The Bridge on the River Kwai

directed by David Lean
UK / USA 1957

The Bridge on the River Kwai is a towering triumph of a motion picture. It has the definite stamp of class about it and stands out as one of the greatest war pictures ever made. The first of David Lean's epics, it is primarily set in a Japanese World War II POW camp. It is at the same time a definitive character study of an obsessive British Army Officer and a savage indictment of the futility of war acutely symbolised by the fate of the eponymous bridge. Made in glorious Cinemascope the film looks really spectacular on the Big Screen, Jack Hildyard makes masterful use of his cameras.

From an acting point of view, Alec Guinness dominates this picture. He delivers a flawless performance as the by-the-book Colonel Nicolson, a man determined to teach the Japanese Camp Commandant (Sessue Hawakaya) some lessons. However, he is admirably supported by William Holden as the obligatory cynical American; Jack Hawkins as the British Officer out to blow up the Bridge; and the wonderful James Donald as the British doctor who sighs the memorable line "Madness! Madness!".

Excerpt from Edinburgh University Film Society located HERE

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Theatrical Release: October 2th 1957

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DVD Review: Columbia / Tristar (2 Disc Special Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Columbia / Tristar Region 2,4 - PAL
Runtime	1st layer runs 1:17:21 - 2nd layers runs 1:18:03 , total = 2:35:24 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	2.47:1 Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.99 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English 5.1 (448 kb/s), French 5.1 (448 kb/s), German 5.1 (448 kb/s), French 2.0 mono (192 kb/s), German 2.0 mono (192 kb/s), Music Only Track 2.0 mono (192 kb/s)
Subtitles	English, French, German, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Hindi, Turkish, Danish, Arabic, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Dutch Norwegian, Greek, Hebrew, Bulgarian, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Columbia / Tristar Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.47:1 Edition Details: • Trivia Sabotage: Building the Bridge • Maps and Military Strategy • Documentary: The Making of The Bridge on the River Kwai • Featurette: The Rise and Fall of the River Giant • An Appreciation by John Milius • USC short film introduced by William Holden • Filmographies • Gallery • Screensavers • Theatrical Trailer • Weblink • Booklet DVD Release Date: 4 Dec 2000 Keep Case Chapters 40

Comments:

The Film
David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai has been underappreciated by some critics who favor Lean's later Lawrence of Arabia which is, granted, technologically more refined, but in my honest opinion has little other over it's predecessor which at any rate is considered a cinematic classic. 5 / 5

Video
The video image offered on the DVD ranges from excellent to poor but it's all fault of original dated processing techniques. It so happens during any optically processed edit (and a couple of standard ones as well) the quality of the film material instantly jerks and shifts in quality that completes the optical edit (a lot of dissolves in this film's case) which then is edited back to the good footage the main part of the film is comprised of. As this DVD was released before most studios reverted to some post processing of the film elements to compensate for the short comings of older film stock, these problems are presented without any attempt at digital rectification seen on a lot of older films released today. Certain passages of the film seem to be taken from stock footage that looks grainier and more unsteady than the rest of the film as well.

Film elements aside there is very little to complain about in the transfer. It is very slightly windowboxed (by 16 pixelrows at 720x576) limiting conceivable resolution a bit. The image is agreeably sharp throughout. Edge enhancement rears it's head from time to time, as seen in capture 4 around the ear of the Major contrasting with the sky, but is not a major distraction.

The film has been split into two files, each contained on a layer of the dual layer disc. This results in an unusually long layer change on most players. Why this was done I have no idea.

Aspect Ratio Check: The Bridge on the River Kwai is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.47:1 in 16:9 mode, but several sources conclude that the original aspect ratio for this film was 2.35:1. When comparing to the old letterbox transfer of the film in 2.35:1 aspect ratio (as seen in parts of the documentary on disc 2) it shows that the new release is not cropped (apart from the opening credits which have been both matted and stretched in comparison to the old transfer, capture #2 is part of the opening credits) but image info on the left side of the frame has been added. This seems to be the old "The Great Escape" issue again, but the film's framing is always pleasing and does not seem to reveal any unwanted set decor that plagued the transfer of the aforementioned "The Great Escape" 3.5 / 5

Audio
I believe the 5.1 audio track is a port of the 70mm 6-track stereo that accompanied the film originally. The audio is nicely rendered with none of the inconsistencies that the video had with remarkable clarity and no hiss. Stereophonic effects were sparse and only appeared slightly with the soundtrack and occasional sound effects, but all dialogue was centered. Overall an excellent good representation. MP3 SAMPLE HERE

The "Music Only Track" is in mono, whereas the music in the actual soundtrack is in stereo. I suspect the original stereo masters of the soundtrack is lost.
4.5 / 5

Extra Material
There's really nothing to complain about in the extras section apart from the fact that some of the extras seem totally unnecessary to me. Just how many of the viewers want to play a "trivia game" or view a "weblink" or screensavers? That being said, the vast majority of the extras are excellent and has most of what one could wish for, except an audio commentary, although the information passed off in the documentary is more than sufficient. There are some vintage featurettes that have nothing to do with the film itself and are mostly of historical value only.
4.5 / 5

Packaging
In keeping with their "Lawrence of Arabia" cover, the front is comprised of a single still from the film. It comes in the standard keep case with a platter inside holding the second disc. I do prefer the US packaging.

Standard Stuff
The menus are animated, and do the job quite properly. There are dubs in German and French which are also presented in mono. Subtitles are fairly accurate and easy to read. There is a Dolby Digital trailer that plays before the film and can not be skipped and thus is a slight nuisance.

Bottom Line
This is currently the only PAL version of this film on the market, but as it is upcoming in a new edition in NTSC I wouldn't be surprised if it would also be re-released in PAL, so instead of rushing out to buy this release I'd hold my breath a little while.

- Finnur E.

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