Sean Connery leads dazzling A-star cast in epic war film but fans all criticise same thing

Daily Record

30-06-2025

The 1977 war epic is based on historian Cornelius Ryan's book of the same name and is loaded to the brim with one A-list actor after the other - but it still received criticism
Richard Attenborough's 1977 war masterpiece, A Bridge Too Far, is brimming with a roster of A-list actors.
The film is based on the book of the same name by historian Cornelius Ryan and was adapted for the silver screen by William Goldman. In an effort to publicise the film, Goldman penned a book specifically titled Story of A Bridge Too Far - as a favour to Joseph E. Levine - which hit the shelves in December 1977.
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A Bridge Too Far dramatises Operation Market Garden, the audacious yet doomed military operation undertaken by the Allied forces during World War II. Set in September 1944, it tells the tale of British, Polish, and American forces' attempt to capture a series of bridges in Nazi-occupied Netherlands, aiming to swiftly end the war by circumventing the German Siegfried Line.
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A collaborative production between the United States and the United Kingdom, A Bridge Too Far was shot in the Netherlands, often at the very historical sites where the events unfolded, reports the Express. Boasting an impressive ensemble cast, A Bridge Too Far stars Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Hardy Krüger, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O'Neal, Maximilian Schell and Liv Ullmann.
The war film garnered numerous accolades, including eight BAFTA nominations and four wins, with John Addison, a veteran of the British XXX Corps during Operation Market Garden, taking home the award for Best Score. Despite its critical success, the film received a lukewarm reception from critics, with a 59 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. One critic noted: "Does have its flat spots, but does have a top-notch cast to keep boredom at bay."
Another reviewer commented: "Though overlong, muddled, ponderous and overbaked, it's not without some impressive moments." A third critic stated: "The movie's big and expensive and filled with stars, but it's not an epic. It's the longest B-grade war movie ever made."
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Some critics found the film's length to be a drawback, with one calling it "a movie too long" and another describing it as "a very long slog". However, audience reviews of the film were overwhelmingly positive, with one viewer writing: "One of the greatest war films ever put to screen. With an all-star cast the complaints about it being too long are unwarranted as the build-up and story is fully required. An all-time great!".
Another viewer praised the film, saying: "One of the best WW2 movies. The all-star cast is incorporated well into the story of Operation Market Garden. Epic, intense full-scale battle sequences make this memorable. Only demerit is the movie is a bit too long."
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While one fan was effusive in their praise for the movie: "One of the best war films over the years I enjoyed in 1977 and now watching it for my 20th time. Richard Attenborough did a great job on directing, all the actors did a great job. The cinematography, the sound, and music was great plus it's just a great film. I put it up there with one of my top 10 films of all time next to the movie Patton."
Meanwhile, another viewer kept their feedback succinct: "Nothing much to say, historical accuracy, practical effects and incredibly high quality for its age, a gold standard of historical war movies."