Alec Guinness masterclass, control and command in every scene. The last 20 minutes is absolutely awesome. A drinking game where you drink every time they say "good show" would be rough.
My late father introduced this movie to me in 1977 right after I saw Star Wars as a 10 year old because he wanted me to see a young Alec Guiness….it’s one of my favorite films ever to this day.
@@SnaFubar_24 I lost my dad a while ago and I know exactly what you mean. I was at an open-air classic car show only yesterday and he would have been thrilled.
@@jonrmartin No. I have heard it many many times since then over the years NOT only when I was young. I dont know how old they are but I sort of doubt that the shining was a film they saw when they were six years old. You think it might have been put in there because it was a commonly known saying or the writer just made it up by shear coincidence?
Yeah, as a non-native English speaker, this surprised me. Known this proverb for decades, so I've always assumed this was just commonly known with English speakers...😊
@@jonrmartin I happened to think of a better response while drinking my coffee. A bunch of people heard it in 1659. I heard it (late 1950's early1960's ? FIRST time), as did the writers of Bridge over River Kwai (film 1957) and the Shining (1980 the film) over 300 YEARS later and you are complaining about a mere near half a century?
In the 1980's I worked with a man who was a Burma Star veteran. He actually worked on the railroad along part of the River Kwai. He said the first 30 mins of the film were pretty accurate but then it goes into Hollywood story mode. His memories of his time are recorded in the Imperial War Museum in London.
It's about time. One of the greatest films ever made! William Holden was the man. I know you've seen Sunset Boulevard, so you need to watch Stalag 17 next!!!!
I recommend that you submit to your patrons to vote on the 1964 war movie "ZULU", which is based on the true story of 150 British soldiers successfully defending Rorke's Drift against 3000 - 4000 thousand ZULU warriors during the Anglo-Zulu war in 1879. This was Michael Caine's first major role. It has been voted in one poll the 93rd best British film ever made.
Zulu looks like a great film until you deconstruct it. It has all the look and appeal of an epic but the sets and directing are laughable to say the least... Many enjoy it but I can't take it. Beautiful to look at is its only pro
Alec Guinness made his name in comedies made by the Eiling Studios so the studio was reluctant to cast him in this movie as it was a dramatic lead. He ended up winning the Oscar.
Extraordinary movie about a horrific historical event. Looking forward to watching this. Everyone should see this movie. A lot of license is taken with the facts of the story. Both the lead characters played by Alec Guinness and William Holden are fictional. The allies actually bombed the bridge though the prisoners sought to sabotage its construction and were forced to comply. The treatment of the prisoners was actually much more severe than that depicted. Australian doctor and surgeon, Lieutenant Colonel Edward "Weary" Dunlop was the real hero to so many in the story, providing critical care in barbaric conditions and boosting morale saving lives.
This movie loomed very large for us older viewers. When it was on network TV in the 1970s it was a big deal and the whole family would watch. Every movie that David Lean ever made, from his war films made during the war, to his great 1940s comedies, dramas (including the magnificent, Brief Encounter), and especially his Charles Dickens' adaptations, to under-appreciated gems like Hobson's Choice and his epics of the '50s, '60s, '70s into the 1980s are all worth seeing, virtually all of them classics or nearly so.
Another great film from the director David Lean, he also directed Lawrence of Arabia. The war films I recommend watching are The Dirty Dozen and Guns of Navarone.
Yes, David Lean one of the greatest directors. Also directed _Ryan's daughter, Dr. Zhivago, Brief encounter, Great expectations,_ and one of my candidates for the greatest black & white movie, _Hobson's choice._
The Bridge on The River Kwai is fantastic, definitely a classic Golden Age picture!! Sir Alec Guinness delivers one of the greatest performances of all time and has a great screen presence!
SPENCERS MOUNTAIN with Henry Fonda & Maureen O'Hara HISTORY OF VIOLENCE with Viggo Mortensen HIDALGO with Viggo Mortensen ABSOLUTE POWER with Clint Eastwood & Gene Hackman All of these will be wonderful to see your reaction to & I am absolutely positive you both will love them. Love you guys & am looking forward to seeing your next movie reaction. Peace & Love ✌️😊
The director of this film is David Lean. He also directed "Lawrence of Arabia" which I know you really enjoyed. Those 2 films plus "Doctor Zhivago" are his 3 most celebrated epic films.
Yes, as they've loved "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai", I guess they should just go ahead and watch "Doctor Zhivago" one of these days. (Don't wait for your patreons 😉 ) Each of these 3 David Lean epics have Alec Guinness in it, by the way.
"In another world, these two would have been best buds." In this world, to be precise. Colonel Saito is based on Sergeant-Major Risaburo Saito, who was actually second in command of the camp. He was also respected and liked by the prisoners, for being (relatively) merciful, fair, and humane, willing to compromise to get work done. After the war, when Japanese officers and guards were being evaluated to stand trial for war crimes, he was saved from the gallows by none other than Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Toosey, the man Colonel Nicholson is based on. Toosey spoke up on Saito's behalf, and the two eventually became friends. When the British in Singapore were ordered to surrender, Toosey was offered to be evacuated due to his service record. He refused so he could stay with his men when they were captured. During their imprisonment and labour, he went to great lengths to ensure the survival and comfort of his men, tasking his officers with protecting them and taking several beatings himself for complaining about their treatment. But just like Nicholson in the movie, he was able to negotiate a lot of compromises and better treatment under the reasoning that it would speed up the work. Unlike Nicholson, however, he frequently took great risks to sabotage the construction, engaged in smuggling of food and medicine, and even helped organise an escape. When the escape was discovered, Saito was the one ordered to beat him (Toosey argued that Saito had to punish him for his actions, and also saved him from interrogation by the Kempi Tai). After the war they corresponded as friends and Saito went to England to visit his grave after he died. Also, the bridge still stands today. Granted, that bridge is concrete and steel, and has been repaired after being bombed... but still!
More fun facts! The scene where Saito slaps Nicholson with the book was accidentally real. But Guinness managed to keep it straight! The scene where Saito cries is supposedly also real. According to the Making Of documentary, actor Sessue Hayakawa couldn't convincingly cry. After a long day of trying, Sir David Lean (the director) pulled him aside and severely berated him, saying he was wasting everyone's time, money, and film, how everyone was exhausted, hungry, and miserable, and it was all his fault! So the poor 68 year old guy cried for real, because he was afraid of losing the job and out of frustration for not being able to do the scene.
This is simultaneously a great war film and a great anti war film. Everyone did a great job. The tune the British soldiers whistle is Col. Bogey's March. The tune was written in the 19th century but lyrics were written during WWII that insulted the ... manhoods of Nazi Officials.
a wonderful and classic film so glad you guys were willing to go back to the nineteen fifties to review it because every generation deserves a chance to savor such a great work of cinema⚛
A complete aside - I just watched Cine Binge's post of reactors replying to mean comments. You handled it well. LOL. And for the record, I LOVE Mexicans.🤣
The American Film Institute's #36 movie. What a cast! Maybe my favorite moment is at the very end when Guiness, now fatally wounded, must reach in the water for his hat and carefully put it on , like a good officer.
Sessue Hayakawa (Saito) had an astonishing career. He was one of Hollywood's first heartthrobs in the 10s & 20s, playing not just Asian roles, but native Americans, Mexican, and any other 'exotic' lead. Growing anti-Japanese sentiment in California (several years before in the introduction of sound would probably have limited his career) sent him first the the New York stage and then to filming in Japan, Germany and France, where he became trapped on the outbreak of the war in Europe. Although he made a handful of French films during the war he mainly made a living as a painter. After the war he was cleared of any accusations of helping the Germans while in France and, with the help of Humphrey Bogart, returned to Hollywood. 'Kwai' earned him an Oscar nomination. As a side-note its interesting that while he played the dangerous 'exotic' leading man in Hollywood, in one of his Japanese films of the 30s he played US Ambassador to Japan Townsend Harris!
Yes, I only found out about him recently. Some people lived absolutely astonishing lives, didn't they? Probably felt awful to them a lot of the time but looking from the outside they seem awesome.
One thing I must absolutely commend you for, you gave this Epic Movie all the screen you could and not a fuzzy postage stamp in the corner...this movie deserves it!!
About ten years ago I went to a showing of this movie, and Geoffrey Horne, the actor who played the Canadian soldier, Joyce, was there to do a Q&A. At 90, he's the one cast member who's still alive.
No, it's not Historically accurate. The RAF destroyed the Kwai River Bridge, in 1944. It is true that the Imperial Japanese Army used tens of thousands of Allied POW and hundreds of thousands of Asian civilians as Slave Labour. The treatment was degrading and inhuman. Many died. The Japanese were not signatories of the Geneva Convention and regarded it Cowardly to say the least.
There is still a steel arch and truss bridge across the Kwai at Kanchanabari, Thailand. A bridge taken by the Japanese from Indonesia. POWs built the concrete piers (many) to support it. There is also has a POW cemetery there. It was a large POW camp and claims to be THE bridge over the river Kwai. So I don't know about the bridge bombed by the RAF, maybe somewhere else along the railway, or perhaps the one at Kanchanabari was rebuilt as a tourist attraction.
@@macroman52 The current bridge is mostly the original one from Java, with the exception of two spans that were built after the war to replace those bombed. If you look at a photo of the bridge, most of the spans are curved steel arches, with two squared ones near the Kanchanaburi town side. The latter, and the concrete support between them, are the repaired section. You can find photos of the bridge after it was bombed and before it was repaired by doing a search online.
@@jimmcdonald4087 Though the spirit of the proverb had been expressed previously, the modern saying first appeared in James Howell's Proverbs (1659). It has often been included in subsequent collections of proverbs and sayings. - Wikipedia
Saw this at the Kaiserslautern, Germany base theater in 1977. The base theaters played a lot of repertory films, especially military-themed stuff. I was six or seven. It held my attention even at that age; such a great film.
Just watched the comments reaction vid. I was DYING, those comments were wild! And I want it on record, I love the zoom ins, they’re great! Have a fun one! ❤️
@@downunderrob You mean how did the movie screw up? Why is Jack Hawkins' character telling the girls he had to do it? They might have been captured alive. Do what? Makes no sense. The reactors even mention it.
@flaggerify Okay, you think the "movie screw up?" I'll say the Reactors are neither Military History enthusiasts or War Film aficionados. So they genuinely didn't realise what would happen to any of them, if they were taken prisoner. The soldiers would have been tortured to death, over the space of a few weeks. The girl-bearers would have been pack-raped until they were finally tortured to death. Jack Hawkins character did make a mess of the events you see here. But only because he didn't open fire on the Japanese, sooner. Joyce did, by not killing Colonel Nicholson as soon as he tried to stop him and alert the Japanese. Joyce then compounded the error and failed in his Duty, to detonate the explosives before he died. Leaving it to the concussed or critically wounded Colonel Nicholson to conveniently fall on top of the plunger and detonate the explosives. Which, you could say. Everyone made a mess of, by not taking into consideration the chance the water might have gone down. So why is he trying to justify his actions? Probably guilt as the Leader, who's Team has just been wiped-out. The girls don't get it, they look appalled. They step back from him because they think he is a monster for killing his own men. I think that about covers it. Except to say, I would have taken eight or ten soldiers in my team.
@@downunderrob It doesn't show Joyce doing anything. That's the problem. It's as if there's a missing scene or shot. That has nothing to do with historical knowledge.
Don't be afraid of the long films. Sometimes it was the only way to tell the story right. Hopefully you can get to Alac Guinness in another epic film, Dr. Zhivago.
Great movie, partially historically accurate but not really, Veterans of the real events hated this film especially the portrayal of the Commanding Officer who did not "betray" or go "nuts" as he does in the movie but also the portrayal of the abuse..it was much worse. The representation of his taking punishment for them men is accurate though. irl Lieutenant-Colonel Phillip Toosey (Lt. Col Nicholson portrayed by Alec Guinness) who did "stand up" to the Japanese and suffered for it...but likely saved many of his men by doing so.
The "Colonel Bogey March" is a British march that was composed in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (1881-1945) (pen name Kenneth J. Alford), a British Army bandmaster who later became the director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth. The march is often whistled.
2 of my favourite war films are bridge-related. This and my absolute favourite, 'A Bridge Too Far' which you should check out. Also, on the subject of POWs, check out 'Escape to Victory' (not a GREAT film, but very popular here in the UK).
I was SO excited to see that you guys had watched this one! I'd been waiting for it since you did Lawrence of Arabia (as you probably know now, same director). I LOVE this movie. Just like with Lawrence, it was a life changing experience to watch. Both movies really impacted me more than I expected. David Lean's films seem to have that effect and I love it! True genius filmmaking that you don't see anymore. Glad you guys are enjoying these brilliant older films so much, please keep going! And you have to do Doctor Zhivago - another David Lean epic classic!
Fun fact: This film is based on the 1952 novel of the same name written by Pierre Boulle aka the creator of the “Planet of the Apes” (he wrote the iconic novel which later adapted into one of the greatest films ever made).
Yep, and in the book the bridge survived. But studio execs felt if they presented a movie about blowing up a bridge and then didn't go ahead and blow it up, audiences would be howling over the bait and switch.
When the movie was first released, Boulle was credited as the screenwriter, even though he didn’t speak English. This was because the actual writer was blacklisted at the time. Recent releases correct this.
It's amazing that Boulle, who is really only known for those two novels outside of France, wrote so compellingly that both of those works became major motion pictures. In his case, I guess, lightning did strike twice.
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" was a penmanship exercise back in the olden days when people still learned how to write. Also, in the movie the Black Hole, Mr Pizer uses that quote and then V.I.N.Cent replies, "All sunshine makes a desert, so the Arabs say". (just a bit of trivia I like)
I was about 9 years old when my father set me down in the 60s to watch this, one of his favorite movies. I think he didn't want me to join the military.
Alec Guiness (Colonel Nicholson) drove me crazy when I saw this. The whole time I thought he was crazy...but I believed he was crazy, so it was a good performance. He deserved the awards he won for this role.
Great movie, but I don’t quite buy that someone could be that deluded, but it could be possible, especially if they were mentally unstable from disease or something.
Landing in the trees is no joke. One of my first deployments, I was replacing a guy who broke his leg in 5 places who hit a tree. In a static line round chute you're still falling at about 22 feet per second.
The whistled theme in this movie was used in Spaceballs. The Jawa like creatures were “singing” it when they discovered Lone Star and the others in the desert.
The tune they whistle is the Colonel Bogey March and the lyrics are: Hitler has only got one ball, Göring has two but very small, Himmler is rather sim'lar, But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.
Classic! Saw at the theater as a kid, I remember having to lean out in the aisle to see because the seat in Front of me , i remember the train going off the bridge that’s about it, seen a thousand times since then, nobody played a better anti hero than William Holden in his movies, thanks y’all!
This is the first movie I ever remember watching on TV when I was very young. I believe it is a truly great film... and your reaction to it was perfect. The moral ambiguity makes the drama so effective, and you really don't know how it's going to end. And how about that wonderful practical real train crash at the end! The genre of war films is not my favorite but this film IS one of my favorites.
Nicholson: "What have I done?" How many times have we heard this immortal line in other films? Every time I hear it in a film, I automatically think, "They stole that line from Nicholson!" 😆
My Dad was a USAF veteran of the Korean War from about 1950-1951. That was during the phase of the war when if you were on the ground you carried a rifle, regardless of the branch you were serving in. The Bridge On The River Kwai was his favorite movie, bar none.
_The Shining_ did not originate the phrase 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'. It was a common phrase already in use, the repeated use of which in his writing project details how the character Jack Torrance is going mad. The phrase is actually centuries old, first published in its modern form in James Howell's Proverbs (1659), but existed in earlier forms long before that.
My grandfather was a surgeon in the US Army in 1944-45 in Burma. It's the forgotten theatre of WW2. Absolutely brutal. Granddaddy then went back to Southeast Asia, Vietnam more specifically, as a volunteer surgeon for the Red Cross, literally a week before the Tet Offensive; talk about "great" timing.
I think it's a wonderful film about human nature. From the beginning, we are made to understand the inflexibility of Nicholson, ready to die for his principles and throughout the film, we will be on his side in thinking that he is a remarkable character. And during the last 10 minutes, we understand where his inflexibility has led him, which is to say blindness. He regains his sight at the very last second, after causing the near failure of the mission. What a fascinating portrait!
Won best Actor (Alec Guinness), Cinematography, Directing (David Lean), Film Editing, Musical Score, Best Picture, Writing/Adapted Screenplay at the 1958 Academy Awards. As much as I love the picture...I liked 12 Angry Men more but it was only nominated for Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay, it was such an ensemble lead film, no way they'd single out any one actor, though I'd have given Best Supporting Actor to Lee J Cobb for his tremendous, emotional portrayal of Juror 3.
12 Angry Men is way overrated IMO. Henry Fonda was never better than in Grapes of Wrath, and Lee J. Cobb was better in On the Waterfront, a far superior film with one of Brando's greatest performances.
I highly recommend TO HELL AND BACK the Audie Murphy story. Audie Murphy was the most decorated American soldier of WW2. After the war he became a Hollywood actor making 44 movie's. One of them being TO HELL AND BACK so he play's himself in his own life story that's got to be worth a watch actually seeing the same man who won so many medals he ended up with multiple of them he even won medals from other countries
The bridge was done before they took a few hours for the "mini bridge" & stage... that was also fun and relaxation time for the men who needed it and deserved it ! Great movie.... Nicholson wanted his officers to watch over the men keep the peace & do the job and that would kinda keep their minds off being prisoners of war.
That was a great reaction to a classic WW2 film. I remember watching TBOTRK when I was a boy and it still is one of my favorite movies. And I would like to suggest a war film called "The Sand Pebbles" which takes place in the 1920s during the Chinese Revolution. It stars the legendary actor, Steve McQueen, whom I believe no YT channel has done any reactions of this actor. I'm shocked because Steve McQueen has so many fantastic films. Anyway, I love watching your channel and I'm always looking forward to your next flicker show 🎥🍿😊👍
Hi Daniel & Samantha, it was great to see you react to & enjoy this classic war film. Sir Alec Guinness & Jack Hawkins worked together on another War/Drama film in 1953, it was called Malta Story. It tells the story of the strategic island in the Mediterranean Sea while held by the British, being put under siege by the Axis powers. A remarkable story of the bravery of the population & the British Armed forces trying to defend the Island. Their attempts to hold out despite their shortages & to continue to harass the Axis forces in North Africa. The desperate attempts of the British forces, to get vital supplies through to the Island. This campaign area was referred to by the Royal Navy as Bomb Alley.
❤I love that you are reacting to some of the great old movies that are Classic and has influenced so many films. This is set during WWII and is based on the novel and this won the Best Picture Oscar 1957. WILLIAM HOLDEN is in some of the best movies ever made and was in the top box office films of the 50s. Stalag 17 is another incredible classic war time film from 1953, Born Yesterday 1950, Sunset Boulevard 1950, Sabrina 1954, Picnic 1955, and Love Is A Many Splendored Thing 1955. He was in Westerns, War Movies and Rom Coms. He was gorgeous and a fantastic actor.
The other big David Lean epic from this era, "Doctor Zhivago", is just as memorable as "Lawrence of Arabia" and this one. For some reason it's not as well known anymore. 12:57 I've never noticed that electric fan in the background of this scene. Fancy oscillation! Just a reminder of how much better made most things were compared to the current disposable ethic. I really wish someone would react to "The World of Suzy Wong" (1960) with William Holden & Nancy Kwan. One of my favorite romances, and an interesting glimpse of Hong Kong in the late 1950s.
I recently discovered my father's uncle Davey was in this prison camp. When he came back from the war, he never discussed any of it with anyone. It was actually much worse than the film could depict.
The bridge fictionalized in this film was one of a number of bridges built in the Khwae Noi river valley during the construction of the 258-mile-long Burma Railway connecting Thailand (then called Siam) and Burma. Nicknamed the “Death Railway”, more than 100,000 Allied prisoners of war and civilian forced-laborers died building it. Working conditions were horrific. Physical abuse at the hands of Japanese guards was a constant threat, but disease and malnutrition were even more deadly. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Railway
The Japanese Colonel Saito was played by Sessue Hayakawa. He was a popular actor during the silent era where he sometimes played the heroic lead but in his youth he was a sex symbol, possessing dark brooding sensuality and usually playing seductive villains, almost a Valentino type.
One of the subtle emotional things with the movie is that when each of the heroes’ party dies at the end they quickly cut back to the pained look of the women.
Great movie. David Lean directed three Kolossal, three masterpieces: The Bridge On The Kwai River, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago. Also, A Passage in India is good
The little talk about ending up enjoying longer movies like this or Patton, and that they don't feel that long while watching reminded me of a particular set of films that exemplify this, at least for me. "The Emigrants" and "The New Land" were Swedish films from 1971 and 1972. They were both filmed within only a year's time, and follow a family of Swedes in the early 1800's as they emigrate to America to start a new life there. It stars the legendary Max von Sydow among other Swedish actors. They are quite daunting, each with a 4 hour runtime (8 hours in total), but they were so engaging that the time just flew by, and I immediately wanted to rewatch them (and did). They mostly speak Swedish with English subtitles just FYI, but if 8 hours isn't enough to deter, don't let that stop u from watching. Honorary mention to "Cromwell" (1970) if you want another Alec Guinness film. He plays King Charles I opposite Richard Harris playing Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War in the 1640's.
Alec Guinness masterclass, control and command in every scene. The last 20 minutes is absolutely awesome. A drinking game where you drink every time they say "good show" would be rough.
Yes but he didn’t use The Force!
Or say Hello there.
My late father introduced this movie to me in 1977 right after I saw Star Wars as a 10 year old because he wanted me to see a young Alec Guiness….it’s one of my favorite films ever to this day.
Same!
The reason I watched this was because of Sir Alec Guinness
Same for me, I was 12 ! I must have seen this with my dad 6 times over the years and I'd give anything to watch it with him one more time.
I must have wached it on TV around the same age
@@SnaFubar_24 I lost my dad a while ago and I know exactly what you mean. I was at an open-air classic car show only yesterday and he would have been thrilled.
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", is a old proverbs. It first appeared in print in a book of proverbs, in 1659.
I am surprised they thought it came from The Shining. I am over 70 years old and heard that saying when I was a kid.
@@geniusjohn8280 You're surprised that people who are nearly half a century younger than you had a different childhood?
@@jonrmartin No. I have heard it many many times since then over the years NOT only when I was young. I dont know how old they are but I sort of doubt that the shining was a film they saw when they were six years old. You think it might have been put in there because it was a commonly known saying or the writer just made it up by shear coincidence?
Yeah, as a non-native English speaker, this surprised me. Known this proverb for decades, so I've always assumed this was just commonly known with English speakers...😊
@@jonrmartin I happened to think of a better response while drinking my coffee. A bunch of people heard it in 1659. I heard it (late 1950's early1960's ? FIRST time), as did the writers of Bridge over River Kwai (film 1957) and the Shining (1980 the film) over 300 YEARS later and you are complaining about a mere near half a century?
In the 1980's I worked with a man who was a Burma Star veteran. He actually worked on the railroad along part of the River Kwai. He said the first 30 mins of the film were pretty accurate but then it goes into Hollywood story mode. His memories of his time are recorded in the Imperial War Museum in London.
It's about time. One of the greatest films ever made! William Holden was the man. I know you've seen Sunset Boulevard, so you need to watch Stalag 17 next!!!!
Holden was such a bastard in Stalag 17...at least until you understood he was not a bad guy! 🙂
It seems they didn't remember that the American was William Holden
I recommend that you submit to your patrons to vote on the 1964 war movie "ZULU", which is based on the true story of 150 British soldiers successfully defending Rorke's Drift against 3000 - 4000 thousand ZULU warriors during the Anglo-Zulu war in 1879. This was Michael Caine's first major role. It has been voted in one poll the 93rd best British film ever made.
Zulu great film
Zulu looks like a great film until you deconstruct it. It has all the look and appeal of an epic but the sets and directing are laughable to say the least...
Many enjoy it but I can't take it. Beautiful to look at is its only pro
Another vintage British colonial film is The Man WhoWould Be King.
@@brettmuir5679 Production value takes a back seat to storytelling, acting and the spirit of the work. Superficial take.
Recommending a movie and revealing the ending in the same post. Great job!
Alec Guinness made his name in comedies made by the Eiling Studios so the studio was reluctant to cast him in this movie as it was a dramatic lead. He ended up winning the Oscar.
Yes! He was a great comedic actor. The "Lavender Hill Mob" is one of the funniest movies ever.
His performances as eight different characters in Kind Hearts & Coronets is incredible.
Extraordinary movie about a horrific historical event. Looking forward to watching this. Everyone should see this movie. A lot of license is taken with the facts of the story. Both the lead characters played by Alec Guinness and William Holden are fictional. The allies actually bombed the bridge though the prisoners sought to sabotage its construction and were forced to comply. The treatment of the prisoners was actually much more severe than that depicted. Australian doctor and surgeon, Lieutenant Colonel Edward "Weary" Dunlop was the real hero to so many in the story, providing critical care in barbaric conditions and boosting morale saving lives.
For about 20 years between 1950 and 1970, David Lean made some of the most beautiful looking movies ever shot. They are a feast for the eyes.
More like 1957 to 1965.
This movie loomed very large for us older viewers. When it was on network TV in the 1970s it was a big deal and the whole family would watch. Every movie that David Lean ever made, from his war films made during the war, to his great 1940s comedies, dramas (including the magnificent, Brief Encounter), and especially his Charles Dickens' adaptations, to under-appreciated gems like Hobson's Choice and his epics of the '50s, '60s, '70s into the 1980s are all worth seeing, virtually all of them classics or nearly so.
And of course, my numero uno movie, Lawrence.
It didn't do so well on your poll, but you should definitely check out Paths Of Glory...
Kirk Douglas, directed by Stanley Kubrick 🙂
Absofukinlutely
A ten out of ten film. Paths of Glory is a must see for cinema fans!
IMO the most realistic WW1 film out there, and dealing with some difficult issues of command.
It should certainly replace BARRY LYNDON which - and it is one of my very favourite films - emphatically did not belong in that "war movie" poll.
"Paths Of Glory" is a hard watch, because it delivers some hard truths. Stanley Kubrick never shied away from difficult subjects.
47:18 "Oh, thank God....his lifeless corpse..."
Epic Schmitt quote! 👍👍
he's savage.
With all the wordsmithery of Edgar Allen Poe.😂
Another great film from the director David Lean, he also directed Lawrence of Arabia. The war films I recommend watching are The Dirty Dozen and Guns of Navarone.
I second that.
Yes, David Lean one of the greatest directors. Also directed _Ryan's daughter, Dr. Zhivago, Brief encounter, Great expectations,_ and one of my candidates for the greatest black & white movie, _Hobson's choice._
@@BenjWarrant Yep, I love 'Hobson's Choice'.
The Bridge on The River Kwai is fantastic, definitely a classic Golden Age picture!!
Sir Alec Guinness delivers one of the greatest performances of all time and has a great screen presence!
not really a golden age picture since this was the 50s but it is amazing
SPENCERS MOUNTAIN with Henry Fonda & Maureen O'Hara
HISTORY OF VIOLENCE with Viggo Mortensen
HIDALGO with Viggo Mortensen
ABSOLUTE POWER with Clint Eastwood & Gene Hackman
All of these will be wonderful to see your reaction to & I am absolutely positive you both will love them. Love you guys & am looking forward to seeing your next movie reaction. Peace & Love ✌️😊
The director of this film is David Lean. He also directed "Lawrence of Arabia" which I know you really enjoyed. Those 2 films plus "Doctor Zhivago" are his 3 most celebrated epic films.
Yes, as they've loved "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai", I guess they should just go ahead and watch "Doctor Zhivago" one of these days. (Don't wait for your patreons 😉 ) Each of these 3 David Lean epics have Alec Guinness in it, by the way.
A Passage to India is excellent as well!
@@melanie62954 100% I love that movie. Surprised it doesn't get higher ratings.
@@melanie62954 Absolutely! That's a great movie! I'm surprised it's not rated much higher.
My fave William Holden films: this, Sunset Boulevard, The Wild Bunch and Network.
And! ….. Stalag 17!! 😉👍
Yes, Network!
"In another world, these two would have been best buds."
In this world, to be precise.
Colonel Saito is based on Sergeant-Major Risaburo Saito, who was actually second in command of the camp. He was also respected and liked by the prisoners, for being (relatively) merciful, fair, and humane, willing to compromise to get work done.
After the war, when Japanese officers and guards were being evaluated to stand trial for war crimes, he was saved from the gallows by none other than Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Toosey, the man Colonel Nicholson is based on. Toosey spoke up on Saito's behalf, and the two eventually became friends.
When the British in Singapore were ordered to surrender, Toosey was offered to be evacuated due to his service record. He refused so he could stay with his men when they were captured.
During their imprisonment and labour, he went to great lengths to ensure the survival and comfort of his men, tasking his officers with protecting them and taking several beatings himself for complaining about their treatment. But just like Nicholson in the movie, he was able to negotiate a lot of compromises and better treatment under the reasoning that it would speed up the work. Unlike Nicholson, however, he frequently took great risks to sabotage the construction, engaged in smuggling of food and medicine, and even helped organise an escape. When the escape was discovered, Saito was the one ordered to beat him (Toosey argued that Saito had to punish him for his actions, and also saved him from interrogation by the Kempi Tai).
After the war they corresponded as friends and Saito went to England to visit his grave after he died.
Also, the bridge still stands today. Granted, that bridge is concrete and steel, and has been repaired after being bombed... but still!
More fun facts!
The scene where Saito slaps Nicholson with the book was accidentally real. But Guinness managed to keep it straight!
The scene where Saito cries is supposedly also real. According to the Making Of documentary, actor Sessue Hayakawa couldn't convincingly cry. After a long day of trying, Sir David Lean (the director) pulled him aside and severely berated him, saying he was wasting everyone's time, money, and film, how everyone was exhausted, hungry, and miserable, and it was all his fault! So the poor 68 year old guy cried for real, because he was afraid of losing the job and out of frustration for not being able to do the scene.
I heard saito rejected Buddhism and was a Christian by the time he visited the grave.
This is simultaneously a great war film and a great anti war film. Everyone did a great job. The tune the British soldiers whistle is Col. Bogey's March. The tune was written in the 19th century but lyrics were written during WWII that insulted the ... manhoods of Nazi Officials.
a wonderful and classic film so glad you guys were willing to go back to the nineteen fifties to review it because every generation deserves a chance to savor such a great work of cinema⚛
Glad to see you like the old classics! (Hope you check out Kelly's Heroes)
Yes! 🙂
A complete aside - I just watched Cine Binge's post of reactors replying to mean comments. You handled it well. LOL. And for the record, I LOVE Mexicans.🤣
Another great war movie is The Sand Pebbles which I highly recommend check it out
Yes! The Sand Pebbles is another great movie. Classic McQueen.
Great movie. I love the “hot stem walve” scene.
Everyone ever watching the last ten minutes of this movie:
😮 "What in the actual F**K are you DOING man?!?!"
One of my all time favorite movies.
The American Film Institute's #36 movie. What a cast! Maybe my favorite moment is at the very end when Guiness, now fatally wounded, must reach in the water for his hat and carefully put it on , like a good officer.
Sessue Hayakawa (Saito) had an astonishing career. He was one of Hollywood's first heartthrobs in the 10s & 20s, playing not just Asian roles, but native Americans, Mexican, and any other 'exotic' lead. Growing anti-Japanese sentiment in California (several years before in the introduction of sound would probably have limited his career) sent him first the the New York stage and then to filming in Japan, Germany and France, where he became trapped on the outbreak of the war in Europe. Although he made a handful of French films during the war he mainly made a living as a painter. After the war he was cleared of any accusations of helping the Germans while in France and, with the help of Humphrey Bogart, returned to Hollywood. 'Kwai' earned him an Oscar nomination.
As a side-note its interesting that while he played the dangerous 'exotic' leading man in Hollywood, in one of his Japanese films of the 30s he played US Ambassador to Japan Townsend Harris!
He also survived a suicide attempt after he failed the physical for the Japanese Naval Academy.
Yes, I only found out about him recently. Some people lived absolutely astonishing lives, didn't they? Probably felt awful to them a lot of the time but looking from the outside they seem awesome.
I read that he hosted some of the wildest Hollywood parties back in the day, and often would go on for days....if you know you know ;)
Check out "The Cheat" from 1916, really great Sessue Hayakawa film (early De Mille, when he was cutting edge). Shocking, even for now!
One thing I must absolutely commend you for, you gave this Epic Movie all the screen you could and not a fuzzy postage stamp in the corner...this movie deserves it!!
About ten years ago I went to a showing of this movie, and Geoffrey Horne, the actor who played the Canadian soldier, Joyce, was there to do a Q&A. At 90, he's the one cast member who's still alive.
No, it's not Historically accurate. The RAF destroyed the Kwai River Bridge, in 1944.
It is true that the Imperial Japanese Army used tens of thousands of Allied POW and hundreds of thousands of Asian civilians as Slave Labour.
The treatment was degrading and inhuman. Many died.
The Japanese were not signatories of the Geneva Convention and regarded it Cowardly to say the least.
Yes this movie was very inaccurate with regards to the behavior of the Japanese. They were absolutely barbaric.
There is still a steel arch and truss bridge across the Kwai at Kanchanabari, Thailand. A bridge taken by the Japanese from Indonesia. POWs built the concrete piers (many) to support it. There is also has a POW cemetery there. It was a large POW camp and claims to be THE bridge over the river Kwai. So I don't know about the bridge bombed by the RAF, maybe somewhere else along the railway, or perhaps the one at Kanchanabari was rebuilt as a tourist attraction.
@@macroman52 The current bridge is mostly the original one from Java, with the exception of two spans that were built after the war to replace those bombed. If you look at a photo of the bridge, most of the spans are curved steel arches, with two squared ones near the Kanchanaburi town side. The latter, and the concrete support between them, are the repaired section. You can find photos of the bridge after it was bombed and before it was repaired by doing a search online.
13:51 "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy." -Colonel Saito
"Is that a quote from The Shining?" -TBR
🤣🤣🤣🤣
@YoureMrLebowski Fancy seeing you here ;)
@@film-maniac They know this came before The Shining. They've watched that too.
@@film-maniac And the proverb didn't originate in either movie.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@jimmcdonald4087 Though the spirit of the proverb had been expressed previously, the modern saying first appeared in James Howell's Proverbs (1659). It has often been included in subsequent collections of proverbs and sayings. - Wikipedia
Saw this at the Kaiserslautern, Germany base theater in 1977. The base theaters played a lot of repertory films, especially military-themed stuff. I was six or seven. It held my attention even at that age; such a great film.
4:24 The idea of the guard standing at post despite the water falling on him is to showcase the level of discipline.
"with or without a parachute?" British comedy gold.
Just watched the comments reaction vid. I was DYING, those comments were wild! And I want it on record, I love the zoom ins, they’re great! Have a fun one! ❤️
Loved the looks on your faces near the end when you were stressing out over whether they’d get the bridge blown up !!
😂
"These are not the droids you're looking for"
It is a wonderful thing that you are watching movies that mean something
"Madness, madness!"
The ending doesn't make sense.
@@flaggerify How? Would you care to elaborate on what you don't understand?
@@downunderrob You mean how did the movie screw up?
Why is Jack Hawkins' character telling the girls he had to do it? They might have been captured alive. Do what? Makes no sense.
The reactors even mention it.
@flaggerify Okay, you think the "movie screw up?"
I'll say the Reactors are neither Military History enthusiasts or War Film aficionados. So they genuinely didn't realise what would happen to any of them, if they were taken prisoner. The soldiers would have been tortured to death, over the space of a few weeks. The girl-bearers would have been pack-raped until they were finally tortured to death.
Jack Hawkins character did make a mess of the events you see here. But only because he didn't open fire on the Japanese, sooner. Joyce did, by not killing Colonel Nicholson as soon as he tried to stop him and alert the Japanese.
Joyce then compounded the error and failed in his Duty, to detonate the explosives before he died.
Leaving it to the concussed or critically wounded Colonel Nicholson to conveniently fall on top of the plunger and detonate the explosives.
Which, you could say. Everyone made a mess of, by not taking into consideration the chance the water might have gone down.
So why is he trying to justify his actions? Probably guilt as the Leader, who's Team has just been wiped-out. The girls don't get it, they look appalled. They step back from him because they think he is a monster for killing his own men.
I think that about covers it. Except to say, I would have taken eight or ten soldiers in my team.
@@downunderrob It doesn't show Joyce doing anything. That's the problem. It's as if there's a missing scene or shot. That has nothing to do with historical knowledge.
Sir Alec Guinness is amazing in everything he was in
* Edit
That's the OG Obi-wan Kenobi
The man in the white suit is one of my favorites
Yep they should check out Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Ladykillers, Father Brown and Tunes of Glory to see the full range of his talent.
A compare/contrast with both versions of Ladykillers would be great.
I also loved him in the BBC Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
@@marcuscato9083 10 hr miniseries well worth the time.
Anyone seen him in "The Horse's Mouth"? as Gully Jimson, the crazy artist?
Don't be afraid of the long films. Sometimes it was the only way to tell the story right. Hopefully you can get to Alac Guinness in another epic film, Dr. Zhivago.
He was in many of Leans films, Great Expectations to begin with. His was a minor roll in Zhivago
Great movie, partially historically accurate but not really, Veterans of the real events hated this film especially the portrayal of the Commanding Officer who did not "betray" or go "nuts" as he does in the movie but also the portrayal of the abuse..it was much worse. The representation of his taking punishment for them men is accurate though. irl Lieutenant-Colonel Phillip Toosey (Lt. Col Nicholson portrayed by Alec Guinness) who did "stand up" to the Japanese and suffered for it...but likely saved many of his men by doing so.
Now you know what The Breakfast Club was whistling.
Colonel Bogey March
The Mickey Mouse Club theme?
The "Colonel Bogey March" is a British march that was composed in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (1881-1945) (pen name Kenneth J. Alford), a British Army bandmaster who later became the director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth. The march is often whistled.
And the “jawas” in Spaceballs
2 of my favourite war films are bridge-related. This and my absolute favourite, 'A Bridge Too Far' which you should check out. Also, on the subject of POWs, check out 'Escape to Victory' (not a GREAT film, but very popular here in the UK).
I was SO excited to see that you guys had watched this one! I'd been waiting for it since you did Lawrence of Arabia (as you probably know now, same director). I LOVE this movie. Just like with Lawrence, it was a life changing experience to watch. Both movies really impacted me more than I expected. David Lean's films seem to have that effect and I love it! True genius filmmaking that you don't see anymore. Glad you guys are enjoying these brilliant older films so much, please keep going! And you have to do Doctor Zhivago - another David Lean epic classic!
Fun fact: This film is based on the 1952 novel of the same name written by Pierre Boulle aka the creator of the “Planet of the Apes” (he wrote the iconic novel which later adapted into one of the greatest films ever made).
Yep, and in the book the bridge survived. But studio execs felt if they presented a movie about blowing up a bridge and then didn't go ahead and blow it up, audiences would be howling over the bait and switch.
I had no idea!
When the movie was first released, Boulle was credited as the screenwriter, even though he didn’t speak English. This was because the actual writer was blacklisted at the time. Recent releases correct this.
Boulle's Planet of the Apes has a twist different from the film, which is good in its own right. i will not spoil it, but worth the read
It's amazing that Boulle, who is really only known for those two novels outside of France, wrote so compellingly that both of those works became major motion pictures. In his case, I guess, lightning did strike twice.
The guys saying "Madness! Madness!" was the commanding allied officer in "The Great Escape"
YES !!!! One of the most Classic Movies to ever Movie !!! This is a MASTERPIECE !!!! Endlessly Re-watchable !!!! ENJOY GUYS !!
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" was a penmanship exercise back in the olden days when people still learned how to write.
Also, in the movie the Black Hole, Mr Pizer uses that quote and then V.I.N.Cent replies, "All sunshine makes a desert, so the Arabs say".
(just a bit of trivia I like)
I was about 9 years old when my father set me down in the 60s to watch this, one of his favorite movies.
I think he didn't want me to join the military.
A pleasure to be here to watch with you both. 😊
Zulu with Michael Caine is another good movie in my opinion. Came out in 1964.
😂I loved that you called Obi-Wan Kenobi a psychopath and yelled at him to get off the bridge.
14:33 "Like, are you better at building bridges than an engineer?" -TBR
of course an engineer would think that! 🙂
Alec Guiness (Colonel Nicholson) drove me crazy when I saw this. The whole time I thought he was crazy...but I believed he was crazy, so it was a good performance. He deserved the awards he won for this role.
He got too fixated on the project.
Great movie, but I don’t quite buy that someone could be that deluded, but it could be possible, especially if they were mentally unstable from disease or something.
My dad was born in 1931 and one of youngest of 13 brothers and sisters so a lot served ..
One worked on the burma railway he never spoke of it
Landing in the trees is no joke. One of my first deployments, I was replacing a guy who broke his leg in 5 places who hit a tree. In a static line round chute you're still falling at about 22 feet per second.
An all time favorite movie.
The whistled theme in this movie was used in Spaceballs. The Jawa like creatures were “singing” it when they discovered Lone Star and the others in the desert.
The tune they whistle is the Colonel Bogey March and the lyrics are:
Hitler has only got one ball,
Göring has two but very small,
Himmler is rather sim'lar,
But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.
HhhaaaaaaaaHhhhaaaaa XD thanks for that. I knever knew
A 70s movie called Our Miss Fred has this exact song.
The march was written in 1914 and didn't have any lyrics.
🤣🤣🤣
Pierre Boulle, the author of the book and screenplay of this movie, also wrote The Planet of the Apes.
Another type of war movie, I've never seen it reacted to; Paradise Road. It has Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett and Frances McDormand among others
"The Train" with Burt Lancaster is a war movie everyone forgets about...my personal fave
Yes, a great film!!
An awesome movie I’ve seen countless times. A must-see movie. The ending is so awesome.
I love that ending scene... "These works of art will always belong to me, or someone like me!" a facinating concept.
@@jmackmcneill “These paintings mean as much to you as a string of pearls does to an ape.” Schofield is so great (and despicable) in this movie.
Oh, yeah, it's a forgotten classic. Paradigm Burt Lancaster performance - grit, quick intelligence, and busy.
Classic! Saw at the theater as a kid, I remember having to lean out in the aisle to see because the seat in
Front of me , i remember the train going off the bridge that’s about it, seen a thousand times since then, nobody played a better anti hero than William Holden in his movies, thanks y’all!
You 2 are my top fav reactors.
This is the first movie I ever remember watching on TV when I was very young. I believe it is a truly great film... and your reaction to it was perfect. The moral ambiguity makes the drama so effective, and you really don't know how it's going to end. And how about that wonderful practical real train crash at the end! The genre of war films is not my favorite but this film IS one of my favorites.
Nicholson: "What have I done?"
How many times have we heard this immortal line in other films?
Every time I hear it in a film, I automatically think, "They stole that line from Nicholson!" 😆
That's because nobody delivered it better than him. He says it in such a shellshocked murmur.
Like Magneto in X-Men The Last Stand
@@long-timesci-fienthusiast9626 ... Very good example.
My Dad was a USAF veteran of the Korean War from about 1950-1951. That was during the phase of the war when if you were on the ground you carried a rifle, regardless of the branch you were serving in. The Bridge On The River Kwai was his favorite movie, bar none.
_The Shining_ did not originate the phrase 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'. It was a common phrase already in use, the repeated use of which in his writing project details how the character Jack Torrance is going mad. The phrase is actually centuries old, first published in its modern form in James Howell's Proverbs (1659), but existed in earlier forms long before that.
My grandfather was a surgeon in the US Army in 1944-45 in Burma. It's the forgotten theatre of WW2. Absolutely brutal.
Granddaddy then went back to Southeast Asia, Vietnam more specifically, as a volunteer surgeon for the Red Cross, literally a week before the Tet Offensive; talk about "great" timing.
As a kid of the 70s this was always on tv in england alwaya watched with my dad. We even had colonel bogey on a 45 record from before i was born lol
I'm telling you guys you'll love "Ben-Hur"! A great Charlton Heston film. Long movie, awesome story, awesome action!
YES.
Row well and live, number 41. Ben Hur is an absolute classic and easily one of my favorites of all time.
Personally, I think Ben Hur is rubbish. Charlton Heston is not a great actor, it's long and boring. Good cinematography, though.
@@oriole21birdJack Hawkins. He is in this, Lawrence of Arabia and Zulu also, (to name a few)
@@brianowens8198 agreed. Slightly cheesy but not as cornball as the Ten Commandments. There's a reason this film won 11 Oscars...it is excellent.
I think it's a wonderful film about human nature. From the beginning, we are made to understand the inflexibility of Nicholson, ready to die for his principles and throughout the film, we will be on his side in thinking that he is a remarkable character. And during the last 10 minutes, we understand where his inflexibility has led him, which is to say blindness. He regains his sight at the very last second, after causing the near failure of the mission. What a fascinating portrait!
David Lean (the director) had an all-time great run of films with Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, and Doctor Zhivago.
Won best Actor (Alec Guinness), Cinematography, Directing (David Lean), Film Editing, Musical Score, Best Picture, Writing/Adapted Screenplay at the 1958 Academy Awards. As much as I love the picture...I liked 12 Angry Men more but it was only nominated for Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay, it was such an ensemble lead film, no way they'd single out any one actor, though I'd have given Best Supporting Actor to Lee J Cobb for his tremendous, emotional portrayal of Juror 3.
12 Angry Men is way overrated IMO. Henry Fonda was never better than in Grapes of Wrath, and Lee J. Cobb was better in On the Waterfront, a far superior film with one of Brando's greatest performances.
Great Movie. I've watched this several times.
Thanks for the reaction !
I highly recommend TO HELL AND BACK the Audie Murphy story. Audie Murphy was the most decorated American soldier of WW2. After the war he became a Hollywood actor making 44 movie's. One of them being TO HELL AND BACK so he play's himself in his own life story that's got to be worth a watch actually seeing the same man who won so many medals he ended up with multiple of them he even won medals from other countries
Great great movie, and yeah that last 20 min Utes is excruciatingly stressful.
Sir David knew a thing or two about making a big movie.
The only thing I could add is I have seen on a documentary, some years ago, the rail bed through the jungle still exists.
The bridge was done before they took a few hours for the "mini bridge" & stage... that was also fun and relaxation time for the men who needed it and deserved it !
Great movie.... Nicholson wanted his officers to watch over the men keep the peace & do the job and that would kinda keep their minds off being prisoners of war.
That was a great reaction to a classic WW2 film. I remember watching TBOTRK when I was a boy and it still is one of my favorite movies. And I would like to suggest a war film called "The Sand Pebbles" which takes place in the 1920s during the Chinese Revolution. It stars the legendary actor, Steve McQueen, whom I believe no YT channel has done any reactions of this actor. I'm shocked because Steve McQueen has so many fantastic films. Anyway, I love watching your channel and I'm always looking forward to your next flicker show 🎥🍿😊👍
Watch Stalag 17 starring the "American", William Holden.
Hi Daniel & Samantha, it was great to see you react to & enjoy this classic war film. Sir Alec Guinness & Jack Hawkins worked together on another War/Drama film in 1953, it was called Malta Story. It tells the story of the strategic island in the Mediterranean Sea while held by the British, being put under siege by the Axis powers.
A remarkable story of the bravery of the population & the British Armed forces trying to defend the Island. Their attempts to hold out despite their shortages & to continue to harass the Axis forces in North Africa. The desperate attempts of the British forces, to get vital supplies through to the Island. This campaign area was referred to by the Royal Navy as Bomb Alley.
❤I love that you are reacting to some of the great old movies that are Classic and has influenced so many films. This is set during WWII and is based on the novel and this won the Best Picture Oscar 1957. WILLIAM HOLDEN is in some of the best movies ever made and was in the top box office films of the 50s. Stalag 17 is another incredible classic war time film from 1953, Born Yesterday 1950, Sunset Boulevard 1950, Sabrina 1954, Picnic 1955, and Love Is A Many Splendored Thing 1955. He was in Westerns, War Movies and Rom Coms. He was gorgeous and a fantastic actor.
Another good ww2 movie that is quite good is ‘A Bridge too far.’
Ive been whistling that damn song in my head for decades , its the only thing I can whistle lol
The other big David Lean epic from this era, "Doctor Zhivago", is just as memorable as "Lawrence of Arabia" and this one. For some reason it's not as well known anymore. 12:57 I've never noticed that electric fan in the background of this scene. Fancy oscillation! Just a reminder of how much better made most things were compared to the current disposable ethic. I really wish someone would react to "The World of Suzy Wong" (1960) with William Holden & Nancy Kwan. One of my favorite romances, and an interesting glimpse of Hong Kong in the late 1950s.
The classic British TV series about a Japanese POW camp is "Tenko". The twist is that it's a female POW camp.
I watch this film on a pretty regular basis…….a true classic.
I recently discovered my father's uncle Davey was in this prison camp. When he came back from the war, he never discussed any of it with anyone. It was actually much worse than the film could depict.
The bridge fictionalized in this film was one of a number of bridges built in the Khwae Noi river valley during the construction of the 258-mile-long Burma Railway connecting Thailand (then called Siam) and Burma. Nicknamed the “Death Railway”, more than 100,000 Allied prisoners of war and civilian forced-laborers died building it. Working conditions were horrific. Physical abuse at the hands of Japanese guards was a constant threat, but disease and malnutrition were even more deadly.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Railway
History is written by the victor.
Great reaction to an amazing film.
Vintage=best. Modern=suck. x
(Obi-wan-kenobi knows lol)
The Japanese Colonel Saito was played by Sessue Hayakawa. He was a popular actor during the silent era where he sometimes played the heroic lead but in his youth he was a sex symbol, possessing dark brooding sensuality and usually playing seductive villains, almost a Valentino type.
Totally. Check out "The Cheat" from 1916. Fantastic.
I recommend "Sahara" 1943 & "Flight of the Phoenix" 1965.
One of the subtle emotional things with the movie is that when each of the heroes’ party dies at the end they quickly cut back to the pained look of the women.
Yeah. Most war movies don't really dwell on the unsung victims - the wives, the sisters, the daughters, the lovers.
I saw this in 1957 when I was 10. A real, true eye-opener. My dad did 4 years in North Africa, Sicily, Italy. Sir Alec Guiness, RIP.
I watched this as a kid in the 80s and liked it. One of those movies which I like more the older I get.
Thanks for the great reaction guys.
The aren't a true island but an "island in the jungle" i.e. the camp is surrounded by jungle for 100 of miles and thus its impossible to escape.
*Casualties of War* (1989)
Yall really gotta react to this 👍
Great movie, and actually pretty true. Its so true most of the flag wavers hate it. Lol
Great movie. David Lean directed three Kolossal, three masterpieces: The Bridge On The Kwai River, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago. Also, A Passage in India is good
The little talk about ending up enjoying longer movies like this or Patton, and that they don't feel that long while watching reminded me of a particular set of films that exemplify this, at least for me. "The Emigrants" and "The New Land" were Swedish films from 1971 and 1972. They were both filmed within only a year's time, and follow a family of Swedes in the early 1800's as they emigrate to America to start a new life there. It stars the legendary Max von Sydow among other Swedish actors. They are quite daunting, each with a 4 hour runtime (8 hours in total), but they were so engaging that the time just flew by, and I immediately wanted to rewatch them (and did). They mostly speak Swedish with English subtitles just FYI, but if 8 hours isn't enough to deter, don't let that stop u from watching.
Honorary mention to "Cromwell" (1970) if you want another Alec Guinness film. He plays King Charles I opposite Richard Harris playing Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War in the 1640's.
Cromwell is excellent and is free on YT