Until I saw this film recently, I'd never heard anything about it, nor the WW2 battle upon which it was based. Both the real life events leading up to and including the battle and the real life events involved in creating the film are both quite fascinating and add interest for the curious movie-watcher.
The Bridge at Remagen was always likely to be in safe hands with director John Guillermin noted for his helming of big budget, action adventure films throughout his lengthy career. The aerial footage at the beginning of the film is invaluable in giving the viewer a real feel for the lie of the land where the action is to take place. It was also a smart move to give both the American and German perspectives of the battle, whose stories both tend to highlight the frequent futility of war, along with the demonstrating of clear demarcation lines between the decision-making generals and the lower ranks expected to carry out their orders without question.
The cast list is very deep with both George Segal ( Lieutenant Phil Hartman ) and Robert Vaughn (Major Paul Kreuger ) standing out as the respective operational leaders, carrying out the attack and defence of the bridge for their sides. Both characters are said to be based on real life soldiers. Hartman's company are continually ordered, without rest, to be the focus of the American advance. Kreuger, on the other hand finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place, when ordered to both defend and destroy the bridge, whilst being under-resourced to achieve both tasks.
The action set pieces are very solid and the overall narrative is quite easy to follow. To be fair, though the high commands decision-making on both sides is viewed with a critical eye, the strategy of the US General played by EG Marshall is ultimately proved to be correct. Capturing the bridge, allowed the US forces to get sufficient divisions across the Rhine to comprehensively shorten the length of the war in Germany, before the bridge collapsed.
It almost seems unbelievable too that this was the first big budget mainstream Hollywood production filmed in the then reluctant Soviet satellite of Czechoslovakia. When the Soviets invaded in 1968, the studio had to shift production to Italy and Germany, which is shown to have been achieved quite seamlessly in the end product. Apparently Soviet propagandists tried to convince some locals that their tanks were there to stop an actual US invasion represented by the film's cast, props and gear. If you're gonna tell a whopper, you may as well make it a big one, so it's said.
The Bridge at Remagen was always likely to be in safe hands with director John Guillermin noted for his helming of big budget, action adventure films throughout his lengthy career. The aerial footage at the beginning of the film is invaluable in giving the viewer a real feel for the lie of the land where the action is to take place. It was also a smart move to give both the American and German perspectives of the battle, whose stories both tend to highlight the frequent futility of war, along with the demonstrating of clear demarcation lines between the decision-making generals and the lower ranks expected to carry out their orders without question.
The cast list is very deep with both George Segal ( Lieutenant Phil Hartman ) and Robert Vaughn (Major Paul Kreuger ) standing out as the respective operational leaders, carrying out the attack and defence of the bridge for their sides. Both characters are said to be based on real life soldiers. Hartman's company are continually ordered, without rest, to be the focus of the American advance. Kreuger, on the other hand finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place, when ordered to both defend and destroy the bridge, whilst being under-resourced to achieve both tasks.
The action set pieces are very solid and the overall narrative is quite easy to follow. To be fair, though the high commands decision-making on both sides is viewed with a critical eye, the strategy of the US General played by EG Marshall is ultimately proved to be correct. Capturing the bridge, allowed the US forces to get sufficient divisions across the Rhine to comprehensively shorten the length of the war in Germany, before the bridge collapsed.
It almost seems unbelievable too that this was the first big budget mainstream Hollywood production filmed in the then reluctant Soviet satellite of Czechoslovakia. When the Soviets invaded in 1968, the studio had to shift production to Italy and Germany, which is shown to have been achieved quite seamlessly in the end product. Apparently Soviet propagandists tried to convince some locals that their tanks were there to stop an actual US invasion represented by the film's cast, props and gear. If you're gonna tell a whopper, you may as well make it a big one, so it's said.