I always watch it when it’s on, if only for the subplot involvoing James Caan.
I always think back to the barrage scene in All Quiet On The Western Front when I see that scene...
Unfortinately, they do not run this one often....we eventually won the war I guess is a bit too much for the lefties.
Last night one of my favs was on: A walk in the sun.
One of the best books on WWII ever written. I highly recommend all of Cornelius Ryan’s books.
Sadly, I think the movies aren’t so good. The Longest Day being better by far (IMHO) than A Bridge Too Far.
Another Ryan book, The Last Battle, is a must read. It deals with the battle for Berlin.
From the book, A Bridge Too Far, a fantastic story is a P-51 pilot that was making repeated runs against a AAA gun, flying low over a paratroop landing zone. The AAA gun is out of sight from the paratroopers. The Mustang is hit and impacts the ground. When all the pieces come to a stop, the pilot jumps out of the largest piece and runs to a paratrooper. He demands a weapon, stating that he knows right where the bastards are at. All of his books are completely nonfiction, based on personal accounts.
Some great lines....maybe not word for word, but close.....
“I’m much too old and much too large to be jumping out of airplanes.”
“God bless Field Marshall Montgomery.”
Much like 'Operation Market Garden'...
For example, Hollyweird could do a movie about the Marines taking Fallujah that would rake in a fortune. But they won't do it for ideological reasons. They won't make a movie that makes brave males and the American military look good. The only way they'd do it is if the hero was a homosexual and at the end the film he deserts and then joins a leftist group and criticizes war-mongering, racist America.
Is the problem that Hollywood makes 60% of their profit overseas? They have to take into account what foreign viewers are going to feel about the movie. John Wayne doesn’t sell overseas. That’s why Americans can win a battle but they have to feel badly about it. There always has to be incompetent officers (Good Morning Vietnam), etc. We were soldiers once, and young (Mel Gibson) is an exception. Maybe this is why American males are watered down, so that they will be more acceptable overseas.
The article overlooks the great performance of Edward Fox as XX X Corps commander Lt. General Horrocks.
I agree. I thought Fox was very good. If you watch interviews with Horrocks (ie. World at War), he definitely showed some of his personality.
1. Montgomery was an idiot. He pushed this, because he wanted to keep Patton from running all the way to Berlin. Churchill all but forced Ike to approve it, as FDR by that time was too tired, and ill, to stand up to Winston. Patton's 3rd Army was all but halted in place, as most fuel/supplies were sent to Montgomery.
2. "A Bridge to Far" is a pretty good film..but to check out the "Battle of Britain." When the film was being made, the movie was said to have the THIRD largest air force in the world..
3. Just about every Memorial Day, there's a thread on FR about the Best war movies ever. There are so many wonderful ones. If someone wants to try SEARCH and post links to some of those threads...please do so..
Not specifically about masculinity in movies, but masculinity, Post #1 in the following thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2429204/posts
The trouble with WWII movies is that they are “entertainment on the edge of horror”, and when they go over the edge into horror, they can be downright traumatic.
Some I can only recommend for those with a very strong constitution.
Fires on the Plain (1959)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053121/
Come and See (1985)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091251/
The Winter War (1989)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098437/
However, one of the most staggering was a documentary series, which to my knowledge only came out on VHS, not DVD.
Soviet Secret Archives: WWII - The Russian Front
It had three volumes. The Soviets were obsessed with filming the war, and some of the footage captured is beyond horror. For example, as the Russians pushed the Germans back, they were greeted with mountains of dead Russian civilians, on which the SS einsatzgruppen had poured fuel oil and set them on fire. In this footage Russian officers are interviewed with three or more such burning mountains are seen in the background.
Prior to the scene, he was supposed to give a rah-rah, flowery, go-get-'em speech to his troops. Fortunately, the real Col. Vandeleur was on set that day, and Caine had the occasion to speak with him, and ask what was said before the attack.
"OK, Let's go." was the reply. And that's what made it into the movie. :-)
‘A Bridge Too far’ is one of those WWII flicks I watch on ‘Mute’ during the US Army sequences. And leave the volume up and on for the Brit.
Edward Fox was great in the film as Gen. Horrocks. Also liked Gene Hackman as the Polish paratroop Major.
Still prefer ‘The Battle of Britain’ with its excellent edited model work, Spanish Messserschmitts, Junkers and Dorniers. Also ‘In Which We Serve’, ‘They Were Expendable’ and ‘Objective, Burma!’.
Honorable Mention would include ‘Blackhawk Down’, ‘We Were Soldiers’ and the first thirty minutes of ‘Saving Private Ryan’.
A Bridge Too Far seems like an afterthought or imitation.