Episode 68: A Bridge Too Far: Is It A Good Movie? (No)

The 18th Airborne Corps Podcast

The 1977 epic blockbuster film "A Bridge Too Far," starring many of the top American actors of its day, brought Operation Market Garden into American popular culture. In fact, so much of what Americans understand about Market Garden and the way we think about that operation is rooted, at least in part, on the film.

As we continue our 9-episode, 9-day (September 17th to 25th) analysis of Operation Market Garden, we here at the 18th Airborne Corps podcast wanted to revisit that movie and explore its themes and characters. We also wanted to ask two pertinent questions: is A Bridge Too Far historically accurate? And, is it even a good movie?

There are few people better prepared to answer these questions than Dr. Russell Burgos, an Associate Professor at the National Defense University's Joint Special Operations Master of Arts program at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Russell studies the intersection of history and American pop culture, examining the impact of film on our national understanding of our military and historic battles. He and podcast host Joe Buccino discuss the film, why and how it was made, and how it's become manifest in the American psyche.

In terms of the quality of the movie: both host and guest agree that the film is too long (2 hour and 56 minutes), too slow, and introduces too many characters and themes to be enjoyable. It is, however, mostly accurate. There is value in the film as a representation of the planning, the airborne insertion, and the fighting at the bridges.

Dr. Russell Burgos joined the National Defense University in 2015 after more than 12 years as a professor at UCLA, the University of Southern California, Claremont McKenna College, and Pepperdine University.

In addition to extensive experience teaching core courses in American and international politics, globalization, Great Power competition, and political theory, Dr. Burgos has designed and taught seminar courses on U.S. national security, homeland security, globalization and international security, American foreign relations, the economics of globalization, the Iraq War, Middle East politics, and US foreign and military policy in the Persian Gulf.

Dr. Burgos has written articles and book chapters on national security policy, US Middle East policy, strategy and policy in the Persian Gulf, the effects of Special Operations Forces on regional and global stability, the teaching of international politics, and academic techniques and best practices for Professional Military Education students.

He is a former Signal and Psychological Operations officer, an active wargamer, presents frequently at professional conferences, has appeared on radio, television, and podcasts and before community and service organizations in the U.S. and abroad to offer expert commentary on U.S. national security policy and strategy, and has served as a military technology and military history consultant for television and film productions.