The Bridge at Remagen

The Bridge at Remagen (1969) makes an entertaining, if slightly schizophrenic war movie. Echoing the "please all sides" mentality of The Dirty Dozen and Patton, it offers antiwar sentiments for liberal viewers alongside exciting, well-paced action for war buffs. It's enjoyable even with few surprises on offer.

In March 1945, Allied armies stand poised to cross the Rhine River into Germany. Adolf Hitler orders the bridges destroyed, but Major Kruger (Robert Vaughn) determines to hold the last remaining bridge - the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen - open as an escape route. American Major Barnes (Bradford Dillman) presses on towards the bridge, with Captain Hartman (George Seagal) hardscrabble company acting as "the cutting edge." Dogged German resistance forces a stalemate, until American General Shinner (E.G. Marshall) orders the bridge captured intact - even if it means sacrificing Hartman's company.

On one level, The Bridge at Remagen comes straight from the war movie playbook. Hartman's command are bully boys straight out of Battleground and a million lesser unit pictures. George Seagal is the tough Captain; Ben Gazzara's Sgt. Angelo an amoral scrounger (a captured MP40 is his weapon of choice); Bo Hopkins, Matt Clark and Robert Logan play assorted grunts. These characters fight hard, recreate boisterously, flirt with local girls and argue with commanders. In extremis they even ponder mutiny, but wind up carrying out their impossible task all the same.

But director John Guillermin (The Day They Robbed the Bank of England) injects Bridge with mildly subversive elements. One scene has Allied bombers strafing the bridge as German civilians flee across it. Here it's the Germans scrambling to save civilians - a jolt that momentarily dissipates the escapist fun. The American brass doesn't come off well: Shinner orders a suicidal attack, coldly rationalizing that 100 men can be sacrificed to save 10,000. It's no All Quiet on the Western Front, but inserting such content into a big budget battle epic still surprises.

Bridge spends a lot of time with its German antagonists. Robert Vaughn plays the sympathetic Major Kruger, supported by familiar faces Peter Von Eyck and Hans Christian Blech (Decision Before Dawn). They face a dilemma familiar from The Desert Fox onward: honorable soldiers waging an increasingly pointless conflict. There's no question many German officers suffered such qualms; some, of course, turned against Hitler. But many Anglo-American war films unquestionably overplay this hand. One imagines Russian/Ukranian viewers not appreciating it.

Like most war movies, Bridge at Remagen ultimately boils down to the action. Guillermin stages impressive large scale battle scenes throughout, making fine use of Czechoslovak locations. The film kicks off with a tense opening, highlighted by the incessant whir of tank engines as they race to capture a German troop train. The air raid is capped with impressive stunt work, but the best scene has Hartman's men struggling to disarm explosives under heavy fire. Capped by Elmer Bernstein's typically stellar music, it delivers the expected thrills.

The Bridge at Remagen isn't an all-time classic but makes entertaining viewing. Those seeking shoot-'em-up escapism should enjoy it fine