This week’s pick is Richard Attenborough’s A Bridge Too Far (1977) which was based on the Cornelius Ryan novel about the Allied airborne invasion of Holland in September 1944. A Bridge Too Far is a sprawling Hollywood epic, filmed in the same tradition as Ryan’s earlier adaptation The Longest Day (1962) which was based on the D-Day invasion in France. A Bridge Too Far has over thirty of the most acclaimed international stars of the seventies, and even today, as the military and civilian individuals involved in what was known as “Operation Market Garden.”

By September 1944, the German army was in full retreat from France and the low countries (Belgium & The Netherlands) as the allied push from Normandy and Belgium began advancing East towards the German frontier. Due to supply shortages having to be driven from the Normandy beach head, to over five hundred miles away, made the advances come to a screeching halt due to Patton and British General Montgomery needing supplies for both their armies in order for the assault into Germany.

Montgomery proposed an idea to American General Eisenhower (Supreme Commander of the allied expeditionary force in Europe) to invade Holland with over 35,000 paratroopers, and seize a series of bridges over the Rhine, and then advance into Germany to capture industrial factories in the Ruhr, which was the industrial heart of Germany, and where most of their war manufacturing plants were located. Like all battles in the middle of long wars, it was hoped that this bold plan was to end the fighting by Christmas. General Browning (Bogarde) was quoted in a meeting with General Montgomery that they might be going “A bridge too far” with such a plan.

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Zulu (1964) directed and co-written by Cy Endfield, is a film which follows in the tradition of such films like The Four Feathers, The Charge of the Light Brigade, and Gunga Din. It is the screen story of a small garrison of British soldiers who defend the mission station of Rorke’s Drift following the British defeat at the battle of Isandlwana on the afternoon of January 22, 1879. Stanley Baker (Lt. John Chard), Michael Caine in his first major role, (Lt. Gonville Bromhead), Jack Hawkins (Reverend Otto Witt), James Booth (Pvt. Henry Hook), Nigel Green (Colour Sgt. Frank Bourne), Patrick Magee (Surgeon-Maj. James Henry Reynolds), and Gert van den Bergh (Lt. Josef Adendorff) star as the defenders who thwart off numerous attacks by over 4,000 Zulu warriors.

Zulu is a fantastic film, shot in glorious Technirama 70mm. It is a film that shows the sweeping African landscape and was shot on actual battlefield locations. Lt. Chard (Baker) is a member of the Royal Engineers who is sent down from the colony to build a bridgehead across the Buffalo River for the invasion of Zululand. Lt. Bromhead (Caine) is the commanding officer of the 24th Regiment of foot (a primarily Welsh regiment), who learn that two Zulu “impis” (armies) are coming to Rorke’s Drift in an attempt to destroy it and to slaughter the British soldiers there.

Rorke’s Drift was used as a hospital facility and a staging area for the invasion into Zululand and would prove to be a second victory for the Zulus.

Fearing annihilation like Chelmsford’s army, Bromhead wishes to dispatch his troopers into the countryside to fight the Zulus in a guerrilla engagement. Lt. Chard takes command due to seniority and has Bromhead’s soldiers set up defenses and wait for the approaching Zulus. Reverend Witt (Hawkins) begins to drink heavily and starts to demoralize the troops telling them that they will all die if they stay at the mission.

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This week’s pick is the 1969 Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger, Force 10 From Navarone) directed classic Battle of Britain, which depicts the valiant struggle of Great Britain’s Royal Air Force against the onslaught of the numerically superior German Luftwaffe during the summer of 1940. The film opens as France falls in May 1940, and the British and their allies avoid capture with the massive evacuation at the coastal city of Dunkirk. With time to regroup and strengthen their home defenses, the British lie and wait for Hitler’s forces to eventually invade England.

The film is told through a collection of fighter squadron groups (English and German) who are veterans in the skies over France and the low countries during early 1940. Like many films of the mid to late 1960′s, Battle of Britain has its fare share of brilliant English and German actors. Screen legend Sir Laurence Olivier leads the cast as Chief Air Marshal H.C. Dowding who helped to coordinate British forces to total victory in the battle.

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Inception, Christopher Nolan’s new film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and a whole slew of other great names including Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine has finally got a new poster. Other than the fact that its brand new, the big hullabaloo about it is it’s uncanny resemblance to a poster for The Dark Knight, which featured Heath Ledger’s ‘Joker’ facing away from us, with a couple of cards in one hand and a knife in the other.

Both also feature their single character in the middle of a street with a city’s high-rises walling them in. Of course, one of the main differences in the poster for Inception is that DiCaprio’s character is knee-deep in water. The tagline that has already become an Internet meme in itself, “You mind is the scene of the crime,” sits at the top.

The other more interesting question raised by this poster is at the bottom where it states “see it Summer 2010 in IMAX.” I understand that it’s becoming a normal occurrence for summer blockbusters to be released in this format and Nolan has even become obsessed, you might say, with using the IMAX format, but I can’t help but wonder if this movie will actually benefit from being on the larger screen.

I trust that Nolan knows what he’s doing, and the teaser trailer that’s been released, looks pretty amazing.  Anyway, check out the larger poster after the break and mark July 16 2010 on your calendar.

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This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt are joined on this milestone episode by comic and video game expert John Carle and, as usual, dive into a whole bunch of new topics. This time around the guys discuss Joss Whedon’s bid to buy the Terminator franchise, XBox’s new Live Rewards program, the epic Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band war, Best Buy’s foray into video on demand and the merits of various Michael Caine movies.

Of course, the guys also made some more great pics this week including John’s pick of the great new demo for Left for Dead 2, Matt’s pick of a very special episode of Batman: Brave and the Bold and Chris’ pick of the 1992 Oliver Stone movie Natural Born Killers.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

Thanks for listening.

Those who went out to see Inglourious Basterds this weekend didn’t only get close to 3 hours of nat-zee killing action, but also the very first peak at writer/director Christopher Nolan’s newest film starring Leo DiCaprio.

Not much is known about the film, other than it is “a contemporary science fiction tale set in the architecture of the mind”, and that Leo will be playing Jacob Hastley, a CEO that becomes involved in a blackmailing scandal. This is the first writing and directorial efforts of Nolan’s since last year’s critically acclaimed Dark Knight.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins), Joseph Gordon Levitt (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), Ellen Page (Juno), and Michael Caine. Inception is set to hit theaters July 16 of next year. You can check out the trailer after the jump.

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