Excellent but underrated film

best movie i've ever seen.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

March, 1945. The allies are closing in on Nazi Germany. The problem for the Americans and British on the Western Front is crossing the Rhine River, a natural obstacle to the invasion of Germany. The Germans have blown all of the bridges on the Rhine, except one - the bridge at Remagen. US forces are headed for it, spearheaded by a platoon lead by war-weary Lt Hartman. The Germans have sent a top-notch infantry officer, Major Kreuger, to take over the defense of the bridge and blow it up. The confrontation between the two could hasten the end of the war, or result in tens of thousands more casualties.Great WW2 drama, based on historic events. Very gritty, especially for its time. Quite realistic in its portrayal of the cynicism of the average soldier - it wasn't all unthinking, selfless courage, blindly following orders, flag-waving and gung-ho-ness. Probably quite novel in that regard, at the time.Great action scenes, with reasonably accurate equipment. No post- WW2 tanks or, worst of all, US tanks masquerading as German tanks.Solid performances, with George Segal (as Lt Hartman) to the fore. Very entertaining.

It's interesting to look back and see the development of war films over the decades since movies began being made. Early films showed us acts of heroism or were used as propaganda to promote war interests and boost the morale of people at home. In the fifties and sixties the war film began to slightly alter. There were plenty of movies still being made but stories focused on the homecoming of soldiers as well as events that happened. Even those movies began to alter as the war in Vietnam raged and suddenly the clean uniformed scenes of battle opened up to more gritty glimpses into what took place. The seventies led us into a look at war at its ugliest and also at the effects it imposed on those who fight. That was the standard until the last decade or so when we've seen a melding of all of these types of films, a good thing in my opinion, because the truth is indeed an amalgamation of all these points of view. But one of the first films in the sixties to begin that melding was THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN.Based on the true story of that bridge the film takes place during WWII. The German Army has been all but defeated and most of those in charge realize this. As they army retreats bridges are being blown up all along the river ways to prevent the invasion of Germany by the allied forces. The only bridge remaining is that in Remagen.The film is told from both sides of the story. On the allied side leaders send their men in without care for their morale or the fatigue they feel. This is a chance to cut off nearly 10,000 German soldiers from their homeland and capture them. Tired, worn down and promised over and over again that they'll get a break, a group led by Lt. Phil Hartman (George Segal), a battle weary but well informed leader, is pushed first to retake a town and then push even further on to take the bridge by Maj. Barnes (Bradford Dillman), a career officer who sees little of the battle from behind his command post while ordering others to move forward. Among the group under Hartman's command is Sgt. "Angel" Angelo (Ben Gazzara), a soldier looking to do well financially from the war by collecting items from the dead German soldiers he comes across. This doesn't sit well with Hartman and the two come into conflict from time to time.On the other side we are presented with Maj. Paul Kreuger (Robert Vaughan). Kreuger is just back after a serious injury and given the job of blowing up the bridge at Remagen. Both he and Gen. Von Brock (Peter Van Eyck) disagree with the commands they receive from headquarters, more concerned with trying a last ditch effort to rescue the soldiers still on the other side of the Rhine river. But the high command doesn't care, mistakenly feeling they can lose those soldiers and still win the war. Kreuger puts the charges in place to blow the bridge but holds off until the last minute before doing so.These two stories move along at a steady pace with tons of battle sequences to press them forward. The intersecting of the two tales is what fills the final third of the film. What makes this movie different from most is that early war films had groups of men together fighting a common enemy and few were killed in the line of duty. This film shows that this wasn't the case in reality. Men die. The body count climbs as commanders at a safe distance, on both sides, send out commands to their men to win at all costs. And those costs are the bodies of those same men.The film is a solid war film and much better than I remember it having seen it as a child when it was first released. Both Segal and Vaughan present characters on both sides of the issue that have honor in their blood but are forced to follow orders. The supporting casts does an equally impressive job, bringing to life characters that you care about. John Guillermin's direction is some of his best in a career that included THE BLUE MAX and THE TOWERING INFERNO. Once more Twilight Time offers the cleanest and best looking copy of this film that can be found. Extras this time around are light and include the isolated music track and original theatrical trailer. As always the number of copies they are offering are limited so if you are at all interested make sure you pick one up before they're gone.

John Guillermin directed this World War II tale set in its last days, as Allied forces are trying desperately to gather its forces in order to cross a bridgehead into Germany, where they can finish off Nazi forces entrenched there. Robert Vaughn plays a Nazi general in charge of preventing this from happening, so he is ordered to blow up the last bridge leading from the Rhine, which would trap their own forces on the wrong side, but will have to be done if they have any chance to save the Third Reich. Ben Gazzara and George Segal play American soldiers trying to keep the bridge open.Mediocre film has a good premise but is utterly undistinguished; there is just little about it that is memorable, despite some good action scenes.

Competent war movie benefits from its distinguished cast led by George Segal as the tired unit leader given instructions to prevent the Germans from destroying the Remagen bridge, which is vital to the allies advancement. His nemesis Major Paul Kruger (Vaughn) is similarly under pressure from his superiors to repel the allies, but questions the tactics and futility, his unpopular opinions quietly shared by another battle-weary German officer leading them both into harm's way within their own establishment.Robert Vaughn, while miscast as Kruger, doesn't hamper the overall impact. He adopts all the mannerisms and props, but it's his character's conscience and complexities that go beyond the stereotypical Nazi veneer. Key supporting cast includes Gazzara as the rebellious sergeant Angelo (profiting from the war whenever and however he can), Bradford Dillman as the by-the-book major with whom Segal frequently clashes, and Peter Van Eyck as the sympathetic German officer, a clichéd role (the reluctant soldier) but well undertaken."Bridge at Remagen" boasts some top notch action sequences and stunt-work, along with the occasional human touch that elevates it beyond casual war fodder. Gazzara in particular is given reasonable depth with his characterisation, and given Segal's ambivalence, could even be considered the central character. Bystanders Anna Gael and Sonia Zeimann are the token females with little to offer but some much-needed testosterone balance (although their roles are sexualised to varying degrees), while a number of reasonably well known actors comprise the bit parts (Bo Hopkins, Robert Logan, Paul Prokop, Matt Clark and Fritz Ford). The film tapers off in the final thirty minutes, but is somewhat resurrected by the finale to which the victors go the spoils, and the defeated treated as pariahs while the firing squad awaits. Gritty, worth a look.