Editing A Bridge Too Far (film) (section)

==Reception==
The film received a favourable, but tepid response from critics.<ref name="FilmCritic" /> Critics agreed that the film was impressively staged<ref>{{cite news|author=Canby, Vincent|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/06/16/archives/film-its-a-long-war-in-bridge-too-far.html|title=Film: It's a Long War In 'Bridge Too Far'|work=The New York Times|date=June 16, 1977|access-date=April 2, 2018|archive-date=December 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210090438/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/06/16/archives/film-its-a-long-war-in-bridge-too-far.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and historically accurate, although many found it too long and too repetitive. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], 59% of 29 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.1/10. Its critics consensus reads: "''A Bridge Too Far'' is a war movie too long, although top-notch talent on both sides of the camera keeps the end result consistently watchable."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bridge_too_far|title=A Bridge Too Far|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=September 7, 2024}}</ref> According to [[Metacritic]], the film received "generally favorable" reviews based on a [[weighted average]] score of 63 out of 100 from 13 critics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/a-bridge-too-far|title=A Bridge Too Far|website=[[Metacritic]]|publisher=[[CBS Interactive]]|access-date=April 7, 2021}}</ref>

[[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' said further, "The movie is massive, shapeless, often unexpectedly moving, confusing, sad, vivid and very, very long."<ref>{{cite news|author-link=Vincent Canby|author=Canby, Vincent|date=June 16, 1977|title=Film: It's a Long War In 'Bridge Too Far'|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=74}}</ref> 
[[James Caan]] and [[Anthony Hopkins]] were cited by many critics for the excellence of their performances in a film with hundreds of speaking roles and cameos by many of the period's top actors.<ref name="FilmCritic">{{cite news|author=Morgan, Jason|url=http://www.filmcritic.com/reviews/1977/a-bridge-too-far/|title=''A Bridge Too Far''|work=FilmCritic|date=Jan 9, 2006|access-date=September 6, 2010|archive-date=September 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907032404/http://www.filmcritic.com/reviews/1977/a-bridge-too-far/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Generals Urquhart and Horrocks acted as military advisers to the film, adding to its historical accuracy. However, some reviewers suggested that the film contains historical inaccuracies and needs to be viewed as a 'Hollywood' interpretation of events. [[Robin Neillands]] commented, "A countless number of veterans have urged me to ignore most of the story in the film ''A Bridge Too Far''".<ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=The Battle for the Rhine 1944|last=Neillands|first=Robin|publisher=Cassell|year=2005|isbn=978-1-40722-127-4|location=London|pages=87 and 93}}</ref>

[[Stanley Kauffmann]] of ''[[The New Republic]]'' wrote "A picture of conventional length on this subject might have scored some conventional ironies. But why did anyone think that a film about a failed WWII operation, without any novelty of information or deepening of history or even differently spectacular action, should run five minutes less than three hours? A Film Too Long".<ref>{{cite magazine| title=Senses and Nonsenses| url=https://newrepublic.com| publication-date=1977-07-02| magazine=The New Republic}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] gave the film two out of four, describing it as {{blockquote|such an exercise in wretched excess, such a mindless series of routine scenes, such a boringly violent indulgence in all the blood and guts and moans they could find, that by the end we're prepared to speculate that maybe Levine went two or even three bridges too far. The movie's big and expensive and filled with stars, but it's not an epic. It's the longest B-grade war movie ever made.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-bridge-too-far-1977 |title=A Bridge Too Far |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=June 17, 1977 |website=[[RogerEbert.com]] |access-date=November 30, 2018 |archive-date=January 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105205321/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-bridge-too-far-1977 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} 
[[Gene Siskel]] gave the film two-and-a-half out of four and wrote, {{blockquote|More often than not, ''A Bridge Too Far'' isn't a story; it's a parade of famous faces. As for the battle footage, it is more often tedious than glamorous. The paratroop landing provides a spectacular five minutes. Other action footage is routine.<ref>{{cite news|author-link=Gene Siskel|author=Siskel, Gene|date=June 16, 1977|title=Big-budget 'Bridge' overspans itself|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]| page=6, Section 2}}</ref>}} John Pym of ''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote that "by the end of this extravagant film, we have a fair idea of the who-did-what logistics of a costly military operation. The root problem with ''A Bridge Too Far'', however, is that the top-heavy complement of stars never allows for any focus of attention."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pym |first=John |date=July 1977 |title=A Bridge Too Far |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=44 |issue=522 |page=142 }}</ref>
[[Charles Champlin]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' wrote, {{blockquote|In strictly cinematic terms, the appeal of ''A Bridge Too Far'' is easy to state: it is spectacular in the size and range of its effects, earnestly well-acted by a starry and able cast, well-paced and swift despite its length, and marked by an evident attempt to give the balanced truth of a tragic episode from history.<ref>{{cite news|author-link=Charles Champlin|author=Champlin, Charles|date=June 12, 1977|title=World War II Writ Large in 'Bridge Too Far'|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|at=Calendar, p. 1, 13}}</ref>}}
Gary Arnold of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' called it "an unusually conscientious and impressive war epic" that justified its high budget... {{blockquote|in terms of careful period recreation, visual spectacle (the sequences depicting paratroop landings are particularly awesome), the mixture of exciting combat episodes with vivid human interest vignettes, an effort to establish a coherent, many-faceted view of a complicated and ill-fated military adventure, and a generally superior level of filmmaking intelligence and craftsmanship.<ref>{{cite news|author=Arnold, Gary|date=16 June 1977|title=An Epic War Movie At the Head of Its Class|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|page=C1}}</ref>}}

A "making-of" documentary included in a special edition DVD of ''A Bridge Too Far'' says that, at the time of its release, "the film was shunned by American critics and completely ignored at Oscar time for daring to expose the fatal inadequacies of the Allied campaign".<ref>{{cite news|author=Papamichael, Stella|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2004/05/19/a_bridge_too_far_SE_1977_dvd_review.shtml|title=''A Bridge Too Far: Special Edition'' DVD (1977)|publisher=BBC|access-date=September 5, 2010|archive-date=1 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301061622/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2004/05/19/a_bridge_too_far_SE_1977_dvd_review.shtml|url-status=live}}.</ref>

===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Awards and nominations received by ''A Bridge Too Far''
! Award
! Category
! Nominee
! Result
|-
| rowspan=1|[[Evening Standard British Film Awards]]
| Best Film
| ''A Bridge Too Far''
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan=8|[[31st British Academy Film Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| ''A Bridge Too Far''
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]]
| Richard Attenborough
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]]
| [[Antony Gibbs]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design|Best Production Design]]
| [[Terence Marsh]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]
| Peter Horrocks, [[Gerry Humphreys]], [[Simon Kaye]], [[Robin O'Donoghue]], and Les Wiggins
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role|Best Actor in a Supporting Role]]
| Edward Fox
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music|Best Film Music]]
| [[John Addison]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| [[Geoffrey Unsworth]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[1977 National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| Edward Fox
| {{won}}
|}