Robert Redford's Forgotten 47-Year-Old Drama That Remains 1 of the Best WWII Films Ever Is Now on Prime Video - MCE Notices | California State Portal

One of the greatest World War II films from the 1970s has finally arrived on Prime Video. Robert Redford’s A Bridge Too Far was just added to Amazon’s streaming platform.

Originally released in 1977, A Bridge Too Far was directed by Richard Attenborough and features a star-studded ensemble cast that included Redford joined by Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier and many others. The story focuses on Operation Market Garden, one of the Allied’s failed operations in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. The film was shot on-location, utilizing many of the real locations where its incredible story took place.

Robert Redford Starred as Major Julian Cook in A Bridge Too Far

In A Bridge Too Far, Redford portrayed Major Julian Cook, the Commanding Officer for the US Army who helped seize key bridges over the Maas-Waal Canal and during the river assault crossing of the Waal. Throughout the film, the Allies believe they have the upper hand in the war, but the situation quickly gets complicated as they plan to head directly into Germany.

A combined British and American paratrooper force has big plans in A Bridge Too Far, with the Americans’ General Games Gavin (Ryan O’Neal) and the British Major-General Roy Urquhart (Connery) planning to take the highway from the Netherlands right into Germany, so the ground troops can enter enemy territory. Unfortunately, they soon realize that their overconfidence might end up being their downfall.

Upon its release in the 70s, A Bridge Too Far didn’t receive very glowing critical reviews. Despite this, it still managed to become a relative success — it was the sixth-most popular movie of the year at the box-office and earned over $50.7 million on a budget of $25 million.

A Bridge Too Far also proved to be worthy of several prestigious accolades; it won four of its eight BAFTA nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Edward Fox. Attenborough received a nod for Best Direction, and the film itself was nominated for Best Motion Picture, although both awards ultimately went to Woody Allen’s Annie Hall.

A Bridge Too Far Was Praised For Its Incredible Performances

Property of United Artists

Decades later, A Bridge Too Far remains one of Hollywood’s most fascinating World War II films to date, and audiences continue to enjoy watching it. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critics’ score for the film is 61%, with the consensus being that, while the film is a bit too long, its “top-notch talent on both sides of the camera” keeps it consistent and watchable.

Audiences have echoed that statement and enjoyed the film even more than the critics. From over 25,000 Rotten Tomatoes’ user ratings, 85% are positive. Recent audience reviews have hailed it as the “best war film ever made”, with several fans praising Attenborough’s direction. “Many comment the movie is too long, well, given the scope of all activity, I would say it is quite an achievement to fit all the action and dialogue into the specific timeframe,” one user wrote in a perfect 5-star review.

A Bridge Too Far is now streaming on Prime Video.