The Bridge on the River Kwai with William Holden: DVD Cover
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The Bridge on the River Kwai Director: David Lean Cast: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa

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  • DVD Release Date: 06/10/2008
  • Original Release: 1957
  • Rating: Rated PG
  • Sales Rank: 14,274
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Scenes

Features

Closed Caption; Exclusive documentary - adaptation of Boulle's novel, casting, history of production, score, release, restoration and more; Original featurette: The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant; USC short film introduced by William Holden; An appreciation by filmmaker John Milius; Photo gallery

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Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Bridge on the River Kwai: Disc One
1. Start [6:51]
2. "Colonel Bogey March" [4:12]
3. "I am Colonel Saito" [4:33]
4. Nicholson Meets Shears [2:38]
5. Officers' Meeting [2:43]
6. A Point of Difference [10:05]
7. The Oven [1:42]
8. Right Moment & Company [2:02]
9. How Not to Build a Bridge [3:55]
10. Five Minutes With Nicholson [5:37]
11. A Successful Escape [6:00]
12. A Late Supper With Saito [7:48]
13. Shears Leaves Paradise [1:57]
14. Victory & Defeat [5:25]
15. Inspection [4:05]
16. Setting Saito Straight [4:58]
17. Shears Meets Warden [3:42]
18. The Commando School [2:34]
19. Warden's Plan [3:42]
20. The Truth About Shears [3:52]
21. Building a Proper Bridge [4:12]
22. Fourth Team Member [5:39]
23. The Mission Begins [1:25]
24. A Change of Route [1:20]
25. Jungle Trek [3:41]
26. Radio Repair [2:07]
27. Facing a Crisis [3:30]
28. Bathing With the Enemy [5:51]
29. Superficially Chipped Bone [6:53]
30. Reconnaissance [1:04]
31. Attack Plan [3:19]
32. "A First-Rate Job" [6:51]
33. Setting the Charges [3:39]
34. A Few Words From Nicholson [2:09]
35. Final Preparations [4:10]
36. "The River's Gone Down" [5:56]
37. "Something Odd's Going On" [1:59]
38. Leading Them Right to It [2:42]
39. "Blow Up the Bridge?" [1:55]
40. Mission Accomplished [4:52]
Disc #2 -- Bridge on the River Kwai: Disc Two
2. From Novel to Script [7:02]
3. Casting [9:04]
4. Building the Bridge [5:00]
5. Production Stories [9:49]
6. Nicholson and Saito [1:55]
7. Nicholson's Realization [3:02]
8. Blowing-Up the Bridge [6:10]
9. Bird's Eye View [2:07]
10. The Shooting Continues [1:01]
11. Editing [1:29]
12. David Lean and the Critics [1:35]
13. A Masterpiece [2:33]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

David Lean's gripping World War II drama -- winner of Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Screenplay, Cinematography, Musical Score, and Editing -- is every bit as fresh and absorbing today as when originally released in 1957. Its underlying but perceptive commentary on the futility of war never supersedes the narrative, which revolves around a clash of wills between Japanese prison-camp commandant Sessue Hayakawa and British colonel Alec Guinness. Stern, didactic and indomitable, Guinness leads his men in the construction of a bridge, as directed by the Japanese officer, but does so on his own terms. This boosts morale among the British soldiers, who become defiantly proud of their bridge even as British officer Jack Hawkins and American escapee William Holden plot to destroy it. Pierre Boulle's novel is perfectly adapted by blacklisted writers Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, and Lean's direction is absolutely flawless in every respect. You'll always remember two things about this movie: the infectious, frequently whistled "Colonel Bogey March" and Alec Guinness's Oscar-winning performance. The Limited Edition DVD spans two discs and includes an isolated music track, links to DVD-ROM features like screensavers and military plans, as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary material. Ed Hulse, Barnes & Noble

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  • Ratings: 4Reviews: 2

a bridge to violent timesby Anonymous

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November 02, 2006: Well, this isn’t another war movie, but a very special one, over all considering it’s from 1957. Colonel Nicholson is a stubborn chief of the British Army. His enemy, the Japanese Col. Saito I think isn’t so stiff. It’s mostly the Bushido code that speaks for him and furthermore, he manages brutally the concentration camp, but Saito has a problem: he must build a bridge over the Kwai river and his engineers are unable to do these task. So, Nicholson, who seems to think in spite of his temporal defeat the Japanese are inferior to the British, with the excuse of preserve the moral of his men, decides to collaborate in the making of the bridge. That has to cost Nicholson to fall in treason, as his affection for codes and rules predominates over the main duty of a soldier: destroy the enemy. In effect, Nicholson is a sort of product of the Victorian and British colonial era, and he speaks with affect of his service time in India, a country by then, near to independence. So, when the tricky but vital soldier played by William Holden exposes the disastrous conditions of the camp, Nicholson is astonished: “This man is an eccentric, even considering he’s an American”, says. Holden is a man with a more modern and civil ideas. Nicholson and Saito are the past, but WW II is yet a modern war, not a colonial restricted one. So, with these antecedents, you can understand better the strange madness in what Nicholson falls: he’s by career, by nature or both, an obsessive man, and so, becomes obsessed with the bridge in itself and forgets he’s working for the enemy. A commando attack is made following the information provided by Holden, and Nicholson recovers the reason only a few seconds before he’s killed. The allied commando is directed curiously by a scholar from Cambridge played by Jack Hawkins, and Holden also perceives something lethal in his character. Effectively WW II gave pass to today’s high rate violent crime. David Lean had in this film a surprising instinct unequalled in his other works, also very good, but this is for me the best.

This review was written about the DVD Wide Screen edition.

A great warm-up to Lawrence of Arabiaby Anonymous

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August 31, 2000: As the author of the epic hi-fantasy BLOODSPILLER, now available at iuniverse.com and soon here at BN.com, I have long since adored intelligent epics, both in book form and in movies. As with most David Lean movies of the 1950's and 1960's, this film is a visual stunner, but also a joy to the ear. No word of dialogue is wasted, the script brimming with typical British irony and a sense that the world, is indeed, mad. William Holden's acting persona had always been well-suited to cynical throw-away lines, and in Bridge he revels in it when confronted by a force greater than his own---the indomitable British will and discipline, the steely-nerved soldier who had ruled most of the world for a hundred years against much greater numbers. Who can forget the Battle of Omdurman, in which the British square of 10,000 men under Lord Kitchener, held off and defeated 100,000 Sudanese and finally broke the back of their rebellion.It is this mindset that controls Alec Guiness, his sense of misplaced honor in this instance, that sets him upon the task of building the bridge in that steaming, Burmese jungle. That he drives Sesu Hayakawa literally to madness, is exquisite. Folks, this is a fabulous movie for the thinking-man's fan, a mere warm-up for the greatest movie of all time which he would direct in 1962, starring Peter O'toole ( I'm not telling! )If you haven't seen bridge, I won't give away the ending, cause it will knock your socks off, This has been for many. many years one of my favorate movies. Buy it! You'l love it1 I promise!!!

This review was written about the DVD Wide Screen edition.