War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's

founding right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased

its size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. Your host, James Early. Hello and welcome to another episode of key films of World War II in Europe.

This is your host, James Early, as always.

And of course, Sean McIver, my good buddy, is here with me. I wouldn't do this without you, Sean. It wouldn't be near as always. And of course, Sean McIver, my good buddy, is here with me. I wouldn't do this without

you, Sean. It wouldn't be near as fun. And we are going to discuss another epic movie, a long

movie, a 1977 classic called A Bridge Too Far. And the length of this movie is two hours

and 59 minutes. Sean, that's three in a row

that have basically been three-hour movies. Well, if you're going to tell a story, you might

as well take the time to do it. Take your time, yeah, and put in as much extra stuff as possible.

Yes. This movie was not loved by the critics. Only 63% gave it a positive rating via Rotten Tomatoes,

but the fans gave it 86% positive. The IMDB is 7.4. It's solid. The director is Richard Attenborough,

and this has an amazing international all-star cast. Dirk Bogard, James Kahn, Michael Kane, Sean Connery, Edward Fox,

Elliot Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence Olivier,

Ryan O'Neill, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell, Michael Kane,

and I can't resist mentioning John Ratzenberger later of Cheers's fame and Pixar movies series, but he's very minor in his mess.

The movie is based on the book A Bridge Too Far, surprisingly enough, by Cornelius Ryan.

So this is our second movie that we've done.

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