A Bridge Too Far Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

A Bridge Too Far Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 22, 2026

Richard Attenborough's "A Bridge Too Far" (1977) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include archival program archival audio commentary with screenwriter William Goldman and various crew members; new audio commentary by critics Steven Jay Rubin and Steve Mitchell; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Although it was promoted and defended as one, Richard Attenborough’s A Bridge Too Far is not a historically accurate film, and one does not need to be an expert on WWII to quickly realize this. A Bridge Too Far, like so many other films about WWII that were made before it, is a visual spectacle first and then several more things, some of which are just as problematic as its interpretation of history. Nevertheless, A Bridge Too Far is not impossible to like because its gigantic cast unites many of the greatest stars of the 1960s and 1970s.

Attenborough worked with a highly controversial screenplay by William Goldman, who had adapted Cornelius Ryan’s popular novel about Operation Market Garden, an enormously ambitious, failed plan to capture several strategic bridges in the Netherlands. In the film, Operation Market Garden is described by General Browning (Dirk Bogarde) as “the largest airborne operation ever mounted” -- 35,000 men were to be flown 300 miles and dropped behind enemy lines, and shortly after used to capture the strategic bridges. With additional support coming in, the Allies intended to reach Ruhr, the industrial base of Germany, take control of it as quickly as possible, and win the war. According to military records, the real Operation Market Garden was even more ambitious as it involved several thousand additional men, but its crucial details were the same.

But despite being approved by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, not everyone was convinced that Operation Market Garden was worth the risk(s), and early in the film, before it is officially revealed, this historical development is rightfully highlighted. Sadly, excluding a few short exchanges between General Browning and General Sosabowski (Gene Hackman), who quickly spells out several obvious flaws of the strategy that was supposed to catch the Germans off-guard and win the war, an in-depth discussion of this development is avoided. After that, Operation Market Garden is launched and as expected by General Sosabowski a lot that could go wrong goes terribly wrong.

This is where the film begins prioritizing action and grand visuals over strategy and history, which is very, very early. To be clear, when appropriate, some key developments from the real Operation Garden Market are accurately recreated -- like the discovery of the complete plans for the advancement of the Allied forces by the Germans, as well as the failure to provide crucial support at Arnhem -- but for the next two hours, the film effectively evolves into a grandiose showoff piece.

To ensure that the many great stars have special moments before the camera, the film works unusually hard to create plenty of proper opportunities for them but, perhaps unsurprisingly, accomplishes the exact opposite. For example, James Caan becomes a hero in an utterly pointless sequence where he recovers the body of a fellow soldier and drives his jeep through a small German unit. Elsewhere, in another meaningless sequence, a tough-talking, cigar-chewing Elliott Gould does not hesitate to move through a hailstorm of bullets, too.

The complete film is not difficult to describe as impressive. It produces some genuinely striking, old-fashioned grand visuals that will never be seen again in a contemporary film tackling the same or similar material. It is also interesting to see so many great actors in one place. But the complete film is choppy, at times undeniably chaotic, and, most importantly, impossible to take seriously. Indeed, it is a deeply flawed reimagination of historic events and historic characters who participated in them, whose main objective is to produce as many memorable fireworks and grand visuals as possible. There will always be a big audience for such films, but this is not the same audience that will praise a historically accurate film.

Other members of the star-studded cast include Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Ryan O’Neal, Laurence Olivier, Wolfgang Preiss, Anthony Hopkins, Maximilian Schell, Hardy Kruger, Liv Ullmann, Robert Redford, and Denholm Elliot.

Attenborough worked with Oscar-winner Geoffrey Unsworth, whose credits include such timeless classics as A Night to Remember, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Cabaret.

A Bridge Too Far Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, A Bridge Too Far arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release brings to America brings to America the new 4K restoration of A Bridge Too Far that Australian label Imprint Films prepared and introduced with this combo pack in 2024. The 4K restoration is also made available on 4K Blu-ray in this combo pack.

In our review of the Australian combo pack release and Kino Lorber's combo pack release, I have highlighted the one big issue preventing the 4K restoration from being the definitive presentation of A Bridge Too Far. In many areas, there is obvious tealing that overwhelms grays and blues. I am unsure precisely what causes it. It could be incorrect color presets, and it could be some sort of conversion issue. Regardless, the tealing that you can see here and here was introduced when the 4K restoration was finalized and should not be there. On my system, in native 4K and 1080p, this issue was not overly distracting, but it is not something that can be ignored either. Everything else about the 4K restoration I like a lot. Grain exposure is very natural. Image stability is excellent. The surface of the visuals is immaculate. Also, there are no traces of sharpening, contrast boosting, etc. Ultimately, I would still describe the 4K restoration as an upgrade, but it easily could and should have been an all-around stunner. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

A Bridge Too Far Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio track on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The text below is from our review of the combo pack release of A Bridge Too Far.

While revisiting A Bridge Too Far, I frequently switched between the 5.1 and 2.0 tracks. The 5.1 track is the one that most viewers will likely choose because it does plenty more with the action material, which could be very aggressive. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with the 2.0 track, and the most impressive footage with the tanks still sounds terrific on it. Some of the outdoor footage has sporadic exchanges that can be slightly uneven, but this is hardly surprising given the nature of the large-scale material.

A Bridge Too Far Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary One - this archival audio commentary was recorded by screenwriter William Goldman and various crew members. Rather predictably, it is full of recollections about the conception and production of A Bridge Too Far, the massive star-studded cast that was gathered for the film, the funding of the film and the decision not to bring in Steve McQueen, some of the drama that materialized after the film's premiere, etc. This is an excellent, incredibly illuminating commentary, with plenty of information that you would get only from it.

• Commentary Two - this new audio commentary was recorded by critic and author Steven Jay Rubin (Combat Films: American Realism) and critic Steve Mitchell.

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for A Bridge Too Far. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

A Bridge Too Far Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Steve McQueen's decision not to join the gigantic cast of A Bridge Too Far because of his feud with Maximilian Schell is unfortunate. However, even with McQueen present, A Bridge Too Far likely would have turned out as it did -- a bloated, uneven visual spectacle, rather than an authentic, historically accurate period drama. I do not dislike it. In fact, I find its struggle to produce meaningful material with its many big stars quite entertaining. However, it is definitely not the classic war film some of its biggest fans have described. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray brings to America the recent 4K restoration of A Bridge Too Far that Australian label Imprint Films prepared. While an upgrade, this 4K restoration could and should have turned out better as well. RECOMMENDED only to the fans.