The Bridge on the River Kwai is a classic film that every film buff needs to watch. Alec Guiness (20 years before playing Obi-Wan Kenob in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope) is a stuffy Colonel Nicholson tasked to lead British POW's to build a critical railway bridge in Japanese occupied Burma during WWII. Instead of delaying the project, Colonel Nicholson decides that British pride dictates that he build a bridge that will last a hundred years and on-time for a Japanese train carrying important dignitaries and soldiers.
The Bridge on the River Kwai is filmed in 2.55:1 CinemaScope and glorious Technicolor. Available for streaming on Amazon Prime. I watched the Blu-ray on my 60" Panasonic plasma and the colors were beyond amazing, the picture quality was very clear and film like. The film is also available on 4K but I have read mixed reviews, some saying it was too sharp and detailed to the point of distracting. The sound is good for 1957 but then you don't watch this film for it's special effects.
Speaking of special effects, there are none. The bridge is real and took 9 months to build at a cost of $2,314,046 in today's dollars. The train is real too, producer Sam Spiegel bought the railroad train from the Ceylonese government. It had previously belonged to an Indian maharajah, and had seen sixty-five years of active service. Spiegel had it refurbished completely, and then had one mile of railway track laid for it.
The Bridge on the River Kwai won 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Alec Guinness), Best Director, Best Writing, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Music, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Sessue Hayakawa)
Alec Guiness is on the right
And as Obi-Wan Kanobi for everyone born after 1970
