The Bridge on the River Kwai: 65th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook [4K UHD]

Richly deserving its 1957 "Best Picture" Academy Award, "The Bridge On The River Kwai" is truly one of the best motion pictures I have ever seen (and I had never seen it even once until just a few days before writing this review).Directed expertly by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel, "The Bridge On The River Kwai" never falters. From the very first well-composed "CinemaScope" frame, right through to its exciting climax, everything about this motion picture is spot-on perfect.The film tells the World War 2 story of a group of British P.O.W.s who are handed the assignment of constructing a railway bridge across the Kwai river, deep within an Asian jungle in the hot and steamy summer of 1943.Each actor in this movie shines brightly in his respective part -- beginning with Alec Guinness' absolutely wonderful award-winning portrayal of "Colonel Nicholson", who undergoes more than his fair share of torture and abuse at the hands of the Japanese "Colonel Saito" (played by Sessue Hayakawa). Guinness' Nicholson is a man guided by an immovable set of rigged principles. And he ends up winning his battle of nerves (and torture) against his Japanese enemy. A truly remarkable performance by Mr. Guinness. It's no wonder he was nominated for the "Best Actor" Oscar for his role in this film. And, rightfully so, he won the award as well.The great William Holden (age 38 here) earned a healthy 1-million-dollar salary for his part as "Shears" in the movie (plus he got a portion of the film's box-office receipts too). And he earned every cent, as far as I'm concerned. While his part is not quite as deeply-layered or extensive as Alec Guinness' in the picture, Holden's character is still a vital and integral part of the film, as he plays a soldier who sets out on a mission to destroy the River Kwai bridge.Jack Hawkins rounds out the main cast, as "Major Warden", the hard-nosed leader of the Allied Commando team assigned to blow up the just-finished Kwai railway bridge.An interesting thing hit me a day after I finished watching this movie for the first time -- I found myself re-living portions of the film over again in my head, and (of course) found myself whistling the unforgettably-sensational "River Kwai March" theme tune (aka "Colonel Bogey March"), which is something that's likely to stay with you for quite a long time. (The DVD Menus make sure you won't forget the melody either.)Plus, the day after I saw it, I also found myself already beginning to appreciate the "timelessness" and award-winning flavor and grandeur of this epic-scale motion picture. And I even felt a strong desire to watch the whole 162-minute film all over again the very next day. When a movie can have that much impact on a viewer, what better compliment can there be to emphasize its greatness?Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released the 2-Disc edition of "The Bridge On The River Kwai" on November 21, 2000, and it's a great-looking DVD in all respects, in my opinion. Sporting a beautiful and colorful Anamorphic Widescreen print of the film, Disc One of this two-disc set contains the full-length film in its original CinemaScope aspect ratio of approximately 2.55:1. The lush quality of the photography shines through brilliantly here via this nice, crisp-looking Widescreen version. I'd hate to think of having to watch this movie in a hacked-to-pieces Pan-&-Scan Full-Screen version. Luckily, such torture is not required here, because the original Widescreen format is available on this DVD.There are multiple Dolby Digital soundtracks to choose from for the movie -- a 5.1 Surround track plus a 2.0 Surround option as well. Both of these tracks sound very good to me. Lots of subtitling options are available as well, plus an "Isolated Music Score" soundtrack too.Several fulfilling bonus features take up residence on Disc #2, including a nicely-done 53-minute Making-Of documentary, as well as an original 1950s-era vintage behind-the-cameras featurette ("The Rise And Fall Of A Jungle Giant"), which has a satisfying old-time "nostalgic" feel to it.While I very much enjoyed the "Jungle Giant" mini-featurette (which lasts for a little more than 6 minutes) for its unique behind-the-scenes type of footage -- I couldn't help but scratch my head in bewilderment when the final portion of the program seemingly is cut off abruptly without explanation. The narration and video build the viewer's suspense, taking us right up to the brink of the dramatic one-take-only scene of the bridge being blown to bits, then there's a splice in the film just prior to seeing any behind-the-scenes stuff of the actual detonation, with the film then trailing off into its closing few seconds (an "epilogue" of sorts). Very odd I thought. Makes me wonder if that bridge-blowing sequence was somehow lost and not able to be recovered for some reason.Additional DVD Extras --- A "USC Short Film" (with an introduction by William Holden), which runs for just under 16 minutes. This is a kind of a "lesson" in filmmaking techniques, with "The Bridge On The River Kwai" used as an example of what goes into feature filmmaking. Lots of behind-the-scenes footage on the sets of "Kwai" is included here.Another featurette on Disc 2 is "An Appreciation By Filmmaker John Milius". This is an 8-minute "appreciation" of "The Bridge On The River Kwai" by Mr. Milius, as he provides his personal thoughts on the film and its impact on him. Needless to say, he loves the movie. And his comments here are quite interesting too.There are also four Theatrical Trailers included as DVD bonus material (including one for "River Kwai"). Plus -- A 7-minute "Photo Montage" (on a musically-scored timed track, with "Pause" capability enabled). The "montage" was a slight disappointment to this writer, simply because it only includes photos of poster art and advertising materials for the film. No "publicity stills" are included at all. Which is kind of odd because a few such items are seen within the Making-Of documentary. Still, the filmed montage is done very nicely, with appropriate underscoring to add atmosphere.Rounding out this healthy batch of DVD supplements is a "Talent Files" section, featuring brief text-only bios on five members of the "Kwai" cast and crew.Also included as part of the 2-Disc "Limited Edition" DVD package is a collectible 12-page booklet, which is a replica (reprint) of the original 1957 souvenir book. The last page of the booklet is a DVD Scene Selection guide for the film's 40 chapters.-----------------"The Bridge On The River Kwai" took more than a full year to film and edit, finally making its debut in movie theaters on December 18, 1957. But that year spent in the Asian jungle was definitely worth it. Because what resulted from that strenuous year of sweat and gritty filmmaking was a true cinematic masterwork.So, take this DVD for a spin soon .... and then watch yourself replaying much of the movie in your head the next day. For this is a DVD to treasure; and a movie to remember. For all time.

I was fortunate to be able to visit the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai on a recent trip to Thailand. The bridge is about a three hour drive from Bangkok not far from the border with Burma.In Kanchanaburi I picked up a tourist brochure called "The Death Railway & the Bridge on the River Kwai". This is from its introduction..."In June of 1942, 61,000 British, Australian, American, New Zealand, Danish and Dutch POWs as well as an estimated 200,000 laborers from India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia,Singapore, Burma and Thailand were put to work by the Japanese Imperial Army to construct a railway line 415km long to link Kanchanaburi to the Japanese Base camp in Thanbyuzayat in Burma, this ensuring a direct line from Singapore through Malaya and Thailand to link up with the railway network in Burma. Apart from supplying their bases in Burma, the Japanese had also planned to use the railway to launch an attack on India.The decision to build the railway was made by the Japanese Cabinet following the decisive defeat of its navy at the battle of Midway in June 1942. At that time a large Japanese army was based in Burma and another in New Guinea and adjacent islands. Both depended for support and supplies on the navy which after Midway no longer enjoyed its former supremacy. The Japanese were aware hat the British had surveyed a proposed railway linking Burma and Thailand in 1910 and that they had abandoned the project in 1912 because of difficult terrain, endemic disease and high monsoonal rainfall. To planners studying the map in Tokyo however, the construction of a 415 kilometer railway seemed an obvious solution to supplying the army in Burma and thus avoid the hazardous seas route around Singapore and through the Straits of Malacca.Accordingly two Japanese railway regiments totaling 12,000 men were assigned to the railway project...The deadline for completion was August of 1943 and in June of 1942 the Japanese began moving prisoners of the war to Burma and Thailand. Construction of the railway began on the 16th of September 1942. First estimates by the Japanese engineers suggested that it would take at least five years to build, but under tremendous pressure, the POWs were forced to complete the bridge in 16 months. On the 25 December 1943 the "the Railway of Death" was completed...The effect was devastating. 16,000 allied prisoners of war lost their lives when this railway was built dying together with 100,000 slave Asian laborers who aren't mentioned all that often...Every kilometer of railway track cost the lives of 38 allies."Historian Andrew Roberts writes, "When considering the horrific cruelties inflicted on European POWs by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War, it is important to see them in the overall context of atrocities such as the Rape of Nanking. Whereas 6.2 per cent of British Commonwealth prisoners of the Japanese died between 1941 and 1945, the figures were 23 per cent for the Dutch, 41.6 for the Americans and a monstrous 77 per cent (230,000 out of 300,000) for Indonesian forced laborers...The literature covering what one historian has called 'The Horror in the East' is voluminous, and the Kachanaburi death camp on the River Kwai, Unit 731's anthrax experiments, Chang Jail in Singapore, Korean 'comfort' women, the Bataan Death March and so on have particularly foul places in the long history of man's inhumanity to man." (The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War).Japanese Commander: "If you work hard you will be well treated, but if you do not work hard you will be punished."The museum had photographs and artifacts from the construction of the bridge...The Bridge over the River Kwai was bombed by allied aircraft during the war.I stopped at the nearby Kanchanburi cemetery to see some of the graves of the victims of the "Railway of Death".When I finally arrived at the bridge after a 3 hour car journey this is what I first saw...Walking over the bridge, I met a musician who was, of course, playing the famous Colonel Bogey's March tune on his violin. I put a couple of US dollars into his violin case. He stopped playing and asked me to come over and check out something on the bridge. I was curious as he had me feel with my hand on the outer side of the steel bridge -- I could detect the unmistakable marks of bullet holes that had been caused by strafing from allied planes during the war.The movie, Bridge on the River Kwai, won the academy award for best picture in 1957 and is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest films of all time. It was directed by David Lean, shot on location in Ceylon and based on a novel by French author Pierre Boulle. Alec Guinness, who had served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve during World War II and piloted a landing craft in the 1943 invasion of Sicily, won the Academy award for best actor, playing the role of the unbending Colonel Nicholson. William Holden and Sessue Hayakawa co-starred. The movie's theme message of collaboration was, perhaps, more appropriately suited to occupied France rather than Southeast Asia -- the real life Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey did not collaborate and worked to delay the railway's completion.Contrary to film's dramatic conclusion, the bridge was NOT destroyed by the allies during the war. It was hit by allied bombers (see above) but it was reconstructed and, as you can see, is still standing today.If you liked Bridge on the River Kwai you will also enjoy America Invades America Invades: How We've Invaded or been Militarily Involved with almost Every Country on Earth by Kelly / Laycock and Italy Invades

I wont say this Blu Ray version is will change your life but it is the best version of Kwai that I have seen. I have seen this film so many times I know the dialog by heart. This version is definitely crisp, clear, and well defined. It looks like a new release instead of a 1957 film.