Bridge on the River Kwai: Dynamite!
Written: Feb 23 '00 (Updated Nov 06 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Top notch acting all around
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: Winner of Seven Oscars, Bridge on the River Kwai belongs on the top shelf of your video cabinet!
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| George_Chabot's Full Review: Bridge on the River Kwai |
Bridge on the River Kwai concerns itself with a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma. The Japanese commander (Sessue Hayakawa) wants the mostly British prisoners to build a bridge. The commander of the prisoners (Alec Guinness) is a martinet and insists that Hayakawa respect his men as soldiers, leading to many dramatic confrontations. Finally, after much ado including torture, Hayakawa agrees to treat the officers respectfully and the British agree to build the bridge, even improving on the Japanese's flawed plans!?!
William Holden is an American who somehow got captured by the Japanese and witnesses the baffling behavior by the British commander. Holden, a man who would rather switch than fight avoids work details by digging graves and going to sick bay. Finally, he decides to escape and is enjoying himself with a brunette back at a British outpost, masquerading as an American officer, when his fraud is discovered. Faced with a choice of jail or leading a commando team back to destroy the bridge, he chooses the latter leading to the exciting confrontation that forms the climax.
William Holden's fine performance carried the movie, in my opinion. With several top British actors starring across from him, coupled with British director David Lean, it was a major coup for Holden to maintain viewer interest against those odds, but he dominated every scene he was in! Holden played the reluctant hero, a role that he excelled in and made his own on several notable occasions including Stalag 17, The Counterfeit Traitor, and this outing.
Alec Guinness is, of course, wonderful as the British POW commanding officer, blinded by his "old school" background, unable to realize that his "little project" is actually collaborating with the enemy! The climax reveals that Guiness is so far gone that he tries to thwart the commando teams' sabotage of his precious bridge!
Jack Hawkins, is masterful, as the leader of the commando team, sent in to destroy the bridge that Alec is so proudly and diligently building.
The whistleable "Colonel Bogey" forms the basis for the Malcolm Arnold score.
Any cinema fan, war movie buff, or action film lover will want to see this film.
For those who like this film, I also recommend "All Quiet on the Western Front", "The Great Escape," "The Siege of Firebase Gloria", "Spartacus", and "Paths of Glory".
Recommended:
Yes
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