Rating: 
Summary: madness of war portrayed in all its ignominy
Review: The story of the building of a bridge in the jungles of Burma by British POWs during WWII. Essentially there are two stories. One story line follows the struggle of Colonel Nicholson and Colonel Saito to dominate each other by the stubborness of will. Nicholson is brilliantly played by Alec Guinness as a cold hearted stiff upper lip type who loses the plot and eventually comes to see the bridge building project through the bewildered eyes of his would be enemy counterpart Saito. The second story is the struggle of Shears (William Holden) with all an individual has to take in a war; imprisonment, coercion into fighting and stubborn muleheaded likes of Nicholson and Major Warden, played by veteran English actor Jack Hawkins. The struggle of Shears is essentially summed in this quote from his character, "This is just a game, this war! You and Colonel Nicholson, you're two of a kind, crazy with courage. For what? How to die like a gentleman... how to die by the rules... when the only important thing is how to live like a human being." Filmed in the jungle and heat of Sri Lanka the physical hardship of the environment is an amazing backdrop to this masterfully told story. Check out the beautiful Siamese female porters who give Shears a soaping down at one point. The environments hardships aren't all bad I guess.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting but slow, movie!
Review: The movie, however may not be very attractive to many (given many faster action movies of today) as it is relatively slow in story with some suspense at the end of it. The suspense is centered around the point that colonel Nicholson and his men build a bridge for the Japanese (during world war two), but although he tries to prevent the allied commando team (that is sent to blow the bridge) from blowing up the bridge he accidentaly blows up the bridge himself when he is hit by a mortar shell and falls on the charging device placed by the allied commando team!
Rating:
Summary: Category:Best War Movie
Review: This gets my vote for the best war film ever. As movie intellectuals incessantly say, it "works on many levels." It is, first of all, a thinking persons' action movie, not like the live action Road Runner films that are standard fare (ad nauseam) today. Even protagonists here debilitate and die from gunshot wounds. And tire from long marches: I was drained from the long trek through the Thai jungle. But most of all, this film is a fascinating character study of three cultures clashing in the crucible of war: the Bushido warriors' code of honor, the legalistic British ethos of international agreements, and the cynical, freewheeling American who couldn't care less about honor or legalities; he just wants to survive. And in spite of himself, Shears, in the end, does the right and heroic thing (and doesn't survive). What amazes me about this film is that, barely twelve years after the end if the war, it fully humanizes the Japanese. Saito is easily the most cultured of the three, and his "I hate the British" speech is a classic of cultural incomprehension. (I love when Saito, viewing a sunset from the bridge, says "Beautiful!", and Nicholson thinks he's refering to the structure.) Finally, this is a non-ideological anti-war film that doesn't need to sock you with its message. And David Lean was drunk with the new-found possibilities of Cinemascope. Plus Malcolm Arnold's great score (not just the Colonel Bogey). Excellence in film making: like "Chariots of Fire", the British have a way of revealing the full possibilities of the medium, and telling a rousing good tale to boot.
Rating:
Summary: Great Performances All Around
Review: From the Colonel Bogey March at the beginning to the last "Madness" at the end, this movie is a lot of fun. Alec Guinness is outstanding as the British officer obsessed with soldierly pride who realizes the depth of his obsession just a tad too late. William Holden is also great as the grunt-posing-as-office who is part of the mission to find the bridge of the title, though I think Jack Hawkins steals the show from him in their scenes together. Get the film. You will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: An American Classic.
Review: How many times can you watch a war movie? How many different ways can it be done before it gets boring or repetitive? Well, The Bridge On The River Kwai is one of the best war films of all time. Great story, great directing, great performances by William Holden and Alec Guinness. This is a must have for any film collector.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Film.. Where's the DVD?
Review: This is my favorite film, and I'm eagerly awaiting the DVD. The film is amazing because the story is so powerful and consuming. Four fascinating, well-acted characters drive the film until all elements become one with the incredible climax, one of the finest filmed sequences in the history of film. The major film element here is actually irony. Characters act in a manner that wouldn't be predictable, yet the director weaves a picture where it still makes sense and upon reflection seems appropriate. Holden, Guiness, Hayakawa, and Hawkins all deliver complex, multi-faceted performances. Guiness delivers one of the finest performances in film history. David Lean should be a household name as is Hitchcock and Spielberg. Incredible! The vhs widescreen edition is of very high quality.
Rating:
Summary: Of War, Honor, and Disillusionment
Review: David Lean masterfully recreates Pierre Boulle's classic novelset in the Burmese jungle of World War II. The movie provides one ofthe great character studies ever captured on film. Two men, Colonel Saito played by Sessue Hayakawa, and Colonel Nicholson played by Alec Guinness, clash in an epic struggle of duty, honor, and will. Saito, a brutal, driven and reclusive prison camp commander stands in stark contrast to the equally driven but erudite and charismatic Nicholson. Upon arriving at the camp, Nicholson demands humane treatment for his troops in accordance with the conventions of war. Saito strikes the British Colonel and confines him in a small, sweltering tin box in an effort to break his will. As the days pass, the tension in the camp builds as the British soldiers, in forced labor, sabotage their Japanese captor's efforts to construct a railway bridge over the River Kwai. Saito, humbled and desperate, finally summons the emaciated Nicholson to meet in a gripping scene over dinner. The men ultimately reach a compromise to build the bridge, a compromise that sows the seeds for their eventual destruction. Hayakawa and Guinness, through sheer force of talent, depict the sense of honor and agony that consumes each of their characters.The musical score, cinematography, and direction only accentuate the dramatic force of this movie. If you have never seen the film, I envy your first experience. If you have, then you know the satisfaction you derive from watching it again and again...
Rating:
Summary: Bridge on the River Kwai
Review: Excellent Movie. I watched it 25 years ago, 10 years ago and again last month and it's still great. More than just an entertaining film, it is inspirational and thought-provoking. You can't help but cheer at the hero's dedication to principle but in the end this turns and becomes the source of his problems. On the down side, the movie seems long and tends to drags in some places, but all in all it's a great classic film.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but slow.
Review: Shot beautifully and with wonderful acting, it is truly a treat to look at. The story is a bit slow, unless you are fond of military action, and doesn't make all that much sense till the last scene. It took me a while to understand why Alec Guiness's character really wanted to build the bridge. But it was worth sitting through the whole movie for the last scene, involving the bridge. I was on the edge of my seat and very involved in the movie by that point. I would recommend this movie, but I enjoyed another of David Lean's films, Doctor Zhivago, much more.
Rating:
Summary: A milestone film
Review: There are movies and then there are movies. And there is David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia". When I first saw this film in a cinema four years ago I was simply blown away by the countless striking images, the fantastic music score and the superior acting. It effortlessly surpassed my (very high) expectations. However, the most surprising asset of this film was the screenplay. Epic films tend to be awfully simplistc. They are more concerned in showing their great art direction, maybe because it was so expensive. In "Lawrence", we get characters with edge. After 37 years, "Lawrence" does not show the slightest bit of aging, like so many films do. It remains of the great milestones in film history.
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