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Movies / On DVD / The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai

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The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

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Reviews Counted:41

Fresh:39

Rotten:2

Average Rating:8.8/10

Consensus: This complex war epic asks hard questions, resists easy answers, and boasts career-defining work from star Alec Guinness and director David Lean.

Runtime: 2 hrs 47 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: One of the all-time great war films, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is yet another classic from the marvelous David Lean (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, DR. ZHIVAGO). The film is an outstanding, psychologically... One of the all-time great war films, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is yet another classic from the marvelous David Lean (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, DR. ZHIVAGO). The film is an outstanding, psychologically complex adaptation of Pierre Boulle's 1952 novel, a classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson (a fabulous Alec Guinness), the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans. Although credited to screenwriter Carl Foreman, the script was actually written by blacklisted writer Michael Wilson. The film garnered seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Guinness). The climax is one of the great finales in film history. [More]

Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa

Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne, Andre Morell, Peter Williams, Percy Herbert, Harold Goodwin, Ann Sears, K. Katsumoto, Henry Okawa

Director: David Lean

Director: David Lean
Screenwriter: Michael Henry Wilson, Carl Foreman
Producer: Sam Spiegel
Composer: Malcolm Arnold

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Bridge on the River Kwai

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A towering work.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/19/08
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Guinness, Lean and British war cinema have never been better.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
02/19/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A classic example of a film that fudges the issues it raises.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 2 Comments
02/09/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Lean achieves a fine balance of creating complex characters from a fine cast, while keeping the pace up throughout this long movie.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Almar Haflidason
Almar Haflidason
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It is a whale of a story, and in the telling of it, British Director David Lean does a whale of a job.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
02/18/09
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A gripping drama, expertly put together and handled with skill in all departments.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
02/19/08
Mike Kaplan
Mike Kaplan
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of THE great action sagas, and at the top of David Lean's form.

comment Comment
07/02/07
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com

Antiheroic war epic.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
04/02/07
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

For what it is, it ain't bad, though it serves mainly as an illustration of the ancient quandary of revisionist moviemakers: if all you do is systematically invert cliches, you simply end up creating new ones.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 2 Comments
12/13/06
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

Alec Guinness' outstanding performance is one of the many things that work in David Lean's intriguing epic.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
11/08/06
Wesley Lovell
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

Still one of the most rousing war films, Lean's epic is rich in characters and marked by an ironic and ambiguous POV in the way that it depicts the conflict between Guinness, Hayakawa, and Holden, as individuals and symbols of their national cultures.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/15/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Alec Guinness won his only non-honorary Oscar for this film (did you know he'd be nominated for writing the following year?), and boy is it deserved.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
02/23/06
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Epic wartime storytelling at its most vibrant and satisfying.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
11/09/05
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
DVDTalk.com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/08/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

No review available.

comment Comment
09/26/05
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

One of the best war movies, mixed with one of the best action movies, mixed with one of Alex Guinness' best performances mixed with a killer score? One of the greats.

comment Comment
09/10/05
Dan Fienberg
Dan Fienberg
Zap2it.com

No review available.

comment Comment
08/25/05
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

No review available.

comment Comment
07/04/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Did Lean ever make a bad film?

comment Comment
01/08/05
Michael A. Smith
Michael A. Smith
Nolan's Pop Culture Review

No review available.

comment Comment
07/28/04
Jurgen Fauth
Jurgen Fauth
About.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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