The Bridge at Remagen Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

The Bridge at Remagen Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 15, 2023

John Guillermin's "The Bridge at Remagen" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sandpiper Pictures. The only bonus feature on the release is a vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

It will be a meat grinder, boys.

Quite a few semi-truths are attached to the production history of The Bridge at Remagen, so an ambitious documentarian willing to explore them working a proper budget can craft a seriously fascinating documentary. I would like to mention a few things about one of these semi-truths, which my late grandfather liked to discuss a lot because he loved to read and research the Cold War era.

Some years ago, long before the arrival of the perestroika and the collapse of the Iron Curtain, my grandfather, who loved The Bridge of Remagen, told me that the production of the film in Czechoslovakia supercharged the Kremlin’s desire to invade the country in 1968. (A quick reminder: in 1968, Soviet tanks and soldiers crushed the Prague Spring, which was a massive, well-organized uprising against the communist rulers of Czechoslovakia. After the end of WWII, this was the second time the Kremlin had invaded one of its satellites. In 1956, Soviet tanks and soldiers crushed the Hungarian uprising, which was the first massive, well-organized attempt to reject the communist dictatorship and restore democracy in an Eastern European state). According to my grandfather, the KGB believed that the production of The Bridge of Remagen was used by unfriendly to the communist regime in Czechoslovakia forces to effectively assist the local anti-communist movement. How exactly? This is an area that a future documentary can explore in-depth. Apparently, preparations for the filming of The Bridge of Remagen began quite early and the Soviets became very concerned with the heavy foreign traffic that was involved with it. Now, this heavy foreign traffic was part of a much bigger trend that was initiated earlier by the Czechoslovakian government, which despite being run by communists was drifting away from the Kremlin, and was one of the major reasons the Soviets intervened. After the Prague Spring was crushed, the Soviets installed loyal communist hardliners and for the next several decades they took direct orders from the Kremlin.

The events that are chronicled in The Bridge of Remagen take place during the final phase of WWII. In 1945, German and Allied forces are targeting The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, which is the last standing on the Rhine River, because it can alter the course of history. Even though it is the last escape route for its Fifteenth Army, Berlin wants the bridge destroyed so that the Allied forces cannot use it. General Von Brock (Peter Van Eyck) explains the complicated situation to Major Paul Kreuger (Robert Vaughan) and instructs him to protect the bridge until the last minute so that they can save as many retreating soldiers as possible. The Allied forces, which at the time are overwhelmingly American forces, want to take over the bridge and prevent the enemy from destroying it so that they can advance quicker into Germany. Lt. Phil Hartman (George Segal) is ordered to lead a depleted unit of exhausted soldiers to take over the heavily guarded bridge.

John Guillermin worked with a screenplay by Richard Yates and William Roberts who had adapted an original story by Roger Hirson. While the screenplay is solid, it is virtually impossible to argue that it is what generates the very good and the excellent in The Bridge of Remagen. Indeed, the screenplay essentially merges several historic facts about The Ludendorff Bridge with a few embellishments about the actions of the men that tried to destroy and protect it.

What makes The Bridge at Remagen fascinating to behold are the very authentic characterizations, many of which remind of the ones seen in Sam Peckinpah’s Cross of Iron. For example, there are no conventional one-dimensional heroes that fight, win, and die for great and terrible causes. On both ends of the precious bridge, there are only imperfect soldiers that are doing their best to follow orders and stay alive. One of the toughest and most experienced among them, for instance, is played by Ben Gazzara and he happens to be a borderline intolerable cynic that collects valuables from dead opponents. Bradford Dillman plays a vindictive egoist, too.

The action footage is impressive but never becomes overwhelming because it is very authentic as well. The panoramic vistas for instance come from real locations with outstanding period characteristics. The combat footage utilizes plenty of equally striking period military equipment as well.

Guillermin directs with admirable confidence but the excellent character actors were clearly given plenty of freedom to improvise. It is why despite its scope the drama has an obvious, very impressive intimate quality.

The Bridge at Remagen Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Bridge at Remagen arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sandpiper Pictures.

I was quite impressed with the technical presentation of The Bridge at Remagen. The master that MGM supplied for this release is clearly not new but has very strong organic qualities and makes revisiting the film in high-definition a treat. Indeed, while the film could look lusher in some areas, I think that the overall quality of the visuals is already quite strong. For example, delineation and depth are very good and in select areas even excellent. Yes, grain exposure could be slightly more convincing, but I do not see any room for sizeable improvements. A the moment, the film has the type of appearance that a very nice interpositive can ensure. Color balance is very convincing. Saturation can be tweaked a bit to strengthen several highlights and rebalance some primaries and nuance, but I did not see any issues to report. Image stability is very good, too. I did not encounter any distracting age-related imperfections. My score is 4.25/5.00. (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).

The Bridge at Remagen Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The Bridge at Remagen provides a lot of action material that sounds absolutely terrific. No, it is not comparable to the type of material that you would witness in Saving Private Ryan but its native period characteristics are very solid. Is there any room for improvement? I doubt it. Perhaps one a brand new Atmos mix could make a difference, but on my system the original audio sounded outstanding.

The Bridge at Remagen Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for The Bridge at Remagen. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

The Bridge at Remagen Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Bridge at Remagen comes from John Guillermin's best period and some of his most impressive work is in it. I love The Towering Inferno and think that it is a tremendous film, but The Bridge at Remagen blends great authentic characters and stunning panoramic visuals that produce a very special film. If I had to choose between the two, I just might pick the latter as the all-around better film. This release from Sandpiper Pictures is sourced from an older but very solid organic master that was supplied by MGM. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.