The Bridge at Remagen
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Movie Reviews of The Bridge at Remagen
Movie Review: Good flick
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this movie for the fact I had never heard of it, plus like blockbuster would ever carry it as a rental. Lots of action, good drama, no big special effects. Pefect movie!!Movie Review: OK, but not particularly realistic
Summary: 3 Stars
Back in the sixties and early 70s Hollywood made a lot of war movies. Not all of them were good, though some were very good. Bridge at Remagen is one of those that's not perfect, but has its moments. Ben Gazzara and George Segal as a pair of American soldiers (Segal's the officer) who are pushed by their superiors (Dillman and Marshall) to capture the last bridge standing that crosses the Rhine river and therefore leads into Germany in the last months of the war. The senior German officer in charge of defending the bridge is played by Robert Vaughn. Vaughn is probably the best of the cast, though all of the actors do reasonable jobs.
If there's a difficulty with the movie, it's in the scenes of combat. The director seems to have decided that blowing things up and showing the rubble after would convey the horror of war, so that's basically all the battle scenes are, for the most part. There's one scene in particular that makes no sense, where the Germans' anti-tank guns are attacked by a bunch of American tanks. The tanks are lined up across the river in a fashion that's completely unrealistic, and they simply outshoot 88s at a range where there should have been burning tanks everywhere. It's also not clear how the tanks got onto the field they're shooting from, and lined up in a neat line, before the Germans started shooting.
As another reviewer noted, the tactics utilized by Segal and Gazzara seem more suited to drive-by shootings than serious combat, though they do approach the Germans from multiple angles. One good point of the movie was the use of smoke while crossing the bridge, which is very realistic, and not often shown in a Hollywood movie. Another is that at various times the Germans use panzerfausts or panzerschrecks, and they blow up whatever they hit. Most Americans back then didn't know that the Germans copied our bazooka, or that they had a disposable single-shot version of it, which was more effective.
So you get a lot of hokey 60s war movie dialog, a rousing (but not that good) soundtrack, and some very uneven combat scenes. This isn't the best war movie of the era, but it's fun, and I would recommend it if you're into this sort of thing.
Movie Review: This is a good movie if you get it on sale
Summary: 3 Stars
There are two types of history: movie and well research books. This movie is a normal war history movie. It's better than normal, such as the terrible "Pearl Harbor. However, the best "historical" film ever make is "Tora, Tora, Tora". So, I give this movie a "C+". It could be better and could have been much worse.
The movie uses M-24 Chaffee tanks. This isn't totally inaccurate. The US Army did use both T-26 Pershing and the ubiquitous Sherman in the assault on the Remagen bridge. So, I give this movie credit. They could have taken the usual way out and used either M-41, M-47 or M-48 Pattons. The Chaffee tank saw quite a bit of service in Western Europe in 1945. Yes, Chaffee tanks were not used at Remagen. However, at least it's historically accurate for the period.
The German side is shown quite well. This is the first of the movies where the German's are shown as people. A mother laments about the loss of her son. The Germans say they knew the war was lost after Stalingrad. The German citizens and soldiers have as much to fear from their dying and evil government as from Allied arms. Indeed, this terror to the Germans was referenced in Max Hasting's excellent book "Armagedon, the Fall of Germany from 1944-1945".
I didn't like George Segal or the cast of Americas. Why? They seem more of a mob than a column of hard core American infantry. It is true that the American soldiers were fantastic looters. However, there was very few incidents of rape. Why? The Germans were looking dead at starvation and quite a few women would sell themselves to the GIs for a candy bar. There is a sobering example where a ex-Girls school student offers herself to George Segal for mere food.
This movie isn't bad. It's not perfect. But the Armor and the Germans make the movie well worth the price provided you get this movie at a discount.
Oh, the two best Allied Army movies to watch are "Band of Brothers" and "A Bridge too far". Both of those movies are grade A.
This movie is a C+. It's better than average and I grade hard.
Movie Review: Anti-War rememberance for End of War Bridge fight
Summary: 3 Stars
As the 60th anniversary of VE day rolls past, I found this DVD at Kroger for $9.99 and hearing it mentioned on the History Channel, I gambled and bought it.
This is a late 60s anti-war film, that is steeped in conflicting emotions and motivations. Not a bad film, but definitely not as impartial as semi-documentary style "The Longest Day".
View with caution.
Not bad, but it manipulates the audience.
I also note with interest that Hollywood twisted a little of the true history here, if only for irony's sake. I have heard nowhere else that the US or Allies wanted the bridge blown... As the last surviving bridge across the Rhine, it was always in their interest to preserve it...which happened... the bridge survived for ten days after the seige... enough for the US army to get enough force across the Rhine to make a run for Berlin.
However, Gen. Ike decided not to press, but let the Soviet's take Berlin at a high price. But that is a tale for another day.
As alternatives to "Bridge", I'd suggest the confusing "Bridge Too Far", the violent "Saving Private Ryan", the sanitized "The Longest Day" and the masterfully long 15 hour "Band of Brothers".
Again, THIS film is not bad, but it's a David Wolper production, and it feels like it. The musical score is good (Elmer Bernstein) and the settings, props and costumes are very good. But I still felt manipulated by the plot twists and turns, and can't imagine George Seagle's character being allowed to be so disrespectful of his superiors for so long. Grunts, maybe, but not in a military chain of command.
Special Note when watching: Watch for vetran German actors playing minor supporting roles to Robert Vaugn and the how often reality differed from what the Nazi's were told and promised throughout the film. (Sidebar: Compare this to the constantly change goals set for the GIs on the American side. Parallels like this are built into the film at every level.)
Movie Review: Too Hollywood to be a Favorite
Summary: 3 Stars
There are some memorable scenes in the film, most notably the urban combat scenes wherein a town is actually destroyed. However it was too contrived for me to fully enjoy it.
Let's take the first thirty minutes of the film as example of it's failings. I'll focus on our American Hero. Opens with aerial shots of a fine battle, ruined for by sped up footage and comically hyper camera movements. After establishing the characters and recieving orders to go to battle, Hartman pulls the bolt on a MG, dry-fires it at the half track gunner. He's insane! This is over the top. I wouldn't trust a private soldier who did that, and certainly not a Lieutenant.
CO drives forward to be shot by a Panzerfaust. Hartman grimaces, and orders half track left, into a field, men foolishly continuing to ride inside! Inexplicably, Jerry doesn't fire! Hartman goes forward In a German vehicle, (making the exact same mistake his CO did a second earlier!) and amazingly TWO Panzerfausts miss him. Heroically shouts "Get in closer!", and throws a grenade limply, a complete miss. It explodes close to the car as it drives up to the house, to NO ill effect! Hartman hops out, unphased, and clears the building from one side, while the M3 half-track rams a gate, and mows down the panicked Germans on the other side..
Let's face it! The Germans would have been alerted by their comrade at the window, and shot those coming from the left! This is typical. I would never take such orders from someone so careless. These veterans are farcical constructions, and it works as long as nobody questions it.
Other oddities include: In many panning shots, lens seriously distorts the image. Jump shots. Unnatural lights. if not three way light, dark with bright lights in wrong places. No medium, heavy tanks, tank destroyers, SP guns! For the number of vehicles there's a lack of infantry, and finally "Angel" is the 'Jar Jar Binks' of this film.