1/5 Veterans HATE this Movie
  by Topper (Michigan)
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.

2/5 Glacially slooooow...
  by K. Hookey
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.

5/5 The true definition of `complete' cinema...
  by Andrew Ellington (Mulholland Drive)
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.

4/5 A Classic film
  by AwakeNow.co.uk (UK)
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.


5/5 A Bridge to an Extraordinary Film
  by D. Hupp (Woodbridge, VA United States)
Arguably the best dramatic war film about WWII in the Pacific. There's no arguing, though, that this film was exceptionally well made and eagerly viewed by audiences around the world in the late 1950s. Not only did the film win several Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Producer, & Best Cinematography, but it also won a number of British and other foreign film & acting awards.

The awards were neither gratuitous nor for lesser known film categories. The acting was stellar with Sir Alec Guinness (also of Obi Wan Kenobi "fame" in the Star Wars trilogies) & Sessue Hayakawa rendering powerful performances as the British & Japanese senior officers, respectively, at the Kwai POW camp. Jack Hawkins & William Holden give strong performances as well, although in much smaller parts -- Holden was the only well known American actor in the film, by the way.

The story is slow in parts by today's fast-paced standards, but the plot has a few twists, especially at the POW camp that enables the story to build to a stunning climax.

The Colonel Bogey March, the most popular & memorable of the songs from the musical score was a best seller after the film was released. It wasn't written expressly for the film; in fact, the "March" was written by a British band master in the early 1900s. It was, however, a tune that many people whistled after viewing the movie.

For those who find film adaptations of popular books to be at odds with each other, I think that those who've read Pierre Boulle's book before or after seeing the movie were the beneficiaries of a double treat. Both were excellent works.

I highly recommend this movie. Who knows? It just might give you the urge to whistle!