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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 rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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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

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

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

A towering work.

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

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

The big screen is the place to see this widescreen epic.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/01/03
Austin Chronicle
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

This intelligent and exciting WWII tale, masterfully helmed by Lean (at the start of his 'epic' period), features a splendid performance from Guinness.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/30/03
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Guinness is wonderful; one of the all-time greats. You can watch it a hundred times and it stills holds the same fascination and impact as the first viewing.

comment Comment
08/30/02
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

Brilliant is the word, and no other, to describe the quality of skills that have gone into the making of this picture.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

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

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

The film has great themes ... fascinating characters expertly acted, a compelling plot and brilliant direction by one of the masters of the epic, David Lean.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

Antiheroic war epic.

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

One of the best anti-war films ever made.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

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

In my opinion, it is one of the two best films to emerge from a very strong decade of cinema.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
07/03/03
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
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