Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
4/4
A war movie with something to say.
memento_mori - wrote on 07/24/2013
I'm a huge David Lean fan for two reasons:
1. I'm a huge fan of Doctor Zhivago.
2. I also share a birthday with him.
Considered an American war classic, The Bridge On The River Kwai has a high reputation going for it, and I can now understand why it was my grandfather's favorite movie, because it is phenomenal.
I always love it when a 'classic' surprises me, because there is always the chance that it won't be the way you want it to be or expected it to be. Nonetheless, I am so happy it turned out the way I wanted it to and furthermore exceeded my expectations.
Every character, every plot line, every shot from David Lean is polished to perfection.
The characters work because they have distinct personalities. Saito is vicious and proud, Nicholson is stubborn and persistent, Shears …
Rating of
3.5/4
The Bridge on the River Kwai review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 03/03/2012
Viewing this again made me enjoy the finer details of the movie. A British World War II film involving an insensitive Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), tactical Lt. Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) , compassionate Major Clipton (James Donald) and resourceful United States Navy Commander Shears (William Holden). Film had excellent screenplay with quotes: Major Shears - "For what? How to die like a gentleman...how to die by the rules when the only important thing is how to live like a human being." Col. Nicholson - "But there are times when suddenly you realize you're nearer the end than the beginning. And you wonder, you ask yourself, what the sum total of your life represents." Cinematography was mesmerizing, performances solid and score endearing. Only …
Rating of
3.5/4
"The Bridge On The River Kwai" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/17/2012
A stubborn English Colonel locks horns with a similarly duty-bound Japanese prison camp commander over the building of a strategically important railway bridge during the second world war. David Lean's prisoner of war story is a tale of obsession, and it is the battle of wills between Alec Guiness and his Japanese counterpart that forms the core of the story. Examining the cliche of the British stiff upper lip, although Guiness' obstinate refusal to co-operate with the enemy gives his men the spirit to carry on, it is more his own personal obsession (bordering on insanity) than heroism that eggs him on. On the other side of the coin, it is William Holden's hustling commander, actually more interested in self-preservation (echoing his role in Stalag 17) who must show him the error of his …
Rating of
4/4
Spectaculur spectacle from David Lean.
Ichabod Crane - wrote on 02/11/2009
David Lean films are all shot just about perfectly all the ones I have seen anyways. That reason alone gives you one reason to watch the Bridge over the River Kwai, but there are also many others. The performances are all great particularly Alec Guinness shows his stuff as he always does in this slightly humorous role of a colonel who has an odd sense of duty, and Sessue Hayakawa, as a Japanese commander who has the camp basically taken from him. It is not like any war epic you will see because the story is much more complicated than they usually are with its incredibly original and deep characters, or a prison camp movie because of what occurs in it. There is simply nothing like the bridge over the river Kwai, although I never go full positive and act blindly to the slightly tacked on …
Rating of
4/4
"This is war! This is not a game of cricket!"
Arbogast1960 - wrote on 04/03/2008
For some reason, the only word I can come up with to describe this movie is "regal." Which doesn't make much sense, as it's a war movie. There's just something so awe-inspiring and grand about it--David Lean takes a movie about POWs building a bridge and turns it into an epic about the human capacity for misguided fervor. Speaking as someone who's not a huge war movie fan, this film is gripping. It accomplishes the rare feat of taking an enormous conflict and successfully focusing it on one man. (I purposely ignore the William Holden B story which, while not always enthralling (especially its romantic elements), is necessary to the denouement). Alec Guinness is spellbinding as the British officer whose ambition to prove the British are the world's most honorable and diligent people …
Rating of
4/4
Review - The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Delorted - wrote on 11/10/2007
Though still not completely willing to work together, Col. Nicholson (Alec Guinness) and Col. Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) decided to work together to build a railway bridge. However, they were not aware that Maj. Warden (Jack Hawkins) and Cmdr. Shears (William Holden) were planning to destroy it. The two allied forces work against each other in the Best Picture winning film, “The Bridge on the River Kwai.”
I am personally not a huge fan of war films. This, however, is not really war film. While it takes place during a war, there is little actual fighting involved. I tend to enjoy films that can use war without violence, but I more than merely enjoyed this film. Rather, I believe it is one of the best films I’ve seen to date.
The acting is superb. Guinness and Holden give …
