A Bridge Too Far [WS]

Director: Richard Attenborough Richard Attenborough

Overview

"A Bridge Too Far is available on DVD through MGM Home Entertainment. The disc comes equipped with English Dolby Digital 2.0 and French Dolby Digital 1.0, and comes with French and English subtitles. The film is presented in widescreen anamorphic 2.35:1. The visual quality is fair, with the images sometimes appearing a little bit dated. The sound quality, also somewhat dated, manages to fare a little better. The DVD boasts the film's riveting theatrical trailer, and comes with an eight-page booklet loaded with trivia and production notes, as well as actor fact files and making-of anecdotes."

Product Details

Release Date:	10/21/1998
UPC:	0027616675729
Original Release:	1977
Rating:	PG
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[stereo, Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	2:56:00
Sales rank:	4,031

Special Features

Dual layer for interruption-free playback; 8-page booklet featuring trivia, production notes, and the making of the film; Original theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dirk Bogarde	Lt. Gen. Roy Browning
James Caan	SSgt. Eddie Dohun
Sean Connery	Maj. Gen. Roy Urquhart
Michael Caine	Lt. Col. Joe Vandeleur
Edward Fox	Lt. Gen. Brian Horrocks
Elliott Gould	Col. Bobby Stout
Gene Hackman	Maj. Gen. Sosabowski
Anthony Hopkins	Lt. Col. John Frost,le colonel Frost
Hardy Krüger	Maj. Gen. Ludwig
Laurence Olivier	Doctor Spaander
Ryan O'Neal	Brig. Gen. James M. Gavin
Robert Redford	Maj. Julian Cook
Maximilian Schell	Lt. Gen. Wilhelm Bittrich
Liv Ullmann	Kate Ter Horst
Denholm Elliott	RAF Meteorological Officer
Arthur Hill	Tough Colonel
Wolfgang Preiss	Field Marshal Von Rundstedt
Siem Vroom	Underground Leader
Eric Vant Wout	Child with Spectacles
Mary Smithuysen	Old Dutch Woman
Marlies van Alcmaer	Wife
Nicholas Campbell	Capt. Glass
Christopher Good	Maj. Carlyle
Keith Drinkel	Lt. Cornish
Peter Faber	Capt. Harry
Ben Cross	Trooper Binns
Walter Kohut	Field Marshall Model
Erik van 't Wout	Actor
Paul Maxwell	Major General Maxwell Taylor
Hans von Borsody	General Blumentritt
Josephine Peeper	Actor
Hartmut Becker	German Sentry
Jeremy Kemp	R.A.F. Briefing Officer
Donald Pickering	Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie
Frank Grimes	Major Fuller
Peter Settelen	Lieutenant Cole
Gerald Sim	Col. Sims
Hardy Kruger	Actor
Donald Douglas	Brigadier Lathbury
Michael Byrne	Lieutenant Colonel Giles Vandeleur
Paul Copley	Private Wicks
Stephen Moore	Major Steele
Harry Ditson	US Private
Erik Chitty	Organist
Brian Hawksley	Vicar
Colin Farrell	Corporal Hancock
Alun Armstrong	Corporal Davies
Anthony Milner	Private Dodds
Barry McCarthy	Privare Clark
Lex Van Delden	Sergeant Matthias
Michael Wolf	Field Marshall Model's Aide
Sean Mathias	Irish Guards Lieutenant
Ray Jewers	US Radio Operator
Fred Williams	Captain Grabner,Corporal Merrick
John Judd	Sergeant Clegg
Hilary Minster	British Medical Officer
David English	Private Andrews
Ben Howard	Sergeant Towns
Michael Cox	Captain Cleminson
Peter Gordon	US Sergeant
Garick Hagon	Lieutenant Rafferty
Neil Kennedy	Colonel Barker
John Salthouse	Private 'Ginger' Marsh
John Hackett	Glider Pilot
Stanley Lebor	Regimental Sergeant Major
Jack Galloway	Private Vincent
Milton Cadman	Private Long
David Auker	'Taffy' Brace
Richard Kane	Colonel Weaver
Toby Salaman	Private Stephenson
John Morton	US Padre
John Ratzenberger	US Lieutenant
Patrick Ryecart	German Lieutenant
Ian Liston	Sergeant Witney
George Innes	Sergeant Macdonald
John Stride	Grenadier Guards Major
Niall Padden	British Medical Officer
Simon Chandler	Private Simmonds
Shaun Curry	Corporal Robbins
Stephen Churchett	Soldier
Jon Croft	Soldier
Patrick Dickson	Soldier
Frank Jarvis	Soldier
Edward McDermott	Soldier
James Snell	Soldier
David Stockton	Soldier
Jason White	Soldier
Jack McKenzie	Soldier
Hardy Kurger	Actor
John Addison	Composer

Technical Credits

William Goldman

Cornelius Ryan

Richard Attenborough	Director
William Goldman	Screenwriter
Joseph E. Levine	Producer,Producer
Michael Stanley-Evans	Producer
Cornelius Ryan	Screenwriter
Wally Veevers	Special Effects
Peter Horrocks	Sound Effects
Gerry Humphreys	Sound Effects
Robin O'Donoghue	Sound Effects
David Stephenson	Sound Effects
Simon Kaye	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Vic Armstrong	Stunts
John Palmer	Producer
Ron Cartwright	Special Effects
John Evans	Special Effects
David Harris	Special Effects
Marc Ratcliffe	Special Effects
Miriam Brickman	Casting
John Richardson	Special Effects
Sidney Hayers	Director

Editorial Reviews

Screenwriter William Goldman called this movie his generation's answer to The Longest Day (1962), and it's a fairly apt analogy. A Bridge Too Far was, like Day, based on a book by historian Cornelius Ryan, and has a galaxy of stars, including Sir Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Sean Connery, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Hardy Krueger, Michael Caine, Gene Hackman, Maximilian Schell, James Caan, Elliott Gould, and Liv Ullman. It also reflects the 1970s in that it is a far darker, less patriotic film (it examines the disastrous battle of Arnhem, in which a division of British paratroopers was nearly wiped out) than the almost jingoistic Day, which trumpeted the Allies' successful D-Day landing. Yet, as directed by Sir Richard Attenborough and lensed by cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, the film is far superior to The Longest Day. The film is gorgeous, and the Oscar-winning Goldman handles the plot's necessary exposition far more deftly than did Ryan, who wrote The Longest Day. That's the film's primary improvement on Day and it's significant. The film is also bloodier, which makes the battle scenes more realistic. A Bridge Too Far is a good movie that tells a terrible story of a military disaster. It's long, it's detailed, it won't cheer you up, but it may engross you.