It succeeds largely because it makes us care about its principal players.
Video:
Moreover, I mustn't leave out two other important ingredients: the movie's picture and sound. Columbia TriStar give us one of the widest screen reproductions I have yet encountered on a DVD, about 2.30:1 from side to side. This is still short of the movie's original, theatrical-release CinemaScope size of 2.55:1, but it is second only to "The Great Escape" for a DVD transfer. Since the location shooting in Ceylon is gorgeous, it is fitting that the disc's image is just as attractive in this meticulously restored print. A couple of shots, it's true, are more than a bit grainy, like the opening and closing bits, but they are few and far between. Most of the time the picture is clean and clear, with little noticeable fading of colors.
Audio:
The audio must, of course, be able to capably reproduce Kenneth Alford's famous "Col. Bogey March" (1914), whistled by the prisoners as they troop along; and in its Dolby Digital 5.1 retooling, the film's soundtrack does just fine. There is good front stereo spread, and occasional sounds have been piped into the rear, like rain, airplane engines, jungle noises, and ambient music.
Extras:
In keeping with the importance of a restored classic, Columbia TriStar have spared no expense in their packaging, giving the two discs a deluxe, reinforced cardboard case in a bamboo motif that resembles the bamboo forests so prevalent in the movie. Disc one contains the entire 161-minute feature on a dual-layer disc. The only minor drawback I found was that the timing for the complete motion picture starts over again at the turnover point, meaning that once the eighty-minute mark is reached and the laser begins to track layer two, the readout starts over again at zero minutes. Anyway, this first disc also contains both a Dolby Digital 5.1 and a Dolby Surround soundtrack; English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese spoken languages; English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai subtitles; an isolated musical score; and various DVD-ROM components, including trivia, maps, strategy guides, and screensavers.
Disc two is where most of the special items are located. Chief among these is a fifty-three-minute documentary on the adaptation of Boulle's novel, its casting, its production history, its score, and its restoration, with new interviews and behind-the-scenes information, all indexed. Next, there's a six-minute featurette, "Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant," made in black-and-white at the time of the film's production and chronicling the building of the movie bridge and its subsequent destruction. Then, there's another black-and-white film made some time ago, this one by USC's film department and called "...On Seeing Film," eight minutes long, introduced by William Holden. In addition, there's a relatively new "Appreciation by Filmmaker John Milius," a man who obviously believes he and his fellow directors owe a great deal to "Bridge." Finally, there are some forty scene selections, a photo gallery, talent files, a booklet insert featuring the text of the 1957 souvenir program, and theatrical trailers for this film and other Columbia releases--"Lawrence of Arabia," "The Guns of Navarone," and "Fail-Safe."
Parting Thoughts:
"The Bridge on the River Kwai" contains rousing adventure and thoughtful confrontation, all of it filmed on location in exotic climes and acted by consummate professionals. It's stirring drama in a timeless setting. It should appeal to those of us who grew up with it and may now appreciate its merits to their fullest at home, and to newcomers who need to be reminded what a good action movie can achieve without special digital effects or ego-trip actors. "Bridge" should be an essential part of any comprehensive DVD film library.
Moreover, I mustn't leave out two other important ingredients: the movie's picture and sound. Columbia TriStar give us one of the widest screen reproductions I have yet encountered on a DVD, about 2.30:1 from side to side. This is still short of the movie's original, theatrical-release CinemaScope size of 2.55:1, but it is second only to "The Great Escape" for a DVD transfer. Since the location shooting in Ceylon is gorgeous, it is fitting that the disc's image is just as attractive in this meticulously restored print. A couple of shots, it's true, are more than a bit grainy, like the opening and closing bits, but they are few and far between. Most of the time the picture is clean and clear, with little noticeable fading of colors.
Audio:
The audio must, of course, be able to capably reproduce Kenneth Alford's famous "Col. Bogey March" (1914), whistled by the prisoners as they troop along; and in its Dolby Digital 5.1 retooling, the film's soundtrack does just fine. There is good front stereo spread, and occasional sounds have been piped into the rear, like rain, airplane engines, jungle noises, and ambient music.
Extras:
In keeping with the importance of a restored classic, Columbia TriStar have spared no expense in their packaging, giving the two discs a deluxe, reinforced cardboard case in a bamboo motif that resembles the bamboo forests so prevalent in the movie. Disc one contains the entire 161-minute feature on a dual-layer disc. The only minor drawback I found was that the timing for the complete motion picture starts over again at the turnover point, meaning that once the eighty-minute mark is reached and the laser begins to track layer two, the readout starts over again at zero minutes. Anyway, this first disc also contains both a Dolby Digital 5.1 and a Dolby Surround soundtrack; English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese spoken languages; English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai subtitles; an isolated musical score; and various DVD-ROM components, including trivia, maps, strategy guides, and screensavers.
Disc two is where most of the special items are located. Chief among these is a fifty-three-minute documentary on the adaptation of Boulle's novel, its casting, its production history, its score, and its restoration, with new interviews and behind-the-scenes information, all indexed. Next, there's a six-minute featurette, "Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant," made in black-and-white at the time of the film's production and chronicling the building of the movie bridge and its subsequent destruction. Then, there's another black-and-white film made some time ago, this one by USC's film department and called "...On Seeing Film," eight minutes long, introduced by William Holden. In addition, there's a relatively new "Appreciation by Filmmaker John Milius," a man who obviously believes he and his fellow directors owe a great deal to "Bridge." Finally, there are some forty scene selections, a photo gallery, talent files, a booklet insert featuring the text of the 1957 souvenir program, and theatrical trailers for this film and other Columbia releases--"Lawrence of Arabia," "The Guns of Navarone," and "Fail-Safe."
Parting Thoughts:
"The Bridge on the River Kwai" contains rousing adventure and thoughtful confrontation, all of it filmed on location in exotic climes and acted by consummate professionals. It's stirring drama in a timeless setting. It should appeal to those of us who grew up with it and may now appreciate its merits to their fullest at home, and to newcomers who need to be reminded what a good action movie can achieve without special digital effects or ego-trip actors. "Bridge" should be an essential part of any comprehensive DVD film library.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]5727[/release]