Bridge On the River Kwai 4K

This is a notable, enthralling and critically-acclaimed movie (it won 7 Oscars' and 3 BAFTAs, including the 'main' Film/Director categories) with extensive production-values, a big cast (with many famous actors in lead roles, it was only Alec Guinness that won the awards...) and very good effects to portray the final scenes involving 'that' bridge.. I got this on Blu-ray despite already owning it's 'Special' 2-disc DVD Edition, as whilst the DVD version had clearly been given some good treatment (it is to my eyes free of those annoying little white specks/scratches) with an excellent set of extras, this HD offering released some 10 years later features a '4K restoration'. So, whilst this Blu-ray didn't offer much more in the extras department (and actually also removes some !) it had the credentials of looking and perhaps sounding, courtesy of an accompanying DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, even better than the DVD which was already quite good. Well, after watching it for the umpteenth time, this time on Blu-ray I can categorically confirm that it DOES offer noticeable improvements in the viewing experience. The restoration has dealt with what could viably be 'fixed' from what was apparently quite a 'problematic' production and resulting 'flawed' film footage.... Directed by the legendary David Lean, this is my favourite film of his and, along with 'The Cruel Sea' features my favourite performances by the actor I feel is most prominent/significant in the film - Jack Hawkins. He, along with Alec Guinness and William Holden get joint top-billing but I feel that Hawkins pips both of them in the performance stakes. Guinness won the awards and Holden is similarly proficient, with his part/presence leaving me of the opinion it was 'necessary' to gain production/finance from US studios - his character and actions always remind me of the similarly 'misplaced' aspects to the 'Hilts' character, an almost solitary US personality in another great WWII film 'The Great Escape'.... I will leave the finer arguments often held amongst others about the faithfulness/'dilution' of the story and depiction to the real-life situations suffered by many of our countrymen in WWII under Japanese 'rule', but what is inescapable about the film are the superb production-values, the attention to detail in certain acts and the unusual level of humour that exists through the majority of the running time. The major plot aspect is the determination to maintain military discipline in adversity, but a lot of the finer details might be missed as they are again of a military 'nature' but not by me (I served in HM Forces for 18 years), with a snippet of a scene at the commando training camp covering all those 'finer' aspects with firstly a comedic big arrow sign directing 'guests' to the abode of Shears, the attention paid to a departing 'guest', the hilarious way a PT instructor has to be selective with his admonishment of those duly distracted from the task in hand and then the delightful touch of the Jack Hawkins character having to perform a 'change step' action, to regain synchronisation with his Colonel after resuming their walk. Finally, this was until recently the ONLY film I've seen where the act of looking though binoculars was correctly depicted (ie a single circular view, NOT 2 adjoining circles....) until I recently saw 'Iron Man 3' - kudos Shane Black ! Contrary to some other reviews I've subsequently read, I never detected any print damage on the SE DVD so this Blu-ray already had one less thing to improve compared to similarly aged films. For me, where this Blu-ray improves things is with solely the picture, it is often much lighter and consistently much sharper. The only 'flaw' with the DVD picture I ever noticed were regular frame 'wobbles', with the appearance of a ripple passing across the picture. I compared and all those I knew that existed on the DVD are absent on the Blu-ray. I never felt that the musical soundtrack to this film was THAT dominant, there are only a few periods of forceful music and little else of great 'activity' note occurring. So, it is perhaps unsurprising that I couldn't really detect any great difference between the DD5.1 DVD soundtrack and the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 version on the Blu-ray. Both sound as good as each other, with neither particularly excelling when compared to films like 'The Battle of Britain' for example - in fact, both are crisp/clear but really quite 'flat' and certainly lacking any obvious spatial qualities, with all the audio being essentially 'front and centre'.... With this film being quite long and with Blu-ray being high-capacity, the rather ugly layer-change that occurs on the DVD is gone. New extras are a "Crossing the Bridge" picture-in-picture track, "The Steve Allen Show with William Holden and Alec Guinness" featurette and "The Bridge on the River Kwai Premiere" narrated by William Holden. However, some extras from the SE DVD are absent: the Isolated Music Score option and the Cast and Crew Biographies.... The Blu-ray also has no equivalent of the quite substantial booklet which came with the SE DVD, a poor replacement is the unusual inclusion of some interior box artwork - I've attached a photo of it. So, for me this film has a print quality which improves on the SE DVD by being a lot sharper and providing better contrast, plus previous image 'wobbles' have been removed. The sound quality was not noticeably better, so it's still a bit 'flat'. However, for an excellent film like this which had notable visual aspects the more important matters are the ones which have been improved to great effect. A few of the SE DVD extras are 'missing' but some new ones are added.

With the great David Lean behind the camera, a stellar cast, and a rollicking good story, this film really covers all bases. Evidence of this is that it won 7 Oscars at the 30th Academy Awards in 1958. No mean achievement. I think the reason this film is so good is due to the tragic irony that runs throughout the film and reaches one of the most dramatic finales in war movie history. Alec Guinness, who plays the stubborn Colonel Nicholson, is willing to collaborate with the Japanese by overseeing the building of a bridge that would link Bangkok to Rangoon. Of course the British High Command get wind of this and realise that the bridge must be blown. Herein lies the irony: Build a bridge and give the Japanese a taste of British engineering skill or destroy it to hinder Japanese expansionist ideals. Jack Hawkins, who plays Major Warden, leads a team of commandoes, including William Holden (Commander Shears) and Geoffrey Horne (Lieutenant Joyce), on a suicide mission to destroy the bridge. The film's runtime is 2 hours 21 mins and is a bit of a slow burn, but the story builds and you'll be eager to watch right until the end to see if the commandoes execute their mission successfully. In my opinion, one of the greatest war films ever made. Don't miss this one.

If further proof be needed that when it comes to Blu-ray, the old ones are the best ones, along comes this superb version of The Bridge on the River Kwai. Occasionally in HD/Blu-ray forums I read ill-informed comments that such and such a film will look rubbish on Blu-ray because it 'pre-dates HD'. Well this one was released in 1957: see for yourselves. The fact is that film has a vastly high resolution to begin with, even greater than that of Blu-ray. As long as the original negative is in a pristine condition, it can't help but look better. Many older movies are given a new lease of life on the format and quite often - thanks to state-of-the-art restoration techniques - can sit proudly alongside the best of today's titles. BotRK boasts a fine new transfer: "a 4K digital restoration from the original negative with newly remastered 5.1 audio" according to the sleeve notes. If the film does show its age to some degree, it's where the source elements don't quite match and look slightly grainier. This is certainly true of the opening few minutes but don't let that put you off. Once the PoWs have marched into camp, the picture is exemplary and is easily on a par with other highly regarded Blu-rays, such as Zulu or The Sound of Music. The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack has been mixed with care: any effects are only sent to the surround channels when the scene justifies it and not for their own sake. Music for the most part is confined to the front stage and a crisp dialogue track is anchored to the centre, where it belongs. As regards the film itself, it won seven Academy Awards and deservedly so. Alec Guinness' portrayal of the by-the-rules British colonel, who engages in a stubborn battle of wills and then elects to put his men's morale above the Allies' war objective, is one of the all-time great performances. This is a movie that I came to quite late in life and upon first viewing, it held my attention completely from beginning to end. It's now arrived for a new generation to discover in the best way possible. You don't know how spoilt you are.

I bought this having seen the movie on the cinema many years ago. Like all movies from years gone by they do not seem as good as when first seen and this is one of them. The quality is excellent could not fault any part of the production and a very good price

This is a an exceptional film, which both entertains and moves you. There is little action -- everything is based on character on careful plotting -- although the action filled finale is blisteringly intense. The characters here are instantly likable. Even the awful Japanese general becomes less tyrannical, once you get to know what drives him and see that he is willing to work alongside the allies. It isn't historically accurate, but as a human story it works perfectly. I found after watching this, that I questioned todays standards. Everything today is about epic special effects and artistic achievement. What happened to simple, humble, honest characters, the like of which are here in abundance? It sounds cheesy, but when they march into camp whistling the famous tune, you can't fail but to feel moved by the human spirit. The same when the troop start singing 'For he's a jolly good fellow' when their leader (superb Alec Guinness) is put into the box, for refusing to make his officers do manual labor. All in all, I cannot recommend this enough. It isn't flashy or full of action, but is at least as good as anything today and the acting is of the highest standard. One disappointment, the extras mention an isolated score. I expected this to be something you could listen to, but it just means you have can only listen to the music when it happens in the film, so have to watch the film with some very large spaces of silence before any music starts again. It seems pretty pointless to me. Apart from that minor quibble, I'd recommend this to anyone who can watch a film without special effects. As good a story, drama and war film as I've ever seen.

One of my all time favourites, alongside 'Three Men and a Baby' and 'Universal Solider 2.' This film has it all, from an all-star cast to memorable locations. Famously shot in Peru, where temperatures soared to over fifty degrees during filming. Half of the original crew were replaced mid-way through the shoot after suffering heat exhaustion. Only the stalwart Alec Guinness soldiered on every day and endured the full intensity of the eighteen month film shoot. Rumour has it, kindly Alec would fetch the film crew water from a nearby ravine each morning, where he would trudge twelve miles across rocky terrain armed with just a sturdy pair of shorts and a tin bucket. Guinness was also on hand to offer medical assistance when twelve cameramen all went down with cholera - a disease brought on by drinking poorly sanitised water. The film follows the adventures of an English army, led by Guinness. They have set up camp in Peru where they have instructions from the British government to build a two foot bridge across a narrow stream, so that cattle may pass safely. Guinness' stiff-upped lipped Colonel Water Blitherington is well-meaning enough, but his insistence on using only natural materials to build the bridge severely slows down the building process. On several attempts, the bridge collapses when it transpires cattle are not sufficiently supported on a bridge made only of leaves and small twigs. The moment when Guinness is relieved of his command by Lieutenant Horatio Viper (Oliver Reed) is a heartbreaking and tenderly played scene. Some light relief is found in the infamous tune that is whistled by all the troops as they work. Those with a keen ear will note the tune was later used as the main theme for the game show Wheel of Fortune. Overall, a rewarding and touching film that provides another angle on the Vietnam war.

The original movie was in a "super-wide-screen" format that cinema was using at the time to compete with TV in the USA, so this film really needed Blu-ray for it to look good on a TV screen. Lean made the utmost use of the format. This disc has great video and audio and where the scenes look a little grainy it is due to the original film, not the transfer. It is a great movie about the clashes of characters and ideals set against a Japanese POW camp where the prisoners are forced to build the bridge. Some people complain it does not reflect the reality of the camps and that is true. It was taken from a NOVEL and the camp was used as a setting for the conflicting ideals. It is not meant to be a documentary. The acting and production are superb and it deserved all the Academy Awards it won. I have updated this review because I am getting tired of the people stating that the movie is not historically accurate. IT IS NOT, IT IS FICTION. The titles show that the screenplay is taken from a NOVEL. It is the battle of wills between two men and it is set in a WWII POW camp in the far east. It is a MOVIE and not a documentary and it is FICTION. Do these same people watch Elvis Presley in "Love Me Tender" and think it is an accurate reflection of what happened during the American Civil War or that "Stalag 17" accurately depicts the conditions in a POW camp in Germany during WWII. Today, with the internet, there is no excuse to think that this should be mistaken for a true depiction of the conditions in a POW camp in the far east during WWII. ENOUGH already.

An exellent War Movie. Well worth watching.

Have seen this movie manu times, from vcd to dvd. Nostalgic.

小学生のころ、テレビで何回か見たことはかすかに記憶しているが、人生経験を積んで、５０年以上たってみてじっくり見てみるとこんなにすばらしい映画だったんだと感動した。英国・日本の大将も、置かれている立場、お国柄で違いはあるがとても人間的だと思った。音楽もすばらしい（有名）。

Un pur chef-d’œuvre. Un monument d’anthologie.

This extraordinary WW2 action film won well deserved Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (David Lean), Best Actor (Alec Guinness), Best Adapted Screenplay (Carl Foreman & Michael Wilson), Best Color Cinematography (Jack Hildyard), Best Editing (Peter Taylor) and Best Musical Score ( Malcolm Arnold). It is a triumph in every respect, a blockbuster which focuses on the human element even more than the action, giving the unforgettable climax even more impact. Alec Guinness is unforgettable as Colonel Nicholson, the commanding officer of a British unit in a Japanese POW camp in WW2 Burma, who supervises the construction of the titular railway bridge. Sessue Hayakawa is also memorable as the Japanese colonel Saito, whose ideas for the bridge's construction clash with those of Nicholson. Jack Hawkins plays the British Major Warden, who recruits American Major Shears, played by William Holden, to blow up this same bridge. James Donald is also noteworthy as the camp doctor Major Clipton, who acts as the film's conscience and observer. The CinemaScope and Technicolor images are stunningly beautiful, and the sound of the soldiers whistling "The Colonel Bogey March" is iconic. I can't see anyone not thoroughly enjoying this picture.

Un classique a revoir.