The Bridge on the River Kwai

Rating:
Summary: The best movie of all time!
Review: I watched this once with my dad once and I thought it was terrible. He explained it to me, I watched it again at a later date, and then understood it. It's a great movie. I like Alec Guinness as an actor in most of his movies, and most of David Lean's movies too.

Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: These movies are the best movies ever made! There is no other way to put it.

Rating:
Summary: A very good movie, especially for its time.
Review: This movie is definately above the curb of the average fifties film. The acting was simply incredible, Guiness giving one of his best performances short of "Lawrence of Arabia." The cinematogrophy is typical sweeping David Lean style. The end is simply one of the best I've ever seen in a movie; the camra pulling away to view the whole vista, the doctor simply stating: "Madness. Absolute madness!"

Rating:
Summary: Very meaningful. A very good movie to watch.
Review: If you like classic movie, this is one of the recommended ones

Rating:
Summary: Postively the BEST movie of all time
Review: This was a long movie but worth every minute. I try to watch it as often as posibble. It is my all time favorite movie. I have watched it so many times that I have broke my video cassette. I am hoping that it will be available for DVD as soon as possible

Rating:
Summary: Incredible war movie
Review: This is one of the greatest war movies ever made. It is the story of British POWs in Japanese captivity and the hardships they endure. A remarkable tale of human endurance and perseverance in the face of incredible odds.

Rating:
Summary: Bridge on the River Kwai: Be Happy in Your Work
Review: David Lean's "Bridge on the River Kwai" is one of my favorite movies of all time, and one one the greatest war movies of all time, but a differnt war movie. Can the civilized Colonel Nichoson (brilliantly played by Alec Guinness and won him an Academy Award for best actor) defy the brutal Japanese Colonel Saito(Sessue Hayakawa, also brilliant)and win the war of wills? At first we think he won't but the plot takes a strange turn and this Nicholson turns out to be as fanatic as Saito is in the prison camp. Beautifully shot in Ceylon(Sri Lanka) serving well for Burma by Freddie Young, Lean's great photographer also for "Lawrence of Arabia" the viewer can feel the heat and humidity, see the starving appearance of the prisoners, who start buiding the bridge as a lark until Nicholson wins his points of honor and they work harder than ever. My favorite line in the movie is one of Colonel Saito's favorite sayings: "Be happy in your work," which takes on more and more irony as the film and story unfolds. There is a side plot, with William Holden barely escaping, only to be brought back back with hard-core commandoes(led by demolitions expert Jack Hawkins) to the camp to blow up the bridge. This is a wonderful psychological and subtle war film, with just enough adventure and action to balance its war of words, over the Geneva Covention(Nicholson keeps a copy of it in his pocket and then is slapped with it by Saito)over points of British stiff upper lip and Japanese warrior code,Bushido, two vastly different viewpoints but in the end breed fanatics. The acting, editing, writing,and photography are all flawless. This is one of the few war movies made forty ago that still rank with any today. A true masterpiece, much imitated. Lean is a director of place and attends to all the small details, from the ratty prisoner uniforms,a Japanese sentry standing guard in the heavy rainfall, and the haunting whistling of the entire ragged British company, marching tired and disease-infested into a new camp just after Holden has been digging graves. And the camp doctor, well-played by James Donald, saying "Madness! Madness! after watching the bridge being blown while a train crosses over. A true classic of any genre. The restored version is excellent and again , since I saw this movie on a large screen, see it if you can at the theater, even if you own this video. It is that good.

Rating:
Summary: Madness! Madness!!!
Review: This famous movie is now 50 years old but still remains one of the great classics in film. It it a story about honor, about an English regiment that surrenders to the Japanese in WW II Burma. To not lose the English honor the colonel decides to show the Japanese colonel to help build the best bridge possible, thereby also humiliating the colonel who, if not finished on time, would kill himself.
The English colonel remains naive, first he keeps sticking to the Geneva Convention but the Japanese don't give in.In the end he helps them with the bridge, of which he is very proud. But it is also aiding the enemy. His conflicts come to an amazing end.

Rating:
Summary: Certainly one of the great cinematic war epics!
Review: David Lean's THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is certainly one of the great war epics of the cinema. It might be an even better film than his equally celebrated LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. The latter film has, at the center of all the visual grandeur and epic scale, a character than is equally larger-than-life. The main characters of BRIDGE, on the other hand, are more humanly scaled, and I was grateful for that. Here is a cinematic epic that isn't just empty spectacle, but has intriguing characters and a literate thoughtfulness that is becoming a rarity in movies these days. In a lesser film, for instance, characters like Col. Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), Col. Nicholson (Alec Guinness, in a performance that won a deserved Academy Award---as did the movie itself), and Shears (William Holden) might have been reduced to one-dimensional stereotypes. Here, they have fascinating complexities that help drive the plot and serve its theme, which can pretty much be summed up by the final words of the movie: "Madness, madness!" The beauty here is that both Saito and Nicholson might be mad, but their madness isn't necessarily without justification.

Of course, all this character development, which may or may not necessarily be interesting by itself, serves as a backdrop for what is essentially an adventure on a grand scale, and on that level it also works triumphantly, delivering beautiful widescreen cinematography, lush settings, and genuine suspense, particularly in its tense final moments. A glorious epic adventure that also never skimps on the human element, indeed makes it almost an integral part of the story---that is the magic of THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: 1 Bridge, 2 Immovable Forces, 3 Great Stars, SEVEN OSCARS!
Review: This review refers to Columbia/Tri Star 2000 release DVD of "The Bridge on the River Kwai"....

I am still whistling that wonderful theme song from this film(I watched it 2 days ago),"Colonel Bogey March". From the moment the British soldiers march into the Japaneese P.O.W. camp, whistling that tune I was once again hooked on this fabulous World War II movie!

The story, based on the novel by Pierre Boulle, is loosely based on actual events that occured during the war.The very proper Colonel Nicholson(Alec Guinness) leads his captured,but proud and tattered British troops into the Japaneese P.O.W. camp they have been assigned to.It is there that he comes face to face with the commander of the camp, the equally proper Colonel Saito(Sessue Hayakawa).Saito and Nicholson are immediatly at odds, concerning the assignment of the British, to build a railway bridge for their enemies over the River Kwai.Both men are highly principled in their beliefs, stubborn in their ways and will not give in where their honor is concerned.Saito seems to have the upper hand, using cruel and unusual punishment to try to persuade Nicholson, but to no avial. The bridge must be built and eventually they come to a compromise.Nicholson sets his men to the task in an almost obssessive way and takes great pride in the job his men are doing.

Meanwhile......an escapee from the camp, American sailor Shears(William Holden),whose only ambition is to get home, has now "volunteered" to lead a task force, including the over zealous British commander Major Warden(Jack Hawkins),back to the camp so they can blow up the bridge.And of course you know with Holden leading the team there will also be some romance mixed in with the action!

It's a great adventure from start to finish. Directed by David Lean with perfection, filmed in the breathtaking locales of Ceylon, with an engaging script by Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman, you'll fall in love with this epic film.It recieved the Best Picture(1957) Award from Oscar and also garnered a Best Director for Lean, and Best Actor for Guinness, as well as Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, and Music Scoring!

You will not miss one detail of the jungles in this beautifully remastered DVD. The colors are sharp and vibrant. It is presented in the original theatrical widescreen(anamorphic), aspect ratio 2.55:1, and every bit of scenery right to the edges is outstanding. The choices on the sound are 5.1 Dol Dig or 2.0 surround. The dialouge is crisp and clear, as is the musical score. The surrounding sounds are not quite as clear but is still good. It may be viewed in several languages or with subtitles as well. There is not too much on the special features on this edition(see tech info), however there is a "Limited Edition" for not much more than this one with a ton of extras(if only I'd known when I bought this one...),that is also by Columbia so I would guess the picture and sound are excellent as well.

One of the best war movies ever made..go for it..Laurie