The Bridge on the River Kwai [Blu-ray] Reviews

10 Comments

1. C. Calcaterra

   September 23, 2010 at 8:50 am

   Review by C. Calcaterra for Supernatural: The Complete Second Season
   Rating:
   In fall of 2005 when the new television line-up was paraded out for all to see an overlying theme was prevalent in several new shows: horror. Surprisingly, the new genre has produced some of the most entertaining television in years. The WB, a fledgling network in comparison to its older siblings, has launched a television show that not only embodies the spirit of this new horror fascination, its very title defines the current obsession dominating the entertainment industry: Supernatural.
   
   America’s newest preoccupation with death, life after death, and in general all things spooky have produced some pretty interesting television shows these past few seasons. After all, art imitates life, and on the television show Supernatural even art can be both haunted and dangerous. The WB’s newest journey into the unexplained is a fiction drama called Supernatural that follows the journey of two brothers who travel the highways of the United States searching for the origins of unexplained tragedy. Every week Dean and Sam Winchester scour the Internet and various newspapers looking for mysterious crimes, bizarre accidents, and unsolved murders. The brothers travel every episode to a new location on an endless road trip with the purpose of silencing the evil that few only know about. Most of the time the brothers find themselves facing off against the inspiration of a well-known ghost or horror story. It’s when they find these urban legends or at least the ideas that inspire them that the plot line takes on a whole new level of interest. The fact that a show like Supernatural has a plot at all is amazing. The horror genre is not known for riveting story lines. In Supernatural the plot is detailed and focused and most often is the driving force behind any of the action. Sometimes the plot line can be so involving it becomes a character of its own, just as important, if not more than the show’s two male leads.
   
   Women, with few exceptions, are usually damsels in distress for the boys to rescue. Every week either Dean or Sam falls in love with the female the Winchester boys happen to be helping. The only strong female roles seem to belong to women who are supernatural by nature, whether they are ghosts, psychics, or demons. Just recently, there was an episode involving a young woman who was a love interest for Sam and fought along side him. It was an interesting episode, the young woman brought up the issue that women were not just creatures to protect or fear and Sam’s obvious conflict with the idea as he claims that every woman around him gets hurt or killed. On a side note, the killer of the week in this same episode was the ghost of a small female child. This was a nice commentary on the internal debate going on between the main characters. This seemingly harmless little girl who appears to be the victim ends up being a formidable villain. Nothing is what it seems. Driven by two strong female characters, the episode is resolved when Sam accepts the idea of getting involved with his most recent love opportunity. This was quite the huge score for the ladies in that episode.
   
   A theme addressed in almost every episode is family. Dean and Sam are brothers and when one is in trouble the other will stop at nothing to come to any rescue. John Winchester, the patriarch of this crusading clan isn’t around much. In fact, an on-going sub-plot of the first season was the brothers’ mission to find their father as he had gone missing on a demon hunt. As unusual as the Winchester family appears, when together, they are a strong force to be reckoned with.
   
   Father/son issues, brother issues, lost love issues; general angst rules the relationships that dominate the main characters of this show. These men are human; they have very human problems even if what they do for a living is very inhuman. These problems, heightened by unusual circumstances, relate the characters to the show’s audience. It’s refreshing to see two brothers who care about each other, who miss each other and connect by way of a relationship not overcast by testosterone on television. The humanity of the show is just as important as the fantasy. It keeps the viewers involved.
   
   Analyzing aside, this is one of the best shows that TV has offered the horror/ sci-fi/ fantasy community in a hell of a long time. After being frustrated by horribly written clunkers like LOST that just keep viewers positively “lost” in an ever changing plotline, Supernatural actually delivers on the mysteries it presents each week. Sure there are questions about the bigger plot, but secrets are like promises, and when TV shows don’t keep their word viewers get frustrated. Supernatural is a fun, fulfilling TV show worthy of praise! I hope that the viewers keep watching and show the big bag networks who’s really in charge, (US!) and what we really want!
   

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2. Wayne Klein

   September 23, 2010 at 7:56 am

   Review by Wayne Klein for Supernatural: The Complete Second Season
   Rating:
   Special Features: “The Devil’s Roadmap”, “Webisodes”, three commentary tracks, gag reel, deleted/unaired scenes

   There was no witchcraft involved in the success of “Supernatural”. The show benefited from top notch writing, direction and performances with just the right dash of quirky humor to offset the horror elements of the show. The second season of the show picks up right where the first ended. Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) have located their dad (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and have the fabled gun fashioned to kill demons in their possession. The trio confront the Demon that killed Dean and Sam’s mom only to find it leaping from person to person finally possessing their father almost forcing the boys to kill him. Driving the Demon out of their father the trio escape with the gun believing that they can still track down the creature, find out why it has harvested children with special psychic abilities and how it plans on using them in its “war” against humanity. Then a truck hits Dean’s 1967 Impala. Sam is injured but alive and Dean is on the cusp of death with internal injuries. John makes a deal with the Devil or, in this case, the Demon they were pursuing–take his life for Dean’s. Before he dies John whispers something to Dean which will resonate throughout the rest of the second season.

   We get three commentary tracks on “In My Time of Dying” (director Kim Manners and actors Ackles & Padalecki), “What Is And Should Never Be” (writer Eric Kripe) and the first part of the season two finale “All Hell Breaks Loose” (Kripke, Manners and writer Sera Gamble) along with deleted/unaired scenes on three episodes.

   “The Devil’s Road Map” is exactly that; a map of the United States showing where each episode takes place in the country You can click on each spot and see material from John’s book with writers like Whitley Striber discussing the various monsters. We also see behind-the-scenes footage of the writers/producers discussing the creation of various episodes such as “All Hell Breaks Loose”. These are essentially featurettes on each episode and they are kind of cool. We also get Jared Padalecki’s original screen test on videotape. The quality of the screen test is typical for home video cameras as it was really never intended to be shown. It’s kind of cool to be able to contrast his first take on the character vs. the final performance from the pilot episode and subsequent character development over the course of two seasons.

   We also get three “webisode” featurettes including “The Inside Scoop with Ivan Hayden/VFX Supervisor” discussing the visual effects of the show, the overall look of these effects and how he approaches integrating the visuals into the show. “Inside the Writer’s Room” which also aired on the “Supernatural” website during season two features writer/creator/producer Kripke, writer/producer John Shiban and producer/writer/director Robert Singer where the trio point out that the show uses Urban folklore as the basis for most of their episodes. Sadly we can’t see the board with story ideas behind them. We also get glimpses of some of the storyboards including plenty of clips from the second season. “The Inside Scoop with Chris Cooper” is the final webisode included and features the prop master for “Supernatural” who discusses “all the toys” that the cast use on the show. Cooper discusses some of the fun stuff he gets to create including the guns and devices that Dean & Sam use. The amusing gag reel rounds things out including a very funny scene where Padalecki has a practical joke played on him during shooting.

   “Supernatural” looks extremely good overall with nice color reproduction and detail. There are some digital artifacts and the images do blur a bit when there is rapid action on screen (which could be due to the fact that the show is shot and mastered in HD although it largely captures the “look” of film) but on the whole the show looks quite good.

   An exceptional second season with only a few dud episodes, I’d highly recommend the “Supernatural”. The show has hip humor that manages to capture much of the fun elements that made “The X-Files” so memorable (and hard to reproduce as the failed but interesting “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” from 2005 demonstrated). As with the previous the discs are housed in a fold out case with a brief synopsis and credits for each episode.

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3. zillah975

   September 23, 2010 at 7:04 am

   Review by zillah975 for Supernatural: The Complete Second Season
   Rating:
   Supernatural is a show about family, loyalty, faith and doubt, and commitment to a cause and to one another, all wrapped in a terrifically acted, beautifully filmed, and gorgeously color-graded monster-of-the-week show. It’s the best thing on television since Buffy or Firefly or X-Files, and as much as I adore and respect those shows (I own them all and am glad of it), in my opinion Supernatural is better than any of them. The entire cast does a flawless job, the relationships are both achingly complicated and refreshingly simple, and the writers don’t shy away from hard questions or harder answers. Loyalty to your family trumps everything, and you don’t have to save the world every week, just the people you can.

   I can’t recommend it highly enough.

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4. Barry

   September 23, 2010 at 7:00 am

   Review by Barry for Supernatural: The Complete Second Season
   Rating:
   Supernatural stormed onto the WB last season and was a rip roarin’ thrill ride with amazing writing, mythology, and acting. With this second season, the series moved to it’s new home on the CW, and the series continued to evolve and become even better and deeper. Season 2 of the series finds the Winchester Brothers continue to drive into a horrific tale every week, as well as trying to work out their own story arc, and to find that blasted yellow eyed demon. This year, we delve deeper into the characters of Sam and Dean, wonderfully played Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. There are deeper layers to both, and the series’ work on character development this year is phenomenal. Both brothers go thru the ringer emotionally, mentally, and physically this year, and the show doesn’t cheat or let them or anyone else off the hook. The year starts off with “In My Time Of Dying”, a pick up where we left off with last season’s cliffhanger. Are the boys okay?. The car?. Dad?. A more subtle, less showy premiere. “Everybody Loves A Clown” gets back into season 1 territory with a creepy clown going after parents. Real creepy stuff. Some of the best episodes have to do with the show’s mythology. “Hunted” is one of the strongest eps of the show ever. “Born Under A Bad Sign” antes up the pot dealing with Sam and what the yellow eyes demon has in store for him. “What Is And What Should Never Be” is one of the most emotional shows with Dean getting a look at what life would be like if they weren’t hunters. The two part finale, “All Hell Breaks Loose”, is rightfully titled. Amazing stuff. SN delivers two hysterical comedic episodes with “Tall Tales” and “Hollywood Babylon”, the latter being stuffed with jokes, in-jokes, and Dean’s nasty food habit. Other notable eps include “Croatoan”, “Heart”, and the great “Folsom Prison Blues”. Linda Blair guest stars in “The Usual Suspects”, a strong episode that brings to light what we’ve all probably wondered. How can they get away with these things and not get caught?. Creator/Producer Eric Kripke knows how to work the audience and to keep things real in an unrealistic word the Winchesters live in. Dean and Sam are who they are and their continuing development in this wonderful season progress naturaly. Both actors do some incredible work here, putting most other CW casts to shame. Any duds?. “Road Kill” was pretty standard, and I didn’t care much for “Simon Said”. Extras include JP’s screen test, deleted scenes, gag reel, a featurette on the myths they use and a featurette on bringing an episode to life. With it’s classic rock soundtrack, the impossible to ignore Dean Winchester, top notch horror writing and mythology, Supernatural continues to be the new supernatural/horror show to beat.

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5. trashcanman

   September 23, 2010 at 6:25 am

   Review by trashcanman for Supernatural: The Complete Second Season
   Rating:
   In the midst of this television season’s coverage of “Lost”‘s fall from grace and eventual comeback and the big waves made by “Heroes”, not to mention the slew of increasingly brazen reality TV saturating the market this gem of a show got lost in the shuffle. Season one was a solid start for the show, full of monster-and-hottie-of-the-week stories that stood alone while very slowly giving us an inkling of a larger plot at work before ending with a glorious cliffhanger. The music was wonderful, the guest stars brilliant, and the homages to classic and modern horror were thick. If you missed it, now’s the time to catch up because season two is a winner in every possible way. The first episode is among the greatest season openers I’ve ever had the pleasure of viewing and it shakes this show to it’s very core and sets the tone for the entire year’s events. From there, Sam and Dean set out to get revenge for their deceased family members and save as many people as they can along the way. Second verse, same as the first, right? Well, no, not quite. We still get our monsters-of-the-week and our cute guest stars and our classic rock soundtrack, but the tone of this season is so much darker and the events so traumatic that the stakes just seem to be on a whole other level. Friendships are made and broken, loyalties are tested, long-standing beliefs are challenged, all three Winchesters fight for their very souls, and almost nobody’s getting out whole. This season is a tooth-and-nail battle for survival and while it still has a hefty dose of the humor that made the first season so much fun, it’s obvious that this show is no longer just playing around at having a larger plot. This is the real deal. Among the baddies met along the way are more vampires (one played by an almost unrecongnizable Amber Benson of “Buffy” fame), a rogue hunter, a living dead girl, a female werewolf (in the most heart-wrenching episode of any show I’ve seen this season), a deal-making demon for those who remember the legend of Robert Johnson, some of Sam’s fellow “gifted” children (we do learn their secret), and a Norse trickster god to name a few. The music, if anything, has gotten better this season and so have the guest stars. My favorite guest performance has got to be the loveable Katherine Isabel from cult-classic werewolf flick “Ginger Snaps” who shows up twice and inspires adoration in every frame she’s in. If you missed this show on the CW, shame on you; now buy this set. If you missed the first season buy that set too. This show is so good I’d hate to see it die because nobody bothered to watch it for themselves. These kinds of shows are notoriously short-lived and the television big-wigs have little patience for them so when one of this caliber gets on the air and stays on the air, we need to keep it that way in every way we can. Support horror, sci-fi, and fantasy television now, and we’ll be rewarded with more later. I hope.

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6. Scorpio69

   September 23, 2010 at 5:33 am

   Review by Scorpio69 for The Bridge on the River Kwai [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   There really aren’t enough superlatives to describe the beauty, power and human drama in this film. The restoration is magnificent, the photography beautiful and the story compelling. Sessue Hayakawa gives a masterful performance as Colonel Saito; easily the most complex portrayal of any Japanese person in WWII movie history. He is completely unable to understand the British sense of honor, since being taken prisoner in the Japanese mindset is the ultimate dishonor. Yet he is also unable to deny that he and his own officers are simply not competent enough to tackle the task at hand, namely to build a railway bridge across the River Kwai — and do so under a non-negotiable deadline. To fail this task would cause his own public dishonor, yet to yield to the contest of wills with Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), whom he desperately needs to build the bridge, would cause him to suffer a loss of face and deep personal dishonor — a Hobson’s choice. Alec Guinness is simply brilliant in his role — and simply British. On one level he is the quintessential British colonial master, out to “teach these people a lesson…that will put them to shame”. His pride allows him to convince himself that building the bridge is nothing more than a morale booster for his men — never mind that it furthers the Japanese war effort. He reasons that since he was ordered to surrender that to then refuse to do his captor’s bidding might be considered tantamount to insubordination. But beyond doing what is merely necessary, he becomes obsessed with building a bridge that will last hundreds of years. In reality he is constructing a monument to himself, since he is now in the twilight of his military career. William Holden gives a wonderful performance as Shears, the only American to witness this contest of wills. He is much more interested in living “like a human being” and avoiding any military duty than dying for such a twisted sense of “honor”. However, though, circumstances dictate that he become the proverbial reluctant hero. There are so many other outstanding touches and performances in this film that to describe them all would take more time than it would to simply watch it. In this case, one picture is truly worth a thousand words. See this movie.

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7. Mike Stone

   September 23, 2010 at 4:33 am

   Review by Mike Stone for The Bridge on the River Kwai [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   If someone had the inclination, “Bridge on the River Kwai” could have been divided into two very respectable movies. The first, concerning a group of British prisoners of war charged with erecting the title piece, would have been a neat little psychological drama and character study starring Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa. The second, an action-adventure thriller, would follow William Holden, accompanied by Jack Hawkins, as they braved the harsh Asian jungle in a plot to blow up said title piece. Each movie, as I see them in my own head, would have their fair share of suspense, action, snappy dialogue, intriguing characters, and powerful narrative thrust. Each would have been a critical success, a popular smash, and an enduring classic. However, they are not two movies. They are one cohesive whole. And here the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.David Lean skillfully weaves these the two narrative threads together. Even with a 160 minute running time, Lean never wastes a moment. Everything leads to something else, and it is always entertaining. Lean is that rare director who has a firm handle on both the visual and narrative elements of his films. He reigns both in here with considerable skill, only showing what the audience needs to see, and what he wants them to see.As in most war movies, madness is a theme that runs rampant. Each of the main characters has dipped into some sort of madness, which manifests itself in four unique and intriguing ways.Guinness is Col. Nicholson, a by the book British officer. He carries around a copy of the Geneva Convention, and expects his Japanese captors, isolated for many months in the jungle, to adhere to them. Guinness’ greatest work here is in portraying Nicholson’s stubbornness in the face of grave danger, and his pride in a job well done. It could have been a showy role in the hands of a lesser actor, as there is a temptation to externalize Nicholson’s crumble from sanity. Guinness is subtle beyond the call of duty (even in his physical portrayal; one moment has him, after a long stint imprisoned in an oven-like box, paraded in front of his men. Catch Nicholson trying to march with military precision on legs terrorized by atrophy. It is a heartbreaking, and heroic, moment).Colonel Saito, played by Hayakawa, is a man caught in a most unenviable position. In the beginning, he appears to be holding all the cards. But as we soon see, he is as much a pawn as the prisoners he’s captured, indebted as much to his superiors as to his honour of duty. The problem with the character of Colonel Saito, and really the only hole in the whole film, is that he is supposed to be a menacing character. But we never see him be menacing; we have to rely on the word of Commander Shears. A scene of him killing in cold blood would have gone a long way later on, when his transition to Guinness’ subordinate would have been even more powerful.Major Warden, played by Hawkins, comes late to the story, but has much to say about how the second half will play out. He too is controlled by a sense of British duty, but his madness exhibits itself in a less controlled way. Warden, who’s spent most of his time playing war games in a tropical paradise of a base, expects his mission to be a walk in the park. The horrors he encounters (both physical and psychological) are unexpected and hit him much harder than the others. Hawkins, as both the English gentleman and the tormented soldier, does a fine job.Holden plays probably the most intriguing character. His Commander Shears has lived with his madness the longest, and has developed an ironic anti-hero callus to shield himself from the horrors. We first see him digging graves for his fallen comrades, of which he is the last to survive. From there, his situation gets much worse. Shears adopts a mocking tone when confronting his superiors, parakeeting their catch phrases (“When you’re done, there’s always one more thing to do”; “Be happy in your work”) to the point of ridiculing them. And even when he manages to escape the physical prison, he manages to get drawn back there against his will.The prevailing madness of the film comes to a head in the end as Major Clipton, the camp’s doctor and arguably the only character not afflicted by insanity up to this point (and probably my favourite character), has a Conrad-like epiphany. It’s a moment that rivals Kurtz’ “The horror! The horror!” from “Heart of Darkness” and “Kwai’s” war-movie progeny “Apocalypse Now”.Even though many of its themes are psychological, it’s no surprise why “Kwai” became both a popular and critical success. It has all the elements of a grand classic: an all-star cast, tight suspense, lush scenery, humour, drama, finely drawn characters, intense action, and well-scripted dialogue. And of course, there’s the great whistling scene; nothing better than a bright melody to cut through the horrors of war. It’s a charming little scene that both brings a smile to your face and warns of tough times ahead.

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8. P. Ferrigno

   September 23, 2010 at 3:44 am

   Review by P. Ferrigno for The Bridge on the River Kwai [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   The release of David Lean’s powerful, intelligent and thought provoking anti-war masterpiece on widescreen DVD accompanied by the added bonus documentary “The Making of the Bridge on the River Kwai”, along with other featurette’s, theatrical trailers and an appreciation of the film by noted director, John Milius, is indeed a cause for celebration amongst cinema afficiando’s of this most superb of motion pictures.The remarkable novel by Pierre Boulle (also author of “Monkey Planet”…filmed as the memorable “Planet of the Apes”) is masterfully brought to the screen by director David Lean, a true genius behind many historical epics. Deep inside snake ridden Asian jungles, British and American prisoners of war toil under the sweltering tropical sun working on part of the infamous Burma railway that claimed thousands of Allied lives during WWII. Colonel Saito (talented Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa) presides over his POW camp with an iron rule…driving his Japanese troops as hard as his malnourished prisoners. Enter the honorable and steadfast English POW, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guiness in an Oscar winning performance) refusing to capitulate to Saito’s demands that British officers perform manual labour alongside enlisted men. Each man’s blind adherance to their own personal code of honor sees the two men plunge into a psychological war of will, bravado and courage…each determined not to waver from their personal beliefs.As these two leaders clash with each other, American prisoner of war and resident camp gravedigger, Shears (William Holden) effects on escape from the brutal prison camp and after nearing death, he makes his way back to the Allied forces. Unfortunately for the timid Shears, he is coerced to guide a suicidal commando mission with Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) and Lieutenant Joyce (Geoffrey Horne) to return to the enemy infested jungles and blow up the railway bridge being built by Nicholson and the British prisoners of war. Each differing path taken by Nicholson, Saito & Shears eventually intertwines and ultimately sees the three men confront their own inner fears and beliefs with tragic circumstances…. Seven Oscars bear testament to the wonderful attributes of this movie….including Best Picture and Best Actor…plus “Kwai” is regularly listed by critics as one of the most influential and highly regarded movies of the 20th century. For some additional in-depth behind the scenes reading on “The Bridge on the River Kwai” check out the insightful William Holden biograpy entitled “Golden Boy”. Excellent reading !!Quite simply an absolute “must have” addition to any DVD collection, “The Bridge on the River Kwai” remains a benchmark in inspirational movie making….I cannot recommend this film highly enough !!

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9. L. Shirley

   September 23, 2010 at 3:20 am

   Review by L. Shirley for The Bridge on the River Kwai [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   This review refers to Columbia/Tri Star 2000 release DVD of “The Bridge on the River Kwai”….I am still whistling that wonderful theme song from this film(I watched it 2 days ago),”Colonel Bogey March”. From the moment the British soldiers march into the Japaneese P.O.W. camp, whistling that tune I was once again hooked on this fabulous World War II movie!The story, based on the novel by Pierre Boulle, is loosely based on actual events that occured during the war.The very proper Colonel Nicholson(Alec Guinness) leads his captured,but proud and tattered British troops into the Japaneese P.O.W. camp they have been assigned to.It is there that he comes face to face with the commander of the camp, the equally proper Colonel Saito(Sessue Hayakawa).Saito and Nicholson are immediatly at odds, concerning the assignment of the British, to build a railway bridge for their enemies over the River Kwai.Both men are highly principled in their beliefs, stubborn in their ways and will not give in where their honor is concerned.Saito seems to have the upper hand, using cruel and unusual punishment to try to persuade Nicholson, but to no avial. The bridge must be built and eventually they come to a compromise.Nicholson sets his men to the task in an almost obssessive way and takes great pride in the job his men are doing.Meanwhile……an escapee from the camp, American sailor Shears(William Holden),whose only ambition is to get home, has now “volunteered” to lead a task force, including the over zealous British commander Major Warden(Jack Hawkins),back to the camp so they can blow up the bridge.And of course you know with Holden leading the team there will also be some romance mixed in with the action!It’s a great adventure from start to finish. Directed by David Lean with perfection, filmed in the breathtaking locales of Ceylon, with an engaging script by Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman, you’ll fall in love with this epic film.It recieved the Best Picture(1957) Award from Oscar and also garnered a Best Director for Lean, and Best Actor for Guinness, as well as Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, and Music Scoring!You will not miss one detail of the jungles in this beautifully remastered DVD. The colors are sharp and vibrant. It is presented in the original theatrical widescreen(anamorphic), aspect ratio 2.55:1, and every bit of scenery right to the edges is outstanding. The choices on the sound are 5.1 Dol Dig or 2.0 surround. The dialouge is crisp and clear, as is the musical score. The surrounding sounds are not quite as clear but is still good. It may be viewed in several languages or with subtitles as well. There is not too much on the special features on this edition(see tech info), however there is a “Limited Edition” for not much more than this one with a ton of extras(if only I’d known when I bought this one…),that is also by Columbia so I would guess the picture and sound are excellent as well.One of the best war movies ever made..go for it..Laurie

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10. James D. Eret

    September 23, 2010 at 2:49 am

    Review by James D. Eret for The Bridge on the River Kwai [Blu-ray]
    Rating:
    David Lean’s “Bridge on the River Kwai” is one of my favorite movies of all time, and one one the greatest war movies of all time, but a differnt war movie. Can the civilized Colonel Nichoson (brilliantly played by Alec Guinness and won him an Academy Award for best actor) defy the brutal Japanese Colonel Saito(Sessue Hayakawa, also brilliant)and win the war of wills? At first we think he won’t but the plot takes a strange turn and this Nicholson turns out to be as fanatic as Saito is in the prison camp. Beautifully shot in Ceylon(Sri Lanka) serving well for Burma by Freddie Young, Lean’s great photographer also for “Lawrence of Arabia” the viewer can feel the heat and humidity, see the starving appearance of the prisoners, who start buiding the bridge as a lark until Nicholson wins his points of honor and they work harder than ever. My favorite line in the movie is one of Colonel Saito’s favorite sayings: “Be happy in your work,” which takes on more and more irony as the film and story unfolds. There is a side plot, with William Holden barely escaping, only to be brought back back with hard-core commandoes(led by demolitions expert Jack Hawkins) to the camp to blow up the bridge. This is a wonderful psychological and subtle war film, with just enough adventure and action to balance its war of words, over the Geneva Covention(Nicholson keeps a copy of it in his pocket and then is slapped with it by Saito)over points of British stiff upper lip and Japanese warrior code,Bushido, two vastly different viewpoints but in the end breed fanatics. The acting, editing, writing,and photography are all flawless. This is one of the few war movies made forty ago that still rank with any today. A true masterpiece, much imitated. Lean is a director of place and attends to all the small details, from the ratty prisoner uniforms,a Japanese sentry standing guard in the heavy rainfall, and the haunting whistling of the entire ragged British company, marching tired and disease-infested into a new camp just after Holden has been digging graves. And the camp doctor, well-played by James Donald, saying “Madness! Madness! after watching the bridge being blown while a train crosses over. A true classic of any genre. The restored version is excellent and again , since I saw this movie on a large screen, see it if you can at the theater, even if you own this video. It is that good.

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