the end of the movie when General Browning reflects on why the operation failed so dismally. "I always felt we tried to take it [[{{TitleDrop}} a bridge too far]]." Note that Browning did actually say this, but in a different context.
* DeathByAdaptation - The British paratrooper who is killed [[spoiler:retrieving a supply canister]] actually survived that incident in RealLife.
** Similarly, [[spoiler: Major Carlyle is shown dying from his wounds]] near the end of the film. His real life counterpart, Maj. Allison Digby Tatham-Warter, survived both the battle and the war.
* DividedWeFall - After listening to what sounds like a suicide plan, Gen. Sosabowski comes to briefing officer and checks his insignia.
--->'''Sosabowski:''' "Just making sure whose side you're on."
* FakeNationality - GeneHackman plays a Polish officer.
** Lawrence Olivier (British) and Liv Ullmann (Norwegian) play Dutch civilians.
* FilmOfTheBook
* FinaglesLaw - From the moment the operation is launched, everything starts going wrong for the Allies.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation - "Gentlemen, this is a story you will tell your grandchildren. And mighty bored they'll all be."
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade - General Browning's portrayal is often considered as such.
* HopeSpot - The explosives planted on the Nijmegen bridge fail to explode, seemingly leaving the road clear to Arnhem. Also the soldier who manages to retrieve a parachute container [[spoiler:only to be killed by a sniper. The container is then revealed to be full of red berets instead of food or ammunition.]]
* IdiotBall - A British tank officer tells an incredulous American paratroop commander that they won't immediately press on to Arnhem after taking Nijmegen because of some trivial reason. Note that this is HollywoodHistory. XXX Corps needed time to marshal their forces and resupply their leading elements when Nijmegen bridge was secured.
** Hardly trivial. The tank officer clearly states that they couldn't advance without infantry support, which was tied up in Nijmegen. A more appropriate example is an Allied officer bringing the entire plans for Market Garden to Holland with him, where they fall into German hands. Field Marshal Model then dismisses the plans on the grounds that they're obviously a ruse.
*** Note though that two previous Allied offensives on the western front - the Normandy and Sicily invasions - had disinformation campaigns the Germans fell for hook, line and sinker. Model would have been aware of this.

** See ShaggyDogStory below. Radios paratroopers are supplied with (crucial part of the equipment for such operation) were set to wrong frequencies and no one bothered to check if they are operable ''prior'' to. Think issuing soldiers with ammunition that doesn't match their weapons.

* LargeHam - Colonel Stout as played by a [[strike:scenery-chewing]] cigar-chewing ElliotGould.

* LaughingMad - Happens literally when the paratroopers land near Arnhem only to encounter the inmates of a lunatic asylum freed by a bombing raid.

* OnlySaneMan:

* OneSteveLimit - The intelligence officer called Major Fuller in the film was actually called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Urquhart Brian Urquhart]]. However since Sean Connery's character, the commander of the British airborne division was also historically named Roy Urquhart it was decided to rename the more minor character played by the unknown actor.
* PrecisionFStrike - In the original version, James Caan and Elliot Gould each got one. Some (but not all) current [=DVDs=] only feature Caan's though.
* RealMenLoveJesus - A low-key example in Major Cook (played by Robert Redford), who prays his way across a river while being machine-gunned.
* RealityIsUnrealistic - Lt.-Colonel Frost objected to a scene where the actor playing him (Anthony Hopkins) runs across a street under fire. ''He'' always walked. It was decided to leave the scene as it was, for fear the audience would have a WhatAnIdiot reaction.
** Author WilliamGoldman mentions three examples that were criticized. First, a British general (DirkBogarde) who sends his troops to a supposedly undefended territory, although he actually has information about German troops being there, but doesn't care. Second, JamesCaan forcing a medical officer to operate on his captain, who seems to be dead (which he isn't, of course). Third, Ryan O'Neal as General James Gavin who was deemed to be too young for the role by the critics - despite being exactly the same age as the real Gavin had been at that time.
* ReassignedToAntarctica - Major Fuller, young intel officer who insists that Resistance reports are not to be ignored gets deemed mentally unfit and removed from duty for his trouble.
* ShaggyDogStory - The allied paratroopers are dropped into Holland only to discover that their radios are faulty and inoperable, and they spend literally the ''entire movie'' trying to fix them. The lack of radios is a ''major'' setback for the invasion force, as situation after situation comes up where they need to have a working radio but don't. At the end of the movie, they finally, ''finally'' get a radio fixed. However, by this point the situation has so deteriorated that the commanders, after asking ''each other'' for reinforcements, have literally nothing to say to each other except:
-->'''Colonel Frost''': Well...we'll just wait for 30 Corps then.
-->'''General Urquhart''': That would probably be best.
-->'''Colonel Frost''': Very reassuring talk we've had, sir.
* SpotOfTea - A wonderful example:
-->'''Corporal Hancock''': ''[holding a mug of tea]'' Sir.
-->'''[[SeanConnery General Urquhart]]''': Hancock. I've got lunatics laughing at me from the woods. My original plan has been scuppered now that the jeeps haven't arrived. My communications are completely broken down. Do you really believe any of that can be helped by a cup of tea?
-->'''Corporal Hancock''': Couldn't hurt, sir.
* SurvivalMantra - Robert Redford keeps repeating "Hail Mary, full of grace" as he paddles across the river under fire from German machine gun and mortar fire (TruthInTelevision for the character he was playing, who was too tense to remember the rest of the prayer). A terrified army chaplain can also be seen saying "Thy will be done...they will be done..." in the same scene.
* SuspiciouslySmallArmy - Averted because they did spend a lot of money and even had RealLife airborne soldiers drop out of planes for it.
* TemptingFate
-->[[SeanConnery General Urquhart]]: "I'll be back shortly."
-->'''Officer:''' "I'm sure the radios will be fixed by then, sir."
-->''Urquhart spends several days hiding in an attic from German soldiers, only to return to find everything has gone to hell in his absence. And they still can't get the radios working.''
* TitleDrop -
-->'''General Browning''': I've just been on to Monty. He's very proud, and pleased.
-->'''General Urquhart''': ''Pleased?''
-->'''General Browning'''': Of course. He thinks Market Garden has been 90% successful.
-->'''General Urquhart''': But what do you think?
-->'''General Browning''': ...well as you know I always thought we tried to go a bridge too far.
* TranslationConvention - Thankfully averted. The Germans speak German and the Dutch speak Dutch.
* WeaponsUnderstudies - The German vehicles are usually played by NATO equipment with some plywood mods added on to make it less obvious, (the German "Panther" tanks are played by modified Dutch Army [[PantheraAwesome Leopard 1's]]}and the close air support planes seen when XXX Corps attacks are T-6 Texan trainers kitted out to look like Typhoons. Also a good deal of the half tracks used in the film were real, but had since been almost completely scrapped since the war and were basically shells. It becomes noticeable when many of they only appear behind convenient low walls to disguise the fact that they have no tracks and are being pulled on sleds. There are also several scenes where some of the enemy armor is lacking its steering mechanisms, treadguards, mounted weapons and the other stuff you lose after sitting in a junkyard for thirty years. Some of the vehicles were loaned by private collectors or museums, but this can only account for a very small number of those needed.

* YanksWithTanks - Averted. Most of the XXX Corps vehicles are American-built (and in the British Army via Lend Lease), but the unit itself was British. The M4 Sherman appears here probably because it is a far more iconic and recognisable vehicle than any of the contemporary British tanks used by XXX Corps.