A Spectacular War Movie. Review on A Bridge Too Far Movie

I chanced upon this movie while surfing the net and decided to watch it as I was impressed and also curious, to find out the roles played by some of the well known stars of hollywood movies. This star-studded movie included Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Edward Fox, Michael Cain to name a few. Also, the duration of the movie was of three hours, which can prove to be taxing. I would recommend this movie only if you enjoy scenes of destruction, kilings, and explosions, blood and gore, for most part of the movie, which is of course how an epic war movie should be. The backdrop is WWii and the year 1944. Directed by Richard Attenborough(another reason why I wanted to watch this movie), is written by William Goldman and based on the novel written by Cornelius Ryan. The plot revolves around the failed attempt of the Allies, codenamed, Operation Market Garden, to push into northern germany, and seizing the bridge over the Rhine in Arnhem. This proved to be an impossible mission and was a costly affair for the Allies. Hence, the name of the movie, which refers to any step or action that is too ambitious and which can be described as an act of overconfidence. It was to be a combined effort of the British and American paratrooper forces, led by American general, Gavin and the British general Urquhart(played by Sean Connery), with plans to take a highway leading from Netherlands into Germany. This would in turn help the British ground troops, led by Lieutenant general Horrocks, ( played by Edward Fox) and Lieutenant general Vandeleur(Michael Caine), to gain an entry into enemy territory. This was in a nutshell the strategy worked out by the Allies, but which was doomed right from the start and ended in a failure. However, some of the scenes in the movie are technically brilliant. For instance, the shots of the paratroop drops are breathtaking. Also some of the battle scenes are accurate in their detail. It is as I said a spectacular war movie, but it tries your patience, if you are not a "die-hard war obsessive". It may also be true to say that finally the audience may not be "exhilarated" but rather "exhausted" by the end of the movie. My verdict of the movie, however is that, it is a fantastic historical and cinematic achievement for the director, and with stellar roles played by celebrity actors, also which remains true to its genre.