tieman64
"When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die." - Sartre One of the best war films you've never heard of, "The Bridge at Remagen" (1969) was directed by John Guillermin. Guillermin was responsible for two other excellent war films: 1964's "Guns at Batasi", a fairly complex look at the "end" of British colonialism, and 1958's "I Was Monty's Double", a clever comedy, albeit one which never rises above the level of war-time propaganda."Remagen" opens with an amazing sequence: a convoy of American tanks are hurtling across Europe at breakneck speed. Crashing through villages, skidding along hilltops, they're also tracing the bank of the River Rhine. Up ahead is the still-intact Dusseldorf-Oberkassel bridge. Lieutenant Hartman (George Segel), leader of the American convoy, wants to take the bridge. The German Army is in full retreat on the other side. If he crosses, he can hit their flanks, penetrate German lines and press toward Berlin.Hartman's plan fails. His convoy is ambushed by German forces on the opposite side of the river. Shots are exchanged and the Dusseldorf-Oberkassel bridge is destroyed. This is where "The Bridge at Remagen" gets interesting. On Hartman's side of the river are several large groups of stranded German forces. They're racing down the river in an attempt to reach the last surviving bridge on the Rhine: the Bridge at Remagen. Hartman's racing them to that bridge. On the opposite side of the Rhine, meanwhile, German Major Paul Kruger (Robert Vaughn) is doing the same.Time is thus crucial in "The Bridge at Remagen". German and American forces are granted no sleep, no rest, no time for reloading or resupply. Everyone's fighting a running battle, everyone racing desperately toward Remagen. Once there, the film essentially becomes a siege movie, German and American forces slugging it out over the Rhine. Eyeing each other through binoculars like arch enemies, Major Kruger and Lieutenant Hartman quickly become locked in a battle of wits."Remagen" is remarkably brisk for a film released in 1969. Shot like a Sam Peckinpah movie, but without the facile nihilism, Guillermin's film is all rapid editing, snap-zooms, audacious crane-shots, amazing helicopter-shots and stylish hand-held. The film's pyrotechnics, hardware and the blunt immediacy of its gun-battles, are likewise head and shoulders above most blood-and-guts war flicks of the 1960s. With a premise that demands urgency, there's no other war movie from the decade which looks and moves like this.Thematically, "Remagen" offers a strange mix of World War 2 pulp fiction, Vietnam era revisionism and counterculture sentiments. Like the works of Sam Fuller, it adopts the tone of the combat comic-books of the 1940s and 1950s - which were aimed at adolescents - but then attempts to inject some sophistication. Like the zany war films of the sixties ("Dirty Dozen", "Kelly's Heroes", "Castle Keep", "MASH", "Catch 22" etc), the film's spirit also wholly belongs to the Beat and Hippie generations. "Should I care?" an American soldier asks, when matters of victory are discussed. "Who's the real enemy?" a German mumbles on his deathbed. Axis and Allies, then, are not mortal enemies but brothers in arms. Explicitly referring to one another as friends, both are but pawns cynically offered as fodder by cruel commanders and waging Imperialists. Elsewhere the film subverts the usual dehumanising portrayals of German soldiers by lingering on dead German kids, mournful fathers, crowds of refugees, the bravery of the Wehrmacht and the many German sons and daughters tragically wasted on war."The Longest Day" (1960) was perhaps the most famous WW2 war film released in the 1960s. Aesthetically spectacular, but thematically dumb, the film kowtowed to America's rather mythological understanding of World War 2. "Remagen's" too generic to engage in any meaningful historical or political revisionism, but it does draw constant parallels between Major Kurger and Lieutenant Hartman, between German grunt and American grunt. And where most Western war films engage in games of victimhood – our brave heroes always a small band outnumbered by hordes of "savages" ("Black Hawk Down", "Saving Private Ryan", "300" etc) - "Remagen" does the opposite. It is Major Kruger who is outnumbered, out-gunned, and under siege. It is Major Kruger who must bravely hold back a seemingly unending flow of enemy tanks and troops. In "The Bridge at Remagen", both German and American grunts are simultaneously glorified and pitied. "The Bridge at Remagen" was filmed in Czechoslovakia. It boasts a fine score by Elmer Bernstein and some picturesque location photography. George Segel, excellent as an American officer in "King Rat", is called upon to play a simpler character here: your archetypal American hero, only more jaded. "Remagen" also conveys well large scale tactics, geography and the spatial relationship between vying armies. Of all the WW2 movie of the 1960s ("Anzio", "Patton", "The Longest Day", "Battle of the Bulge" etc), it's arguably the best.8.5/10 - See "Decision Before Dawn", "The Victors" (1963) and "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold".
Dalbert Pringle
If you really enjoy a brutally violent and highly-explosive WW2 drama where, once again, the Americans get the sweet, privileged opportunity to kick some serious Nazi-ass, then 1969's "The Bridge At Remagen" is sure to deliver the goods, even if it is done across enemy lines.Set in Germany, along the Rhine River, this action-packed war picture certainly contained plenty of first-rate special effects, as well as some dynamite-charged battle sequences.With its all-star cast, headlined by George Segal, Ben Gazzara and Robert Vaughn, The Bridge At Remagen was a very liberal re-telling of actual events that took place in 1945 when the Allies made a final advance into Germany territory in order to gain control of the one, last bridge still standing on the Rhine which remained in Nazi hands.Filmed in glorious living-colour, this picture had a running time of 117 minutes.Note: There's one very unpleasant scene in this film where an American officer is found to be robbing the corpses of the German soldiers. And, when finally caught, it was his self-righteous answer to his questionable actions that I found to be very callous and disturbing.
L P
Captivating cinematography with good digital transfer, strong cast, excellent acting, & tight script under able direction, all highlight 'The Bridge at Remagen' ('TBaR', 1969). Filmed in Czechoslovakia & Hamburg, Germany (the Ludendorf bridge over the Rhine at Remagen was under too much river traffic to be safely used), 'TBaR' is a gripping fictionalized account (dramatized & inaccurate) of the historical capturing of the Ludendorf bridge & full of intrigue & action. It has been documented that an American officer ('Lt Hartman' in the film) had grown up near Remagen and pushed for securing this particular bridge, while upper brass incorrectly believed no major roads existed in Remagen that would help the Allied march into Germany. In reality, the Ludendorf was taken without casualties (severe casualties were suffered in its defense). 'TBaR' is bested for grit & realism by later productions of 'Big Red One' (1980) & 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998), but 'TBaR' provides Allied & Axis perspectives, while touching on psychological & emotional toil that battle had on both combatants & civilians. Consistently suspenseful & dramatic throughout, 'TBaR' doesn't attempt to skirt fear & tension associated with war, & furthermore provides interesting views on WWII era military organizational structure without glorifying war. 'TBaR' isn't without editing & continuity flaws (overuse of same extras, boom mic appearance, Korean War-era armor, etc.); however, this film does successfully provide a strong narrative that addresses the various reasons that bridges became vital to both sides as Allies approached German soil. For similar themes consider: 'Bridge Too Far' (1977); 'The Longest Day' (1962); 'Kelly's Heroes' (1970); & 'Devil's Brigade' (1968). Also consider: 'Iron Cross' (1977); 'Battle of the Bulge' (1965); 'I Was Nineteen' (1968); 'Guns of Navarone' (1961); 'Ballad of a Soldier' (1959); 'Walk in the Sun' (1945); 'The Dawns Here Are Quiet' (1972); & 'Anzio' (1968).
