Media & Reviews

This weekend, I finally managed to watch the end of the 1950s WWII movie The Bridge on the River Kwai. Man, what a great movie. Every time I see a good anti-war movie such as Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket and Platoon I think that everything that can be said about the cons of war has been said, but sometimes I'm wrong. This movie is a not to be missed classic with great actors such as Alex McGuinness that you may know from his role as Obi Wan Kenobi. It plays in a Japanese prison camp in the Siamese jungle where a battalion of British soldiers is detained and forced to construct a rail road bridge that is important for the Japanese cargo transports. The Japanese Commander of the camp is Colonel Saitu, a brutal leader who forces even the British officers to participate in the building of the bridge, an act prohibited by the Geneva convention. The British Officers finally agree on participating and try to teach them a lesson by building a perfectly engineered bridge. I guess this descriptions sounds a bit childish but it's quite convincing in the plot. Parallel to this is the struggle of a small group of soldiers who fight their way through the jungle to blow that same bridge up. Ingenious plot, exciting movie without too much violence or special effects. Deserves a straight 8 out of 10! BTW, if you think the All work and no play quote is from the Shining, think again!