Film / A Bridge Too Far

"I've always thought that we tried to go a bridge
too far."

"I like to think of this as one of those American western films. The paratroops, lacking substantial equipment, always short of food, these are the besieged homesteaders. The Germans, well naturally, they're the bad guys. And XXX Corps, we, my friends, are the cavalry on the way to the rescue!"

— Lt. General Brian Horrocks (outlining the operation)

A Bridge Too Far is a 1977 epic World War II film directed by Richard Attenborough, adapted by William Goldman from the best-selling 1974 book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan (The Longest Day). It boasts an All-Star Cast including Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell, Liv Ullmann, and perhaps the biggest star of all, John Ratzenberger.

It tells the story of Operation Market Garden (Sept. 17–25, 1944), an audacious, but flawed — and ultimately unsuccessful — Allied plan to use British, American, and Polish paratroops and British armored divisions to capture four bridges in the Netherlands. Bernard Law Montgomery hoped that these could be used by the British quarter of the Western Allied force in France to invade northern Germany, forcing the Germans to reinforce that sector with forces pulled from less vital fronts such as Hungary or Italy and perhaps ultimately enabling Germany's defeat within the next six months.

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 Star Wars which also came out in 1977 and cost $10 million.

See also Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Longest Day, and Battle of Britain.

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A Bridge Too Far provides examples of the following tropes:

• Adaptational Name Change: Several people from Ryan's original book are renamed in the film. In the case of Heinz Harmel (who's called "Karl Ludwig" in the film), he specifically asked the filmmakers not to use his real name because he didn't want to be associated with the Nazis.
• Adapted Out: General Kurt Student, the commander of the Luftwaffe's Fallschirmjäger, does not appear despite playing a significant role in the battle.
• Ambiguously Jewish: Col. Robert Stout is played by Elliott Gould, calls someone a "mensch," and says that he was born in Yugoslavia. However, he's based on Col. Robert Sink, who was a North Carolina-born gentile.
• Armor-Piercing Question: General Urquhart delivers one, combined with a What the Hell, Hero?, to General Browning at the end.
  General Browning: You did all you could.
  General Urquhart: Yes. But did everyone else?
• Artistic License – History:
  • The opening narration tells us, "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." 'Still going Hitler's way', 'most of Europe', and 'D-day changed all that' are all incorrect even given an exclusive focus on the Western Allies' efforts - let alone the course of the far larger Soviet-German War.^contextBy the time D-Day occurred, the Germans had lost nearly all of their territorial gains in the Soviet Union and Anglo-American air raids had critically damaged German infrastructure at home. While the Germans were still in control of Western Europe, their troops were spread too thin to be able to hold it in the event of an Allied invasion. That being said, the film does at least correctly portray Market Garden as a failed operation instead of making it seem like the war-winning gamble it was envisioned to be by Monty.
  • Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt had a toothbrush mustache in real life, but is not shown to have one in the film.
  • The token that Rundstedt places, which represents Bittrich's forces, is labeled "II. SS Panzer Division." Bittrich actually commanded the II. SS Panzer Corps, which consisted of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions. In addition, the 2nd SS Panzer Division was fighting on the Eastern Front.
  • A German soldier finds the plans for Operation Market Garden in a glider and turns them in. Model then dismisses the plans as an obvious ruse. In reality, they were given to General Kurt Student, who quickly realized their authenticity and used them to determine troop deployments.
  • Colonel Stout remarks to Colonel Vandeleur that he was born in Yugoslavia, which was founded in 1918 and he is clearly much older than 26. In addition, the officer he was based on, Colonel Robert Sink, was born in North Carolina.
  • When he's shown aerial reconnaissance that has found German Panzers near Arnhem, General Browning dismisses this by saying the tanks must not be servicable, or else the whole operation might be in trouble. While the British did ignore intelligence stating that enemy armor was in the target area, the film leaves out the fact that the Dutch police force, resistance, and British-Dutch OSS branch were known to have been compromised by the SS Sicherheitsdienst (SD) Intelligence organisation. The Allies could not tell what info was reliable.
  • The 82nd Airborne did not establish their command post in an estate manor but out in the woods near the drop zones.
• Artistic License – Military: Averted in most parts, but Played for Drama where it is present.
  • General Ludwig is listed in the cast as a "Major General." The SS equivalent rank was Brigadeführer, which he is never addressed as. In addition, he actually has the insignia of a Gruppenführer, which was the equivalent of a Lieutenant General.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: General Horrocks begins his Rousing Speech with "Gentlemen, this is a story you will tell your grandchildren. And mightily bored they'll all be."
• The Big Board: General Horrocks gives the outline of Market Garden with one of these.
• Bilingual Bonus: Subverted. Liv Ullmann's speech about the plight of the wounded soldiers is completely unintelligible. It required subtitles in Dutch cinema and DVD releases.
• Blatant Lies:
  General Horrocks: The Irish Guards under the command of Colonel Vandeleur will take the lead.
  Colonel Vandeleur: (sotto voce) Christ, not us again.
  General Horrocks: What do you think of that, Joe?
  Colonel Vandeleur: Delighted, sir. Absolutely delighted. (Everyone laughs)
• Brits Love Tea: A wonderful example:
  Corporal Hancock: (holding a mug of tea) Sir.
  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.
• Bystander Syndrome: Before the operation, a Royal Signals officer points out to his colleague that the radios, which worked well in North Africa, are unlikely to work in low-level, wet and wooded Holland. His colleague shrugs by saying that they'll take the bridge by nightfall, and the officer decides that he won't be the one to rock the boat on the operation.
• The Cassandra: Major Fuller, an intelligence analyst, is nervous about Browning's confident assertion that there are no strong German units in the area, so he sends a plane to take pictures. The pictures show German tanks in the near vicinity of Arnhem. Browning ignores him.
• The Cavalry: XXX Corps is intended to be this for the paratroops, as lampshaded by General Horrocks.
  • While advancing to Eindhoven, Vandeleur notes to his subordinate that they won't arrive before it gets dark, and that it would be "bad form to arrive in advance of schedule."
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: Except that in this case this is a bad thing, and of course the heroes do not win.
• Child Soldiers:
  • General Browning tries to reassure everyone that the Wehrmacht is a spent force, now consisting entirely of Hitler Youth and "old men on bicycles." This causes him to ignore aerial recon showing tanks near Arnhem. Unfortunately, despite their immense losses over the summer, the Germans still have a few elite troops left.
  • German soldiers of a conspicuously young age can be seen during the river assault on the Nijmegen Bridge.
• Contemplate Our Navels:
  • 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 a bridge too far." Note that Browning did actually say this, but in a different context.
  • Also when the generals decide to pull First Airborne out of Arnhem.
    Brig. Gen. James Gavin: It was Nijmegen.
    Lt. Col. J.O.E. Vandeleur: It was the single road getting to Nijmegen.
    Lt. Gen. Brian Horrocks: No, it was after Nijmegen.
    Lt. Gen. Frederick "Boy" Browning: And the fog, in England. [leaves with Horrocks]
    Maj. Gen. Stanislaw Sosabowski: [to Gavin and Vandeleur] Doesn't matter what it was. When one man says to another, "I know what let's do today, let's play the war game."... everybody dies.
• Conversation Cut: A scene with General Browning explaining the plan to his subordinates, looking at a map, cuts smoothly to the German high command also looking at a map, wondering where the Allies will attack.
• Creator Cameo: Richard Attenborough is one of the lunatics wearing glasses watching the soldiers. This was his only acting role in one of the films that he directed.
• Crisis Point Hospital: Kate Ter Horst lets her home be used for tending wounded British paratroopers during Operation Market Garden. Soon, the house becomes so overcrowded and short of supplies that the British arrange to release their wounded into German captivity to give them a better chance at survival. Also, earlier in the film an American sergeant holds a US Army doctor at gunpoint to operate on his heavily-wounded commanding officer (James Caan turned down the offer for his role until he read about that particular scene).
• Culture Clash: The Dissonant Serenity of the British officers is sometimes grating to the American and Polish officers.
  Major Cook: We busted our asses to get you across that bridge. And now you're just going to sit here and...drink tea?
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The SS' first attempt to retake the Arnhem bridge, led by Captain Grabner, ends in a slaughter. Theirs, specifically. Grabner himself dies trapped in his burning halftrack. It's the only major Allied victory in the entire movie.
• Deadpan Snarker: Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt.
  General Blumentritt: We have such confidence in you. Everyone knows you've never lost a battle.
  Field Marshal von Rundstedt: I'm still young. Just give me some time.
  • Sosabowski. When some RAF officer tells the airborne commanders that they will drop eight miles away from Arnhem, Sosabowski walks up close, takes a look at his uniform, and says "Just making sure which side you're on."
• Death by Adaptation
  • The British paratrooper who is killed retrieving a supply canister actually survived that incident in Real Life.
  • Similarly, 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.
• Death of a Child: A young teen is shown early in the film, covertly gathering intelligence for the Dutch underground. He is killed during the Battle of Arnhem.
• Didn't Think This Through: Montgomery's plan initially calls for all of the paratroops to be deployed in a single drop. Unfortunately, the severe loss of transport aircraft in D-Day causes the plan to be revised to three drops over the first three days. The RAF officer points out that someone should have told Monty when he thought up the operation.
• Dispense with the Pleasantries:
  • When Rundstedt arrives at his headquarters, Blumentritt says that he speaks for everyone how honored they are that he's been reappointed Commander-in-Chief, West. Rundstedt tells him to save his speeches and give a status update.
  • General Sosabowski does this with an RAF meteorology officer, dismissing his offer of a chair to sit by simply asking why the Polish drop has been cancelled.
• Divided We Fall: After listening to what sounds like a suicide plan, Gen. Sosabowski comes to the briefing officer and checks his insignia.
  Sosabowski: Just making sure whose side you're on.
  • He also says he's contemplating filing a formal objection against the plan, so that it would be known he was aware how foolish it was if his forces are wiped out, but decides that absolving himself of a share of blame wouldn't matter if he's already dead.
• Double Take: While Urquhart is hiding in a Dutch house, a German soldier is patrolling outside. He then looks back inside to see the General and is shot by him.
• Downer Ending: If you know anything about the real-life Operation Market Garden, you can probably guess how it ends. Despite capturing and holding most of the bridges, the Operation fails thanks to the failure to capture the all-important Arnhem bridge. In addition, the elite units involved (40k) suffer relatively heavy (17k temporary including 7k permanent) losses, all for nothing with the war continuing for another eight months.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Both Rundstedt and Model concur that Patton will lead the imminent assault on the Netherlands. Rundstedt says he would prefer to face Montgomery, but knows Eisenhower is not stupid enough to have him lead a major offensive.
  • Sosabowski calls out Browning for ignoring the possibility that the Germans likely also know how vital Arnhem is to their defense. While the Germans had already ordered elite troops into the area, they considered Arnhem to be a quiet sector where their troops can rest and resupply.
  • One of the British paratroopers says that the resupply pilots are under orders to ignore signals on the ground, as, for all they know, they could be Germans. And now their supplies are going right to the Germans.
• Easy Logistics: Notably averted; logistical screwups play a major part in why the operation failed:
  • The opening narration demonstrates how poor logistics made the operation necessary. After D-Day, supplies had to be driven from Normandy to the front, since the Allies had not yet been able to get the vital port at Antwerp up and running. As the supply train became too long, the Allies were halted as they had to wait for their supplies to catch up.
  • The Allies didn't have enough drop capacity to deliver all the paratroopers in one go, so they had to do it in multiple waves. The later waves ended up getting repeatedly delayed due to weather conditions.
  • A lot of critical equipment in the initial drop on Arnhem went astray, including the machine gun equipped Jeeps that were intended to be used to get the men from the far drop zones into town and help clear the bridge.
  • The Germans captured many of the resupply drop zones, resulting in the paratroopers running out of food, ammunition and medical supplies. The Allies also neglected to provide a way to designate alternate drop zones or identify supplies being dropped, meaning that even if the paratroopers made it to a drop zone, they had no idea what supplies were even there.
  • The advance by XXX Corps to secure the territory taken by the paratroopers was done along Holland's A50 Motorway; a single, very narrow highway, which could and on several occasions did get bottlenecked by traffic problems. This was not helped by the Germans destroying one of the bridges, forcing them to spend half a day building a new one.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: Justified, as most of the units on both sides that participated in the battles were top-of-the-line troops (Paratroopers for the Allies and Waffen-SS Panzergrenadiers for the Germans, respectively).
• Establishing Character Moment: General Sosabowski is quiet during the initial briefing on Operation Market Garden, and also says that he'll be thrilled if the plan works, showing that he already doubts its feasibility.
• A Father to His Men: General Horrocks greets several soldiers by name before the operation begins.
• Finagle's Law: From the moment the operation is launched, everything starts going wrong for the Allies.
• Foregone Conclusion: Naturally. See Downer Ending above.
• Foreshadowing: General Gavin says his Dutch advisor forgot to tell him that when the Germans took Nijmegen bridge in 1940, they were slaughtered.
• From Bad to Worse: The problems for the British present themselves early and only get worse from there. First, Urquhart learns that the special jeeps haven't arrived, having been in the few gliders that crashed on landing or were destroyed in an ambush, and requiring them to take the bridge on foot. Then he learns that their radios aren't working, leaving no one outside Arnhem aware that they've even arrived. He journeys to the front, but ends up hiding in an attic for days. Once he gets back to his headquarters, he learns that absolutely everything has gone to hell.
• Frontline General: The Americans Maxwell Taylor and James Gavin jump into battle with their respective divisions. As does the British Roy Urquhart. Both Urquhart and Gavin engage the enemy (Urqhart takes out a sniper with a handgun!) Frederick Browning as overall Corps level commander spends the entire battle at his own headquarters.
• The Ghost: Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. His influence is felt through the entire operation, as Market Garden is his brainchild, but he never appears.
• Good News, Bad News: After being missing and presumed dead for several days, General Urquhart turns up alive and asks for a briefing. He's told they're cut off from the troops in Arnhem and are facing two SS panzer divisions. Urquhart asks for the good news and is told there isn't any. Their reinforcements are delayed due to bad weather, the dropping zones have been overrun by the Germans so their supplies are all going to the enemy, and they can't get the radios to work so they can't inform anyone back in England of this fact. Urquhart is visibly stunned.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: General Browning's portrayal was very controversial, mostly for making him the de facto Big Bad while Montgomery and others who planned the operation went largely un-criticized. Daphne du Maurier, his widow, publicly attacked the movie and Dirk Bogarde himself (who knew Browning slightly during the war) felt his character was overly villainized. Specifically, they objected to the Title Drop being used as a Wham Line at the end, which makes Browning look like a Jerkass when he made the comment during a plenary session before Market Garden.
• Home by Christmas: This is what the soldiers were told should Market-Garden succeed. You can guess it didn't work out.
• Hope Spot:
  • Colonel Frost's battalion arrives in Arnhem without opposition, takes up good defensive positions, and finds the bridge seemingly unprotected. They try to have a go at the far end, but are repulsed by a machine gun bunker.
  • The explosives planted on the Nijmegen bridge fail to explode, seemingly leaving the road clear to Arnhem. Urquhart even sounds relieved when he hears British artillery not far away. However, even though XXX Corps gets within a mile of Arnhem, they're unable to go any further.
  • One British soldier manages to retrieve a parachute container only to be killed by a sniper. The container is then revealed to be full of red berets instead of food or ammunition.
  • A villainous example: the lone SS lieutenant who runs to try and save the burning Captain Grabner only to get shot by a British sniper halfway to Grabner's halftrack, somewhat mirroring the fate of the unfortunate British soldier listed above.
  • Allied tanks triumphantly pass over the Eindhoven bridge, before cutting to Arnhem where Frost and his men hear a tank approach over the bridge after several days of heavy fighting with the paras overjoyed at finally being relieved only for it to be a German tank who proceeds to cut into them with ease.
  • After being trapped in Arnhem for days, one of Colonel Frost's men finally manages to get the radio to work and he gets in touch with General Urquhart's HQ. Unfortunately, by now, both are hopelessly surrounded by the Germans and after asking each other for reinforcements, they decide to just sit tight and wait for XXX Corps.
  • When the Poles finally join the battle, it looks as though the British are going to get some badly needed reinforcements. Unfortunately, the Germans are already in the drop zones and begin picking them off in the air.
• Hopeless War: When Field Marshal von Rundstedt arrives to assume command of the Western Front, he asks for an update on the German situation. He's told that air support, munitions, tanks, troops, and reinforcements are all minimal, with morale nonexistent.
• Hostile Weather: The Polish brigade is grounded for most of the operation due to fog in England. They're unable to even transfer to an area that is allowing takeoffs out of fear that the fog will move ahead and ground that airfield as well.
• I Will Only Slow You Down: Brigadier Lathbury is shot while trying to escape the Germans and tells Urquhart to leave him in the care of a Dutch couple, even though their only choice is to take him to a hospital and thus his inevitable capture by the Germans.
• Idiot Ball
  • The Dutch Resistance sends the allies good intel on a German Panzer division near Arnhem. The British dismiss the intel. Later, Aerial Photos confirm there are in fact tanks there. The British response? The tanks must be inoperable. Otherwise, the Operation would be in serious Jeopardy. Cue Face Palm.
  • The radios the paratroopers are supplied with (a crucial part of the equipment for such an operation) are set to the wrong frequencies, and no-one bothers to check if they are operable prior to jumping. This is equivalent to issuing soldiers with ammunition that doesn't match their weapons.
• It's All About Me: Field Marshal Model abandons his command post because he assumes the paratroopers have landed explicitly to capture him. He even outright states that (as far as he's concerned) there's nothing important in the area except himself.
• It's Raining Men: The Movie. A Bridge Too Far dramatized what the real Operation Market Garden revealed, namely, that paratroops armed with nothing but hand-held weaponry could not be expected to hold out very long against tanks.
• Kill It with Fire: The British attempt to take Arnhem bridge, but are repulsed by a machine gun bunker. That night, two paratroopers attempt to get it with a flamethrower, but miss and instead hit an ammo dump.
• Large Ham
  • Colonel Stout as played by a cigar-chewing Elliot Gould.
  • Definitely Edward Fox as General Horrocks, though justified. Many archived newsreels of Sir Brian are available. Fox nails him so well that it is uncanny.
• Laughing Mad: Happens literally when the paratroopers land near Arnhem only to encounter the inmates of a lunatic asylum freed by a bombing raid, all pointing and laughing at the British paratroopers.
  Urquhart: Do you think they know something we don't?
  • There is a callback when Urquhart returns to Montgomery's headquarters after the offensive has failed, and has to walk through a gaggle of geese in the front yard. Their honking creates the impression they are all laughing at him.
• Lecture as Exposition: Browning gives a briefing to his subordinate commanders that explains to them, and the audience, just what Operation Market Garden is all about.
• Majorly Awesome: 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. He takes a Beat to absorb this terrible news and then says "Better by daylight."
• Mid-Battle Tea Break: American officers angrily accuse the British tank units of this after the Nijmegen Bridge is captured. A British tank officer explains that their infantry support is still fighting in the city, and they therefore can't move forward to relieve the trapped soldiers at Arnhem.
• Mobile Shrubbery: Hilariously subverted when a British unit wearing camouflage augmented with actual twigs and leaves marches through a Dutch town being cheered as liberators. Colonel Frost then dryly tells his subordinate that they're wearing the wrong camouflage once they've moved into the urban areas.
• My Friends... and Zoidberg: General Browning tells Taylor, Gavin, and Urquhart what they'll be doing during Market Garden, then realizes he's forgotten Sosabowski.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast:
  • In the book the response to being told they were going to the Dutch town of Grave.
  • The A50 Motorway which the XXX Corps tries to use to cross the bridges towards Arnhem gets the ignominious name "Hell's Highway" due to the constant bottlenecks, ambushes, and artillery strikes that beleaguer them almost the entire way up.
• Never My Fault: In the end, Monty never acknowledges the mistakes in preparing the operation made by him and his staff that ultimately led to its failure, and instead praises the men for achieving 90% of the mission objectives.
  • Browning, as well. Despite being the most vocal proponent of the operation, once it's over, he claims to Urquhart that he always knew it would end in defeat.
• Nice Day, Deadly Night: Inverted. Because it's a no moon period, the drops take place during the day, as does much of the subsequent combat. The 82nd Airborne tries to take Nijmegen Bridge by night, but the boats don't arrive until the following day.
• Nothing Can Stop Them Now: It's actually the Germans who say this when they fail to destroy the bridge at Nijmegen, leaving the road clear to Arnhem.
  • This attitude is also prevalent among the Allies. Having liberated France and inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans, nearly everyone, from Monty to General Browning to the signals officers, believe opposition will be light and Market Garden will be a cakewalk.
• One-Steve Limit: The intelligence officer called Major Fuller in the film was actually called 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.
• Only Sane Man: General Stanislaw Sosabowski is depicted as such since he's the only one who seems to realize how fatally flawed the plan is before it starts to go wrong and is completely unconvinced by General Browning's wishful-thinking reassurances.
  Browning: Only the weather can stop us now.
  Sosabowski: Weather! Christus! General Browning, what of the Germans? Don't you think that if we know Arnhem is so crucial to their safety that they might know it too?
  Browning: Now, look here. The few troops in the area are second class. They're not frontline caliber, not at all, do you understand? I think you ought to have a little more faith in Montgomery's intelligence reports, you know. He's done pretty well for us in last three or four years.
  Sosabowski: I will tell you the extent of my faith. I am thinking of asking for a letter from you stating that I was forced to act under your orders in case my men are massacred.
  Browning: I see... I do see. Do you wish such a letter?
  Sosabowski: No... No, of course not. In the case of massacre, what difference will it make?
• Pet the Dog: SS-General Bittrich gives Frost some of the chocolate they found in a British supply drop. Before that, Bittrich ultimately agrees to take all of the trapped British paratroopers into German captivity and even treat the wounded ones in German hospitals.
• Plunger Detonator: A German officer orders the bridge at Nijmegen blown when the first Allied tanks cross, but to his horror, the Plunger Detonator doesn't work, and the Allies take the bridge. This is Rule of Drama as real German detonators used a clockwork mechanism using a handle that turned—this trope is presumably used to make it clear to the audience what has happened.
• Poor Communication Kills: The Movie, arguably. Thanks to a combination of mis-drops, faulty radios, and (lack of) coordination between commands, the entire operation is in jeopardy from the very start.
• P.O.V. Cam: Multiple POV shots showing paratroopers hitting the ground. (It's a rough landing.)
• Precision F-Strike: In the original version, James Caan and Elliot Gould each got one. Some (but not all) current DVDs only feature Caan's.
• The Radio Dies First: The radios that worked well in desert conditions can't get through in low-lying Holland.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: This goes for most of the senior officers in the field, fighting alongside their men. Robert Redford's character leads a dangerous river crossing and personally inflicts a large amount of the asskicking.
• Reality Is Unrealistic
  • The real Lt.-Colonel Frost objected to a scene where Anthony Hopkins runs across a street under fire. He always walked, as a British officer is never supposed to run under fire, to inspire his men and show his contempt for the enemy. It was decided to leave the scene as it was, for fear the audience would find it implausible. Hopkins was also unable to force himself walk as the fake explosions and gunfire was too realistic for him to remain calm.
  • Author William Goldman mentions three examples that were criticized. First, a British general (Dirk Bogarde) who sends his troops to a supposedly undefended territory, although he actually has information about German troops being there, but doesn't care. Second, James Caan 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.
  • Urqhardt's after mission briefing with Browning is a reserved Wham Line in line with how they have been portrayed the whole film. In real life, Urqhardt knocked Browning out like some sort of Cowboy Cop.
• Real Men Love Jesus: A low-key example in Major Cook (played by Robert Redford), who prays his way across a river while being machine-gunned.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Major Fuller, the young intel officer who insists that Resistance reports are not to be ignored, gets deemed mentally unfit and removed from duty for his trouble.
• Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Urquhart's paratroopers are quite astonished when the General turns up alive, having been holed up in a Dutch house for several days. Unfortunately things have gotten even worse since he was away.
  Trooper: We thought you were dead.
  Urquhart: I can assure you it was an error.
• Sergeant Rock: SSgt. Eddie Dohun. During the flight to Eindhoven, he calmly explains that the booming sound outside is German flak.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: The British 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. 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 XXX Corps then.
  General Urquhart: That would probably be best.
  Colonel Frost: Very reassuring talk we've had, sir.
• Shoot the Messenger: The intelligence officer who tries to warn about the German tanks is told he's been working too hard and is put on sick leave.
• Sitting Duck: When the Polish paratroopers finally join the battle, there's a squad of SS troops on the ground ready to pick them off during their descent. In actuality, it's pretty hard to hit a descending parachutist—the vulnerable moment is when they reach the ground but haven't had time to form up for either defense or attack.
• Survival Mantra
  • Major Cook keeps repeating "Hail Mary, full of grace" as he paddles across the river under fire from German machine gun and mortar fire (Truth in Television for the character Redford 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.
• Tactical Withdrawal:
  • After assuming command, Field Marshal von Rundstedt asks when the Allies are expected to invade the Netherlands. He's told that they've paused in Belgium, likely due to supply problems, and remarks "I think it's because we're retreating faster than they can advance."
  • Once XXX Corps arrive outside Arnhem, they're too exhausted to continue fighting and so the British paratroopers are forced to withdraw. Urquhart has the wounded remain to continue their defense while the others escape.
• Tanks, but No Tanks: To play the role of the German Panther tanks, the studio used vintage Leopard I's done up in period German markings. They also attempted to hide the more modern lines of the Leopards by attaching some boxy structures to the turret and hull.
• Tempting Fate:
  • "Only the weather can stop us now!" And it does. The subsequent drops get delayed by fog, putting further strain on the troops already in Arnhem.
  • Urquhart tells an officer "I'll be back shortly," and the officer replies, "I'm sure the radios will be fixed by then, sir." Urquhart then 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.
  • The plan is meant to end the war by Christmas. As The Narrator points out, it's not the first time someone's said that.
  • One of his officers tells Frost to enjoy the rapturous greeting of the Dutch. "Things couldn't be going better; nothing's wrong."
    Frost: Yes, that's exactly what is wrong.
• The Tooth Hurts: A paratrooper can be seen rubbing his jaw right before the drop, with another saying he should have had the tooth removed before they left.
• This Is Gonna Suck:
  • After XXX Corps gets ambushed and has to halt to deal with its wounded, captured Germans, and busted vehicles blocking the road, one of the men wonders how the hell they're gonna reach the paratroopers in time. Colonel Vandeleur points it's only going to get worse as the highway narrows further down the line.
    Colonel Vandeleur: You don't know the worst. This bit we're on now?
    British officer: Yes?
    Colonel Vandeleur: It's the wide part.
  • General Urquhart is told shortly after landing that the special jeeps failed to arrive, so his main force is going to have to walk to the bridge and thus slow their advance.
  • After the attempt by the Germans to retake Arnhem bridge, Frost tells a subordinate that the Germans hold the south end of the bridge and likely most of the town, including the church tower (an ideal spot for lookouts and snipers). This means that his force is essentially surrounded in a pocket around the bridge's north end. Then the subordinate points out a German prisoner and says that the enemy they're facing are elite SS Panzer troops, not the old men and children that their intel had claimed were in the area.
  • After finally completing the Bailey bridge, Colonel Stout looks at his watch and remarks that XXX Corps is a full day and a half behind schedule.
  • The look on General Sosabowski's face when he's finally getting ready to jump out of a plane into Arnhem, with fully alert German troops waiting for them on the ground.
    "God bless Field Marshal Montgomery."
• Thousand-Yard Stare: On the wounded.
  • Kate ter Horst has one at the end of the film. Understandable, considering what she's seen.
• Title Drop:
  General Browning: I've just been on to Monty. He's very proud and pleased.
  General Urquhart: [stares in disbelief] 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.
• Understatement: Lampshaded by General Gavin. After the briefing, Browning comes to inform him of the "little changes" to the plan.
  Harry: How big are the "little changes"?
  Gavin: I'll answer you with typical British understatement: gigantic. For example, they can't get us all in at once. Too many men, too much equipment, not enough planes. It's gonna take three days to get the men into Arnhem, Poles and the British.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Played straight. Right after the Allied generals are given the rough outline of the plan, the first sign that it will fail occurs when Field Marshal von Rundstedt orders an SS-Panzer Corps to Arnhem for rest.
• Urban Warfare: Fighting in Arnhem is depicted, and as the film progresses, more and more of the city is destroyed by the constant fighting between the British and German forces. Offscreen, it's also mentioned that British Infantry are also engaging more German forces in Nijmegen.
• Vehicular Turnabout: Some scenes show the Germans commandeering captured Allied jeeps for their own use.
• Weapons Understudies: 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 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 them 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. Of the two German halftracks seen one is a genuine wartime vehicle, the Sd.Kfz.8 troop carrier seen used by Grabner's men in the first bridge assault: Grabner's Sd.Kfz.251 (which looks more like an Sd.Kfz.250) is a replica Frankensteined together from different vehicles. It survived getting set on fire and was reused in Highlander.
• Where's the Kaboom?: Allied tanks reach the bridge at Nijmegen, but the bridge is wired to explode, and a German officer watches from the other side. He waits until the tanks are halfway over, then gives the order, and his man pushes the Plunger Detonator. Nothing happens, and the Allies capture the bridge intact.
• Worthy Opponent: SS-General Bittrich salutes Frost after taking him and his men prisoner. German medics can also be seen providing aid to wounded British paratroopers.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Field Marshals von Rundstedt and Model believe they are preparing for a hard-driving advance led by Patton, not a cautious-advance led by Montgomery.
  • Though this is one case in which they do even better because of their false assumptions.
  • When Model, headquartered in Arnhem, is first told that British paratroopers are landing three kilometers away, he assumes that they are there to capture him.
  • Later, when SS-General Ludwig presents him with captured plans for Operation Market Garden, Model dismisses this as another Allied misinformation attempt, such as the ones that caused their defeats in Sicily and Normandy. Interestingly, this is one of the more egregious deviations from historical fact; the plans were actually recovered from a crashed glider, but they were taken extremely seriously, and used to devastating effect against the British to counter their troop movements in Arnhem.
• You Are in Command Now: General Urquhart appoints a subordinate to take charge of Brigadier Lathbury's brigade after he's wounded.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
  • Urquhart's reaction when the RAF officer tells him that the closest drop zone they could find is eight miles away from Arnhem bridge.
  • American generals Taylor and Gavin can barely hide their disbelief when Urquhart announces that they're still going ahead with a hastily prepared revision to take the bridge with jeeps.

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