Review of Bridge at Remagen, The

Introduction

The image of George Segal, striding boldly from a cloud of dust, biting down hard on a cigar and single-handedly capturing a bridge while all around him bullets whiz and shells fly, has stayed with me since I last saw The Bridge At Remagen over twenty years ago. It`s one of those cinematic moments that can profoundly affect a child, and for twenty years I have been of the opinion that The Bridge At Remagen is one of the best war movies ever made. Naturally when the opportunity arose to once again revisit that classic movie, I put my name down in the hopes of this time seeing that bold advance in its full widescreen glory.

In the dying days of World War II, Germany was in full retreat ahead of the advancing allied forces (Or in this film`s case, American). All that stood between Germany and a full-scale invasion was the River Rhine. Hitler ordered that the bridges that forded the river be destroyed to keep the Americans on the other side. It did not matter that the German 15th Army would be trapped on the other side. But when General von Brock received his orders, he resolved to buy enough time to rescue his forces. The bridge was put under the command of Major Paul Kreuger and a pitifully small contingent of men, to hold the bridge as long as possible before destroying it to halt the American advance. The Americans had other ideas though, they meant to reach the bridge as quickly as possible and cut off the German retreat, not caring whether the bridge was captured or if it fell. Spearheading the American charge was the 9th Armoured Division, a collection of war weary and hard-bitten men under the command of Lieutenant Phil Hartman.

Video

The film gets an impressive 2.35:1 anamorphic picture. It`s really quite good, with strong vivid colours and a sharp, well-defined image. There`s no getting away from the grain though and a couple of jaggies were apparent at times. The film itself suffers from minor print damage from time to time, but still the cinematography is impressive with judicious use of aerial photography to provide dynamic action scenes. There are explosions galore as tanks rush to and fro, in the best tradition of sixties war movies.

Audio

The sound is a disappointment in comparison. The usual MGM back catalogue treatment is given to the disc and we get DD 2.0 tracks in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. From what I could hear, despite my system`s best attempts to pro-logic it up, the English track was a mere mono with no separation. Low end reproduction was dubious at best, with the rumble of tanks sounding as if played through a cardboard box. With all the explosions going off in this film the sound is disappointing to say the least. Still, Elmer Bernstein provides a majestic theme tune that accompanies the valorous men as they go up against daunting odds.

Features

The usual MGM back catalogue treatment for this disc also means that there is only a 3-minute long trailer that doesn`t even mention the name of the film. More than a few subtitles too.

Conclusion

Stupid Childhood Memories! You know the thing about seven year olds is that they can`t recognise tedious scripting, dire dialogue and turgid plots when they are right in front of them. It was an act of extreme disillusionment to revisit this film. Films like The Great Escape and the Dirty Dozen typified WWII films in the sixties, but The Bridge At Remagen is one of many cheap knock offs, which lack individuality and style, but instead settle for dull cliché and stereotyped characters. This film tends to focus on `War is bad, init?` and the characters are shown as heartless unfeeling soldiers, but of course, the tragic events that unfold in this film will bring out the best in humanity. There`s a brief anti-communist message for the US audience as well.

George Segal is the unfeeling Lt. Hartman, and Ben Gazzara is his kleptomaniac right hand man, Angel who is looting his way through the war. Bradford Dillman is the duplicitous Major Barnes who insists on volunteering his men for the most hazardous of duties. The myth of the good Nazi rears its ugly head again, as Robert Vaughn is shown as the honourable Major Kreuger who defies his orders so that he can fulfil his duty to the people. None of the Americans are likeable characters, and strangely enough the Nazis engender more empathy in the audience.

In my mind I remembered George Segal as the brave GI who`s tough enough to win the war by himself, and kills the enemy by spitting bullets at them. In reality he spends the film looking more confused than determined, and his victorious walk to the end of the bridge more a gimmick than anything inspirational. There is very little in this film to relate to as the story goes through a series of scenes that probably fell on the cutting floor of every other decent war movie. Halfway through the film, I had just tired of seeing these macho grunts growling at each other to disguise their affection. By this time, I couldn`t care less about the plot holes. The Bridge At Remagen is certainly replete with big budget action and explosions galore, but it is let down by the woeful script and some dubious acting. It just goes to show, what does a seven year old know about war movies? George Segal doesn`t even have a cigar in his mouth when he takes the bridge. Another childhood illusion shattered. Pah!