The problem with the excessive smoke occurred again and the scenes of the bridge being blown up in the film were shot using a table-size replica at a sound stage in Prague. The Yugoslav public was updated on the shooting progress via pieces in the country's print media. In 1999, a poll of Croatian film fans found it to be one of the best Yugoslavian films ever made. People throughout the former Yugoslavia still enjoy it and it is praised for its big-budget scale, and emotional strength.