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The film appeared to be highly regarded, with great praise mentioned in regard to Joseph E. Levine’s work on the film, A Bridge Too Far. The film does do well, although the phrase, One of the most expensive films ever made, should definitely be taken lightly, particularly when accompanied by the figure of 26 million dollars. Heaven knows if Mr. Joseph E. Levine did spend the noted amount. If he did, then 26 million was far from sufficient. Another 4 to 5 million would work toward crafting a beautifully intelligent war flick. With that, 30 million and some change would have been very well spent.
The tale of A Bridge Too Far is not how it is told. The account of wretched excess is one of mindless repetition cut with routine scene-per-scene changes that teeter on the edge of boring. Boring on how systematically violent it indulges in all the blood, guts, and moans they could find. Maybe Levine went too far with pieces 2-3 of the Bridges Too Far phrase. The film is not an epic. Rather, it is a combination of the longest B-grade war flick having ever been made. It does spend a great amount and fill itself with stars and features, but that does not take away the enormous expense and keeping the filler.
Patton was a good war epic and a wise use of money. B movies repeat formulas A Bridge Too Far, regretfully, does not appear to see its own sequence of bland clichés. And while everyone talks about clichés in movies, very few people take this term seriously. I do, and I have ample reason to take a stern view of it.
This is precisely where the representative of modern Anglo-Saxon democracy comes in an Englishman who together with the inevitable boyish Americans and the Germans who twiddle around like spring dolls, completes the ensemble of the Irish, filled with eternal cheerfulness and the brave Dutch woman who welcomes the wounded into her abode. Not to mention the Polish general whose introduction is a Polish joke.
Despite the lack of a storyline, it is clear that the producers of this film struggled to generate a compelling narrative, especially one that did not require the use of special effects. From the few snippets of the airplane and introduction scenes, there is little worry that seeing the movie would be worthwhile. Not to mention a number of professionals, teenagers, and even the aged nip and tuck, and sing songs of warfare alongside the generous free exhibition of emotion.
It is a 170-minute, unappealing movie about Operation Market Garden which had an attempt to land 35,000 paratroopers behind German lines, but what is the point of making a movie about such stupidity? (Or, as someone put it in a different context regarding the movie Funny Lady, why create a film that narrates the second divorce?)
I have yet to discuss the performances and since there’s still space remaining, it seems like the reasonable thing to do. First of all, I should be clear that Ryan O’Neal is in this film and he’s so terrible in this film that his being fired from the movie would have been the best option at the start. O’Neal portrays the character of General James M. Gavin as an adolescent. Lacking authority, age, wisdom, and to top it all off, O’Neal’s voice trembles as if he’s about to burst into tears.
He’s horrible. That great actor Gene Hackman as the Polish general gives a performance that leaves a lot to be desired. The Germans (Maximilian Schell and Hardy Kruger) start from where the previous generations of movie Germans left. They are walking around as if all their joints are broken. The best that can be said for the British actors is that they pull it off as well as one can expect Sean Connery and Michael Caine are all right and Edward Fox has the films.
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