One of the all-time great war films, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is yet another classic from the marvelous David Lean (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, DR. ZHIVAGO). The film is an outstanding, psychologically complex adaptation of Pierre Boulle's 1952 novel, a classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson (a fabulous Alec Guinness), the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans. Although credited to screenwriter Carl Foreman, the script was actually written by blacklisted writer Michael Wilson. The film garnered seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Guinness). The climax is one of the great finales in film history.

THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1997.

Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, stood in for Burma (now known as Myanmar).

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
2-Disc Set
Anamorphic Widescreen 2.55
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French
Dolby Digital 1.0 - English
Subtitles - English, French - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Commentary - John Milius
Documentary
Featurette - The RISE AND FALL OF A JUNGLE GIANT
Introduction - William Holden
Text/Photo Galleries:
Gallery - Photo Gallery

Distributor Notes: When British POWs build a vital railway bridge in enemy-occupied Burma, Allied commandos are assigned to destroy it in David Lean's epic World War II adventure THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. Spectacularly produced, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI captured the imagination of the public and won seven 1957 Academy Awards(r), including Best Picture, Best Actor (Alec Guinness), and Best Director. Even it's theme song, an old WWII whistling tune, the Colonel Bogey March, became a massive hit. THE BRIDGE ONTHE RIVER KWAI continues today as one of the most memorable cinematic experiences of all time.

Source: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

William Holden: American Actor, NETWORK (1976)
Alec Guinness: British Actor, BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
Jack Hawkins: British Actor
Sessue Hayakawa: Japanese Actor/Writer
James Donald: British Actor
Geoffrey Horne: British Actor
Andre Morell: British Character Actor
Peter Williams: 
Percy Herbert: British Character Actor
Harold Goodwin: British Character Actor
Ann Sears: 
K. Katsumoto: 
Henry Okawa: 

David Lean: British Director/Producer/Editor, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

Sam Spiegel: 

Michael Henry Wilson: 
Carl Foreman: 

Malcolm Arnold: 

Peter Taylor: British Editor, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (1967)

"...Lean handles the climax with precision and suspense..."
"...[A] masterpiece...purely enjoyable..."
"...[A] masterpiece....That rare film about something as seemingly black-and-white as World War II that is colored entirely in shades of gray, and the better for it..."
"...It's certainly weathered well thanks to its novel and ingenious approach to presenting multiple perspectives of the Second World War..."
"...[T]wo compelling stories jelled into one sprawling action film..."