Bridge on the River Kwai

[Smokey]

Hadn't seen this movie for long time so picked it on DVD recently. This is a 1957 WWII british movie and it is story of Japanese prison camp where British and American POWs are kept and are ordered to build a bridge cross river Kwai.

What struck me about this movie is how the direcor David Lean try to strike a balance between reality of war (destruction and chaos) and human needs (reconstruction and order). And all the parties involve in the war (British, Japanese, American) are treated equal.

Ofcourse there are no happy ending or heros as all three lead charactors in this movie (including the Japanese camp commander) die at the end.

Very entertaining

[Tarheel_]

i bought this on Laserdics years ago and have not watched it...maybe i'll give it a spin tomorrow..thanks for the recommendation.

[Worf101]

It was on TCM just last night. Great minds I suppose.

Worf

[Smokey]

i bought this on Laserdics years ago and have not watched it...maybe i'll give it a spin tomorrow..thanks for the recommendation.

Is the movie in wide screen?

DVD (2007 edition) I have is in 2.55:1 format and picture never looked better. With 5.1 DD soundtrack.

It was on TCM just last night. Great minds I suppose

I knew was missing something when start watching this movie on DVD...Robert Osborne's openning remarks

[Woochifer]

Is the movie in wide screen?

DVD (2007 edition) I have is in 2.55:1 format and picture never looked better. With 5.1 DD soundtrack.

What are you comparing this with? That title was also available earlier as a Superbit release (maximized bitrates, along with DTS soundtracks). Unless this replicates the transfer used in the Superbit release, this might actually be a step down. You really have to watch it with Columbia's reissues. With Lawrence of Arabia, they crammed the entire movie into one disc (the original release and the Superbit version both used two discs) and it looked awful.

[winston]

Hi Smokey, nice pictures as usual

I order the bluray release from amazon, its at the post office I'll be getting it on Monday,

ave seen it back then.... never hear a word about it again until a few months ago, I was itching to buy the DVD "but I decided wait, after" i understand it was going to be released on blu ray in October. I'm hoping that the pq & sq is not disappointing (when that train comes down )

[Robert-The-Rambler]

Hadn't seen this movie for long time so picked it on DVD recently. This is a 1957 WWII british movie and it is story of Japanese prison camp where British and American POWs are kept and are ordered to build a bridge cross river Kwai.

What struck me about this movie is how the direcor David Lean try to strike a balance between reality of war (destruction and chaos) and human needs (reconstruction and order). And all the parties involve in the war (British, Japanese, American) are treated equal.

Ofcourse there are no happy ending or heros as all three lead charactors in this movie (including the Japanese camp commander) die at the end.

Very entertaining

The way Alec Guiness portrays a guy who becomes so lost that he becomes obsessed with finishing the bridge is amazing. It really is quite a sad film. I guess the only way to make sense of his current standing in life was to engineer the building of the bridge so far as to try to stop its destruction. They couldn't destroy what he worked so hard to accomplish. There was no more ally or enemy for Alec. It is a classic.

[Smokey]

What are you comparing this with? That title was also available earlier as a Superbit release (maximized bitrates, along with DTS soundtracks). Unless this replicates the transfer used in the Superbit release, this might actually be a step down.

Given that Superbit was released in 2005 (and in region2 only) and this DVD is 2007 edition (double disc), I am guessing they used the same transfer since on the box say "Mastered in Hi Definition". The picture is really sharp and bright and first disc contain only the movie. The second disc contain trailers and bunch of documentaries.

I'm hoping that the pq & sq is not disappointing (when that train comes down )

On the review about the bluray release, it said that it was mastered from 4k source. So it should look awesome. Let us know how it look.

There was no more ally or enemy for Alec.

This is probably the first war movie I seen where British and Japanese commander actually become good friends despite being in war with other.

[winston]

original posted by SmokeyThis is probably the first war movie I seen where British and Japanese commander actually become good friends despite being in war with other

Smokey, the Japanese commander never seems to have any other choice but been friendly "because he needs them to save his honor & pride,THAT BRIDGE HAD TO BE BUILT (that's the part of the plot I remembers well all these years) had things went differently in the end... who knows what would have happen.?