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However, the movie shows that because the British paratroopers could not hold the Bridge at Arnhem the offensive was a costly failure. The rest of the allied army did not reach them in time and this led to their near annihilation by the SS. Attenborough’s movie shows Operation Market Garden to be a failure and this was the case. This is the view held by the Allied High Command at the time and by historians since.

<i>A Bridge Too Far</i> was the title of Ryan’s book upon which the movie was based. The phrase a Bridge Too Far accurately sums up the reason for the defeat of the allied advance. In the movie, this phrase is uttered by Browning. This is correct and he did indeed say it. However, in the movie he speaks the phrase at the end of Operation Market Garden after the Allied efforts to take the bridge at Arnhem had failed. In fact, Browning used the phrase a Bridge Too Far in conversation with Montgomery before the Operation started. He had some misgivings about the ambitious strategy of Montgomery and he stated that he was worried about the timetable and that if the attack was delayed that Arnhem could prove to be a Bridge Too Far. <ref>Ryan, p. 123</ref>. The Polish General Stanislaw Sosabowski also had genuine doubts and stated that he too feared that the Bridge at Arnhem could not be reached in time. This is accurately shown in the movie.