When POWs of World War II arrive in enemy-occupied Burma, they are forced to work on the construction of a bridge. The POW camp is being watched over by Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) who becomes overly obsessive in making Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) work along the other soldier. When Nicholson refuses to work and gives the order to his officers to do the same, Saito resorts to humiliate and mistreat Nicholson in order to do his bidding. However, Nicholson has a stronger will than Saito expected. Meanwhile, Shears manages to escape the POW camp to later return with the allies with orders to destroy the bridge.
The Bridge on the River Kwai was a major winner in the 1957 Academy Awards and today the film continues to receive praise for its outstanding achievement. The film didn’t just show the world the filmic prowess of director David Lean, but it also gave us a clue of how a film should be made. Director put his talents to work and the end result was a gem. Even for a film that’s 50 some odd years old, it remains as one of history’s greatest films. David Lean’s masterpiece didn’t just showcase a great story, the acting, the carefully thought out script, the score, etc. everything about the movie is rock solid.
The film is well thought out. Every scene is perfectly executed and well written, accentuating each actor’s performance. Lean carefully planned every scene in order to have each actor deliver his or her best performance. It’s really not hard to see Lean’s touch throughout the film when frame after frame we see a continuous high quality filmmaking. Everything couldn’t possibly have worked properly if the script didn’t match the quality of the directing. The writers focused on brining the obsessive personality of Saito and Nicholson’s self-worth and worked everything around them. This turned out perfect, in my opinion. Actors’ camera time manages to deliver the best from each of them. The film captures Saito’s obsession with Nicholson and building the bridge as well as Nicholson’s pride and respect his soldiers.
Even the score by Malcolm Arnold is carefully implemented throughout and it is never overused to create an unreal sensation of what’s going to happen next. It is used appropriately when needed and becomes increasingly dramatic as the scene is evolving into something more important. Again, Lean’s filmmaking style is almost difficult to match with his meticulous planning that sure enough lead a film to become one the best ever made.
The Bride on the River Kwai arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 2.55:1. For a movie that is from 1957, it simply looks gorgeous. There is no other way to put it. Color reproduction is fantastic capturing the greens, yellow, reds, etc. make a strong appearance making the film look more attractive. Skin tones are very natural. Black levels are deep and inky and never take away any detailing from the picture. Detailing is very impressive; the transfer captures every small detail surrounding the film. The shacks, the surrounding area, close up shots, uniforms, etc. all are reproduced with extreme detail. The film does inherit some of the issues that are found on the original source like some artifacts and a few soft shots, but other than that the film looks incredible for its age. Fans of the film will be pleased.
Blu-ray Screen Shot Gallery:
The Bridge on the River Kwai arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. The film is primarily dialogue driven and won’t wow casual viewers, but regardless Sony has provided a great audio transfer. Dialog has absolutely no trouble being reproduced, but some of the conversations appear to be muffled for a few seconds. It’s not a big issue since it is not as widespread as you would think, it only happens once or twice. The surrounds are almost none existent. The low end is also used very little. There are a few moments that stand out like some explosions, gun shots, occasional whistle blowing, but these are very few scenes in the movie. There are few muffled sound effects, but this could be attributed to the methods used to create the track. Regardless, the film sounds like never before and that should leave the long term fans very happy.
The Bridge on the River Kwai Premiere Narrated by William Holden – The star of the film discusses the premier of the film.
Crossing the Bridge: Picture-in-Picture Graphics Track – This trivia track allows users to interactively view facts and see real interviews with POWs that built the bridge, and more. There are a lot of facts and book comparisons within this featurette and no one interested in learning more should definitely take a look.
An Appreciation by John Milius – Director John Milius talks about all the different reasons why The Bridge on the River Kwai is one of his favorites.
Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant – This featurette tells the story of the construction of the bridge in black and white.
USC Short Film Introduced by William Holden – The actor of the film helps viewers analyze the book and the film on the set of the film.
The Steve Allen Show with William Holden & Alec Guinness – This features the two actors talking about the movie.
Making of The Bridge on the River Kwai – this is a very intensive process overview of the film. This covers everything from the hiring of the director to the locales, script, directional style, etc. Everything is covered with some high level of detail. In total this featurette is well over 54 minutes in length.
The Bridge on the River Kwai Trailers
Photo Gallery
Previews – Trailers for the Treasures of Columbia Classics, TCM Classic Film Festival Trailer, Tommy, and Midnight Express.
BD-Life Functionality
The Bridge on the River Kwai is one of the many gems that have managed to come out of the vaults for movie lovers to indulge in. Masterfully crafted from beginning to end with director David Lean supervising and get the best out of every scene. A solid script with an spectacular production will only give you good results. The Blu-ray looks and sounds better than ever, surpassing every expectation and a great product overall. The supplements are an important piece of this release, including hours of excellent content to be enjoyed. The Bridge on the River Kwai receives the highest recommendations.
