With ace scenarist William Goldman at the typewriter and a dozen top stars enlisted to play main roles, Joseph E. Levine's mega-bucks war picture was as risky as a real wartime operation. To direct he found a reliable man in ex-actor Richard Attenborough, the maker of one fascinating but floppo pacifist musical about WW1 (Oh, What a Lovely War!) and an adventure-biography of Winston Churchill (Young Winston) that did almost as badly. As great art A Bridge Too Far probably doesn't make the mark, as at least 80% of the picture is elaborate second unit work, all high in production value but sometimes less than inspired -- some of the battles are so lovingly photographed that they undermine the stated mission of making an anti-war picture. But Attenborough is great with his actors, who almost overcome the stigma of being movie stars in cameo roles. No matter how bad the odds, we subconsciously wonder why Sean Connery's paratroop commander doesn't lead his men to success.

Connery is fine but other actors make even better impressions. Leading the pack is Anthony Hopkins' sober and thoughtful commander, an unassuming fellow who shows superhuman resilience in a near-hopeless situation. Other British actors give unforgettable first-impression performances. Edward Fox is perfect as the 'jolly good' tank commander that delivers the morale boosting speech that launches the ground assault, and Michael Caine is dependable as the Irish tank corps commander stuck on a stalled juggernaut that refuses to budge.

The Americans are chosen for star-power and are a little more hit and miss. Robert Redford was the deal-making big name for Levine's project, and he's solid as a composite Major given the worst possible suicide mission. James Caan is also in the Sgt. Rock class as a Sergeant who keeps a promise to guarantee an officer's survival. Elliott Gould is amusing and colorful as a cigar chomping engineer. Ryan O'Neal tries to be a hard-bitten tough guy, but comes across as wooden.

Sweetening the deal are Laurence Olivier and Liv Ullmann as Dutch nationals coping with the utter destruction of Arnhem and the mounting casualties. All the best German actors who ever played generals are here (speaking their proper language): Maximillian Schell, Hardy Kruger and Savant favorite Wolfgang Preiss.

About 90% of the complicated story comes across as clear as a bell. We're apprised of the monumental logistical challenges and how poorly some of them were addressed. Communications problems were not taken into account, and optimism tantamount to negligence led to the campaign being launched without contingency plans should things go wrong. Unless one is obsessed with winning, watching Market-Garden crumble into a shambles is a fascinating experience. Only when the battle winds down does the movie seem to drop the ball. We've just watched 170 minutes of agonizing sacrifice, and to see four glum commanders declare the plan a failure and give up just a mile from their goal is horribly frustrating. Perhaps Savant has been asleep at the switch for five viewings over twenty years, but I never exactly get what stopped the Allied advance ... when last we looked, they'd passed the last bridge and only had to put forth one final effort to rescue the thousands of men who trusted them --- and achieve their objective as well. One commander even says as much.

A Bridge Too Far also swings heavily into a pacifist agenda in its second half, making and re-making the point that all the death and suffering we see is appallingly useless. Liv Ullmann's house becomes a makeshift triage center and Attenborough's camera goes in for frequent 'telling' details that highlight the futility. Mawkish visuals show up that remind us of the shallow-focus red roses of death in Oh, What a Lovely War!. The camera roams around the wounded in Ullman's living room, practically telling us to reach for our hankies. The grim truth of a Dutch resistance fighter placing his dead son's body on a barricade is undercut by a visually lame telephoto focus-pull to the machine gun on an advancing German tank. Wounded soldiers on a hospital lawn play music and 'linger' photogenically. All these episodes are true, but Attenborough's heavy hand makes us resent them. The worst bit is an extended scene in which a brave soldier makes a dash for an airdrop cannister lying under the sights of German guns. He doesn't make it, even though his buddies are cheering him on. The situation seems absurd because Attenborough's choice of angles makes it look as if the German guns should be able to cut down the cheering section as well.

Sony's Collector's Edition DVD of A Bridge Too Far has the same stunning, clean, enhanced transfer that appeared on the earlier disc. The extras are a war-movie buff's dream. An elaborate cable docu comparing the movie to the real battle spells out the campaign in even clearer terms, and provides an excellent account of producer Levine's quest to make one final giant show before retiring for good. Another lengthy featurette has extensive interviews with veterans of the campaign and will be of interest to armchair generals seeking vivid first-hand details from personal memories. A special interview with director Attenborough is a good idea that lets him go on a bit too long on several subjects and tends to be redundant. He makes a general anti-war plea at the end that's clearly aware of modern tensions at the Millennium, disapproving of the eagerness to start wars as if they were a positive option.

There is an extensive behind-the-scenes photo gallery, but Savant's favorite extras are on disc one with the feature. William Goldman's commentary (with an assist from crew members and guest experts) is good, but the Trivia Track feature is sensational. I fell in love with this text-balloon concept several years ago on Mad Max and think it's a great way to impart tons of details and tangential information, even better than a commentary might do. Let's face it, if you're a fan of you've probably seen this picture several times, and the Trivia Track makes it easy to sit through it again to take in all the cool bits of knowledge, offered as they become relevant to the action on screen. The detail on the battle and the real officers represented onscreen are as good as one might find in an authoritative book, and far more accessible. This track pays special attention to deviations from the absoute truth of history and ends up demonstrating just how incredibly accurate the film is. A highly, highly recommended feature.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, A Bridge Too Far Collector's Edition rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Commentary, Trivia track, TV documentary, two new featurettes including director interview, Photo Gallery
Packaging: Two discs in Keep case
Reviewed: November 4, 2005