THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957, Blu-ray released November 2, 2010 – MSRP $34.95)
| MOVIE: |
 |
| VIDEO: |
 |
| AUDIO: |
 |
| EXTRAS: |
|
| BLU-RAY: |
|
When a David Lean film is released on Blu-ray it deserves a lot of attention. In fact, unless you hear otherwise, you should probably just rush out and grab it up as soon as possible, unless you hear otherwise. Well, if you don’t already own the recently released The Bridge on the River Kwai Blu-ray disc set, the high-def debut of one of Lean’s finest films, you owe it to yourself to do so immediately.
Lean’s 1957 adaptation of Pierre Boulle‘s novel is a cinematic triumph by any measure. It won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for future Obi-wan Kenobi, Alec Guinness and remains the high watermark for war films to this day. Guinness is especially good as the very proper Colonel Nicholson, who leads his troops to build a bridge for their Japanese captors while waging a war of wills with the commanding officer of the P.O.W. camp.
The Bridge on the River Kwai Blu-ray disc is a triumph on a technical level as well as on an artistic one. Sony’s Senior Vice President of Asset Management, Film Restoration, and Digital Mastering, Grover Crisp and his team of mastering commandos should be commended for their valiant efforts with this brilliant 4K restoration. Never has Kwai looked so vibrant, crisp and film-like, with grain structure and shadow detail wonderfully rendered. This is nothing short of a revelation!
Audio is presented in a well rendered DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless sound track. It’s unfortunate that the original mono track has not been provided as an option but considering the quality of the video and the fact that adding anything else would cut into its bandwidth, it’s hard to complain.
The Blu-ray disc and additional DVD version of the film come packaged in a really nice 32 page hardcover book with stories and photos from the production. Most of the special features from the 2000 DVD set, including the excellent 53-minute Documentary, “The Making of The Bridge on the River Kwai” are included here but sadly, only in 4:3 standard-def. The new features, including Picture-in-Graphics information track and vintage audio and video, are all welcome additions to the package but none are essential or more a boon to the set than the new transfer of the film itself. See our complete rundown of the Blu-ray features and technical details of the 2-disc set, here.
The Bridge on the River Kwai Blu-ray is a necessary purchase for fans of the film and fans of film in general. Super-extra-highly recommended!!
Discussion
No comments for “The Bridge on the River Kwai Blu-ray Disc Review”