rEVIEW OF BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
Added 1/30/2010
The Japanese decided to build a railroad connecting Bangkok to Rangoon using British POWs. TOO MANY SHIPS WERE SUNK VIA THE SEA ROUTE. cONDITIONS WERE ACTUALLY WORSE IN THE CAMP THAN SHOWN IN THE MOVIE. This is a classic film worth seeing
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Veterans HATE this Movie
Added 11/20/2009
A documentary on the History Channel interviewed many of the veterans who were POWs that actually lived through what the movie attempts to dramatize ... every single one of these vets hated what was portrayed in this movie. I don't care how good a movie was made, if it's an insult to the veterans who were there, then it's an embarrassment.
4 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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Glacially slooooow...
Added 11/17/2009
Yes I know. This is an old, classic, best picture flick.
It's just too damn slow. The William Holden character, the American P.O.W., really should have been an interesting character. He was almost interesting after he escaped, playing around with a girl on the beach...some of the dialogue was trying for some witty, snappy, Casablanca-esque pop...but it just wasn't there. It just seemed like everyone was writing talking in slow-motion...all the actors were slaves to long-winded dialogue in the script. I just read that Guinness wanted to play his character with a sense of humour but the director insisted he play it as boring as possible. Someone needed to bring that fiery, sarcastic character and I feel it should have been Holden.
Everything said in the same boring matter-of-fact tone for almost 3 hours...there's no background music to keep things moving along...I ended up dozing off in the middle somewhere.
I'd never recommend this to anyone. And I'll never see it again. I've read it's supposed to be an anti-war movie. Seems more of an anti-audience movie to me. Too dated for modern audiences.
1 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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The true definition of `complete' cinema...
Added 9/25/2009
Yes, I was one of those rare individuals who actually found the overly praised `Lawrence of Arabia' to be a hollow movie experience and I was duly crucified for my opinion. I don't really expect much a crucifixion to befall me on my review for this beloved film directed by, you guessed it, David Lean. Why? Because I actually really, really liked this movie and consider it to be nearly everything that `Laurence of Arabia' wasn't.
Lean's `The Bridge on the River Kwai' is a powerfully moving and engrossing example of sharp direction, developed scripting and affecting performances.
The film tells of a group of British soldiers residing in a POW camp in Southeast Asia who, under the command of British Colonel Nicholson, attempt to build a railway bridge over the river Kwai. The orders come from the harsh yet remarkably human Colonel Saito, and Nicholson, filled to the brim with a sense of balanced pride, takes it upon himself to make the bridge his own personal project; something with which he can take comfort in and hopefully give his wary men purpose.
While our focus is mainly given to that of Nicholson and his men, the sub-plot involving escapee Shears and his return to the camp (on a special mission to destroy the bridge) is probably the most exciting.
Using full range of the films story, Lean constructed a very well rounded film that is equal parts exciting and profound; leaving us so much to absorb and be absorbed in. His attention to detail is sublime (a very, very deserved Oscar win on Lean's part), and that attention bleeds through onto every scene. I also really loved his pacing here, for he understood how to give us subtle yet powerful without overexerting himself in the least. By contrasting the two stories he was able to create and even and complete film that had room for the soft and thought provoking as well as the exciting and thrilling.
The acting is also superb, from supporting players like Sessue Hayakawa (a very deserving Oscar nominee) to the two leads, William Holden and Alec Guinness. I am not surprised to see Guinness won the Oscar for his riveting and fully realized portrayal of a honorable man seeking fervently to hold onto that said honor, but I personally preferred Holden's multi-layered portrayal of a man trying to forget who he was yet being forced to face it front on. I'm sure it was the final scene (that marvelous breakdown) that won Guinness the Oscar (and the fact that Holden already had one) but it was Holden that really stayed with me long after the film was over.
No, `The Bridge on the River Kwai' is not the best movie I've ever seen. In fact, when it comes to the year that was 1957 (a STUNNING year for film) it wouldn't even make my personal ballot (maybe if I were to limit myself to English language films only, but even then I prefer the likes of `Peyton Place' and `An Affair to Remember' to be completely honest) BUT, and this is a big but; `The Bridge on the River Kwai' is a marvelous movie experience and one that is truly deserving of the praise it has received. There are a lot of films that garner respect and admiration and become `classics', and sadly a lot of them are not as deserving as you would expect.
`The Bridge on the River Kwai' IS deserving.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A Classic film
Added 9/12/2009
The Bridge On The River Kwai first released in 1957 is a classic. The fact that it is based on a true story makes it even better, though i am sure as in most movies their is poetical license.
Very educational movie of how British POWs were treated under Japanese during WWII rule and the stiff upper British lip in definace of terrible odds and conditions.
A truly great movie.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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rEVIEW OF BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
Added 1/30/2010
The Japanese decided to build a railroad connecting Bangkok to Rangoon using British POWs. TOO MANY SHIPS WERE SUNK VIA THE SEA ROUTE. cONDITIONS WERE ACTUALLY WORSE IN THE CAMP THAN SHOWN IN THE MOVIE. This is a classic film worth seeing
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Veterans HATE this Movie
Added 11/20/2009
A documentary on the History Channel interviewed many of the veterans who were POWs that actually lived through what the movie attempts to dramatize ... every single one of these vets hated what was portrayed in this movie. I don't care how good a movie was made, if it's an insult to the veterans who were there, then it's an embarrassment.
4 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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Glacially slooooow...
Added 11/17/2009
Yes I know. This is an old, classic, best picture flick.
It's just too damn slow. The William Holden character, the American P.O.W., really should have been an interesting character. He was almost interesting after he escaped, playing around with a girl on the beach...some of the dialogue was trying for some witty, snappy, Casablanca-esque pop...but it just wasn't there. It just seemed like everyone was writing talking in slow-motion...all the actors were slaves to long-winded dialogue in the script. I just read that Guinness wanted to play his character with a sense of humour but the director insisted he play it as boring as possible. Someone needed to bring that fiery, sarcastic character and I feel it should have been Holden.
Everything said in the same boring matter-of-fact tone for almost 3 hours...there's no background music to keep things moving along...I ended up dozing off in the middle somewhere.
I'd never recommend this to anyone. And I'll never see it again. I've read it's supposed to be an anti-war movie. Seems more of an anti-audience movie to me. Too dated for modern audiences.
1 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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