The Bridge on the River Kwai

Rating:
Summary: Wrong river but great story
Review: This is one of those movies worth re-watching. All the things you expect from the British when they are captured by the Japanese and forced to build a bridge.

This movie was shot in Sri Lanka as it best fit the story. However the real river was not the Kwai. That just happened to be a better name for the river. And the real bridge was not wooden.

My favorite character was William Holden as Shears, The only pragmatic charter in the movie. Shears did not have to keep a stiff upper lip or save face or any of that sort of stuff. Where as Alec Guinness as Colonel Nicholson and Sessue Hayakawa as Colonel Saito, had to go face to face with each other's interpretation of honor.

This is best depicted in one statement from Shears:

"You make me sick with your heroics. There's a stench of death about you. You carry it in your pack like the plague. Explosives and L-pills -- they go well together, don't they? And with you it's just one thing or the other: destroy a bridge or destroy yourself. 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."

Rating:
Summary: testament to the penultimate of movie making
Review: Only thing that can descirbe this film is: genius. It is definetly one of the best films ever made and always will be. This limited edition dvd has great sound and picture. It's a 2 disc set, most of the 2nd disc unfortunately is pretty useless. It has certain propaganda type "Making of" stuff on it, that is not even very intresting, beyond a study of hollywood at the time. There isn't any deleted scenes or anything, it seems like they just through whatever they had in the archives onto the disc. Otherwise, it's great.

Rating:
Summary: A timeless classic
Review: This film is a giant in a very crowded genre of WWII movies released in the 1940's and 50's. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won seven including Best Picture, Best Actor (Alec Guinness) and Best Director (David Lean). The story is atypical of the WWII genre. Instead of showing the glory of battle, it presents the psychological and physical torment of life in a POW camp. It focuses on the human story, a story of principles, will and courage in the face of adversity.

Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) is the commander of a group of prisoners of war interned in a Japanese camp in Southeast Asia during WWII. He is told by the camp commander, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) that the prisoners will build a bridge across the river Kwai to complete the Japanese railroad that will supply their troops. Saito orders that officers will work beside enlisted men, to which Nicholson objects because it is a violation of the rules of war agreed to at the Geneva Convention. This leads to a standoff, a test of wills that is ultimately won by the irrationally stubborn Brit after many days in solitary confinement.

The result is that Nicholson agrees to build the bridge on his own terms, using his own engineers. This seems to be insane, since building the bridge would aid the enemy. However, Nicholson's has a high-minded goal that transcends the war. He wants to build a bridge that will endure as a testament to the superiority of the British civilization, especially since it will be built under such extreme circumstances. He also feels that building a bridge of which they can be proud will boost the moral of the men while living under such oppressive conditions.

The psychological aspect of the film is fascinating. Saito's personal sense of honor does not allow him to use the brutality necessary to coerce the prisoners into building the bridge properly. Ironically, once he succumbs to defeat in the battle of wills against Nicholson, he gets everything he wants. By losing, he actually wins.

David Lean's direction is outstanding, portraying the harshness of the prison camp without sacrificing the subtlety of the psychological aspect of the film. Lean gives us enough character development to bind us to all the competing characters, making us sympathetic even to Saito, the camp commander.

The acting in this film is superb. Alec Guinness is magnificent as the idealistic and staunchly principled Colonel. This was probably his best role in a stellar career. William Holden is also terrific as the sardonic and cowardly sailor that fate continued to throw into situations that required him to become a reluctant hero. Sessue Hayakawa delivers a masterful performance, as the hapless commander who succumbs to Nicholson's iron will.

The ending evokes conflicting emotions, as it is simultaneously ironic, triumphant and devastating. At the end, the viewer is not sure whom to pull for since there is no neat way to resolve the collision of converging forces. This makes the film even more interesting.

This film is a timeless classic. I rated it a 10/10. I'm looking forward to seeing it on the newly released DVD.

Rating:
Summary: A thorough 'unrestoration'
Review: If you bought the Columbia Tri-star laserdisc like I did a few years ago, you got a nasty surprise. This fine film had undergone a "restoration process". But this restoration makes changes to David Lean's vision. Some changes are curious but more or less harmless, like using a different sound effect for the mortar used in the final scenes. Other "improvements" are more disconcerting. A new digital background track was created for the jungle scenes that included insect noises and bird calls and such. This track is a bit too loud on the laserdisc and it intrudes on the dialogue. But to me the most damaging change occurs during the raft scenes when the charges are being placed at the base of the bridge. These scenes were shot day-for-night. In the sequences of the raft approaching the bridge as well, the cinematography had to be just right. If the scenes were originally filmed too darkly (underexposed), the veiwer wouldn't be able to see what's happening onscreen, but if they were overexposed the veiwer would be led to believe the enemy gaurds on top of the bridge would be able to easily spot the commandos...(!). The Lean-approved original version skillfully strikes the right balance throughout these scenes. But along came Columbia Tri-star and, for some unkown reason, apparently chose these scenes to be brightened for the transfer to laserdisc! All I can figure is that the telecinist might have been concerned the transfer process would've darkened the scenes somewhat (for whatever technical reason) and overcompensated. Who knows. Whatever. The end result is that the balance of Jack Hildyard's careful cinematography is upset and, the scenes being too bright, the suspension of disbelief is interrupted. I think many people balked when they got there laserdisc, but more to the point, Columbia apparently listened. The transfer for the dvd, I'm pleased to say, is 100% faithful to the original film version. On top of that the picture and sound are very sharp indeed and I can't think of a reason not to buy either one of the dvd's. I don't know what posessed Cloumbia Tri-star to screw around so much with the laserdisc release. Maybe they couldn't locate all the film elements or maybe the thought no one would mind if they retouched the Mona Lisa, I dunno. Of course if you never bought the lserdisc all this is moot since the film and dvd are identical. But if you felt you got burned on the laserdisc, fear not, there is nothing wrong with the dvd even though it is also done by Columbia Tri-star (nothing against them, per se, but when it comes to video releases the studio labels sometimes giveth and sometimes taketh away). By the way, it's amazing how well this spectacular movie, storywise and filmwise, has held up over the years, don't you think? To me it's always satisfying when a first-class film gets a first-class treatment.

Rating:
Summary: What have I done?
Review: There really aren't enough superlatives to describe the beauty, power and human drama in this film. The restoration is magnificent, the photography beautiful and the story compelling. Sessue Hayakawa gives a masterful performance as Colonel Saito; easily the most complex portrayal of any Japanese person in WWII movie history. He is completely unable to understand the British sense of honor, since being taken prisoner in the Japanese mindset is the ultimate dishonor. Yet he is also unable to deny that he and his own officers are simply not competent enough to tackle the task at hand, namely to build a railway bridge across the River Kwai -- and do so under a non-negotiable deadline. To fail this task would cause his own public dishonor, yet to yield to the contest of wills with Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), whom he desperately needs to build the bridge, would cause him to suffer a loss of face and deep personal dishonor -- a Hobson's choice. Alec Guinness is simply brilliant in his role -- and simply British. On one level he is the quintessential British colonial master, out to "teach these people a lesson...that will put them to shame". His pride allows him to convince himself that building the bridge is nothing more than a morale booster for his men -- never mind that it furthers the Japanese war effort. He reasons that since he was ordered to surrender that to then refuse to do his captor's bidding might be considered tantamount to insubordination. But beyond doing what is merely necessary, he becomes obsessed with building a bridge that will last hundreds of years. In reality he is constructing a monument to himself, since he is now in the twilight of his military career. William Holden gives a wonderful performance as Shears, the only American to witness this contest of wills. He is much more interested in living "like a human being" and avoiding any military duty than dying for such a twisted sense of "honor". However, though, circumstances dictate that he become the proverbial reluctant hero. There are so many other outstanding touches and performances in this film that to describe them all would take more time than it would to simply watch it. In this case, one picture is truly worth a thousand words. See this movie.

Rating:
Summary: One word: excellent
Review: A wonderful movie with a great cast. Alec Guiness[also Obi-wan-Kenobi] plays as the stubborn officer who clashes with the Japanese commander. William Holden struggles to escape and must aid the British in the destruction of an important bridge. Will the Bristish succeed? Watch this breath-taking movie to find out.

Rating:
Summary: Essential Part of any Serious Collection
Review: The impressive restoration of David Lean's classic is nearly flawless as it is loaded with extras, including 2 documentaries and a tribute. The sound and pictire quality, of course, is great and the film itself is an enduring masterpiece dealing with twisted notions of honor, pride, and duty. The performances are terrific, especially by Alec Guinness as a Lt. Colonel who just doesn't quite get it.

Rating:
Summary: David Lean's anti-war masterpiece in all it's glory......
Review: The release of David Lean's powerful, intelligent and thought provoking anti-war masterpiece on widescreen DVD accompanied by the added bonus documentary "The Making of the Bridge on the River Kwai", along with other featurette's, theatrical trailers and an appreciation of the film by noted director, John Milius, is indeed a cause for celebration amongst cinema afficiando's of this most superb of motion pictures.

The remarkable novel by Pierre Boulle (also author of "Monkey Planet"...filmed as the memorable "Planet of the Apes") is masterfully brought to the screen by director David Lean, a true genius behind many historical epics.

Deep inside snake ridden Asian jungles, British and American prisoners of war toil under the sweltering tropical sun working on part of the infamous Burma railway that claimed thousands of Allied lives during WWII. Colonel Saito (talented Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa) presides over his POW camp with an iron rule...driving his Japanese troops as hard as his malnourished prisoners. Enter the honorable and steadfast English POW, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guiness in an Oscar winning performance) refusing to capitulate to Saito's demands that British officers perform manual labour alongside enlisted men. Each man's blind adherance to their own personal code of honor sees the two men plunge into a psychological war of will, bravado and courage...each determined not to waver from their personal beliefs.

As these two leaders clash with each other, American prisoner of war and resident camp gravedigger, Shears (William Holden) effects on escape from the brutal prison camp and after nearing death, he makes his way back to the Allied forces. Unfortunately for the timid Shears, he is coerced to guide a suicidal commando mission with Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) and Lieutenant Joyce (Geoffrey Horne) to return to the enemy infested jungles and blow up the railway bridge being built by Nicholson and the British prisoners of war.

Each differing path taken by Nicholson, Saito & Shears eventually intertwines and ultimately sees the three men confront their own inner fears and beliefs with tragic circumstances....

Seven Oscars bear testament to the wonderful attributes of this movie....including Best Picture and Best Actor...plus "Kwai" is regularly listed by critics as one of the most influential and highly regarded movies of the 20th century. For some additional in-depth behind the scenes reading on "The Bridge on the River Kwai" check out the insightful William Holden biograpy entitled "Golden Boy". Excellent reading !!

Quite simply an absolute "must have" addition to any DVD collection, "The Bridge on the River Kwai" remains a benchmark in inspirational movie making....I cannot recommend this film highly enough !!

Rating:
Summary: James A. Bretney
Review: This movie rates as one of my favorites. The parade of the captured british battalion marchingt into its new prsion camp ranks as one the most memorable scenes in my movie viewing history. Alec Guiness' portaryal of Nicholson is superb. Willaim Holden's also performed well in this film. Also note what happens when the British use female bearers. "Be Happy in Your Work."

Rating:
Summary: Smashing success...
Review: I found this movie to be excellent produced and the charaters played by the actors came to live on the screen. This was a movie about tradgic times and places. The senior man in the prisoner of war camp was given the opportunity to work with his capturers and make it possible to give his men a means of surviving the war with dignity and purpose.