Rating: PG
Genre:
War
Release Date: 06/10/2008
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1/DD1
Run Time: 167 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, War Violence
Distributor/Studio: Sony Pictures
The Bridge on the River Kwai opens in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma in 1943, where a battle of wills rages between camp commander Colonel Saito (
Sessue Hayakawa) and newly arrived British colonel Nicholson (
Alec Guinness). Saito insists that Nicholson order his men to build a bridge over the river Kwai, which will be used to transport Japanese munitions. Nicholson refuses, despite all the various "persuasive" devices at Saito's disposal. Finally, Nicholson agrees, not so much to cooperate with his captor as to provide a morale-boosting project for the military engineers under his command. The colonel will prove that, by building a better bridge than Saito's men could build, the British soldier is a superior being even when under the thumb of the enemy. As the bridge goes up, Nicholson becomes obsessed with completing it to perfection, eventually losing sight of the fact that it will benefit the Japanese. Meanwhile, American POW Shears (
William Holden), having escaped from the camp, agrees to save himself from a court martial by leading a group of British soldiers back to the camp to destroy Nicholson's bridge. Upon his return, Shears realizes that Nicholson's mania to complete his project has driven him mad. Filmed in Ceylon,
Bridge on the River Kwai won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for the legendary British filmmaker
David Lean, and Best Actor for Guinness. It also won Best Screenplay for
Pierre Boulle, the author of the novel on which the film was based, even though the actual writers were blacklisted writers
Carl Foreman and
Michael Wilson, who were given their Oscars under the table.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Average Review:
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A reviewer
from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
An Oscar-Winning Wartime Masterpiece.
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) provides the setting for Sir David Lean's classic wartime epic based on the novel by Pierre Boulle set in World War II Burma. William Holden and Sir Alec Guinness in an Oscar-winning performance, star in this tale of a team of British POWs are being forced to build a vital railroad bridge for the Japanese, while Holden as an escaped American POW officer is assigned to lead a team of Allied commandos on a mission to destroy the bridge along with a military train. Winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Sir David Lean as Best Director and Best Screenplay Adaptation. With Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne, Ann Sears, Harold Goodwin, Percy Herbert, Andre Morrell, Henry Okawa and Peter Williams.
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