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Information

Year
1957
Runtime
161 min.
Director
David Lean
Genres
Drama, Adventure, War
Rating *
8.1
Votes *
133,423
Checks
26,639
Favs
1,890
Dislikes
82
Favs/checks
7.1% (1:14)
Favs/dislikes
23:1
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. jktomas's avatar

    jktomas

    What I like about this movie is that it doesn't give clear answers what's good and what's not. This is how war stories should always be portrayed.
    On one hand I was rooting for colonel Nicholson, because he was right in most cases, they really turned defeat into victory by building the bridge, every soldier working on it felt like soldiers and not slaves, it proved to japanese how strong british nation is etc. (And man oh man, isn't Guinness a fantastic actor?)
    I was also rooting for colonel Saito. Even though he was a jerk at the beginning, he had his reasons. His life was depending on this bridge and he wasn't expecting the british to co-operate, so he was cruel to them. One of my favorite scenes in the film was when Nicholson convinced some soldiers that needed medical attention to work on the bridge and Saito was looking through the window with his mouth open. He was probably thinking of letting Nicholson go back home after the bridge is done. Saito changed a lot throughout the movie and I was not expecting that, usually characters like that stay evil all the way untill they are killed.
    American and the rest of his group were right as well, but I was rooting for them the least as I was hoping the bridge to stand.
    And the finale was uncomfortable for me to watch and that's fantastic actually. Again this is what war stories should be doing to you. You should never know who to root for because in war there are is no right side.
    The most disappointing thing about the movie is that it's not a true story. It's based on some true events, but my favorite aspects of the story didn't actually happen.
    10 years 2 months ago
  2. Unfortunate Synopsis's avatar

    Unfortunate Synopsis

    At first the movie seemed pretty ordinary, but it just continued to build. And then that ending... wow. 11 years ago
  3. ChrisReynolds's avatar

    ChrisReynolds

    Looking at this movie as a whole, it works brilliantly in conveying its theme of the madness of war, and how it drives good men to do bad things.
    spoiler
    12 years ago
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  1. TomkoServer checked this movie 16 hours 57 minutes ago
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In 32 official lists

  1. This movie ranks #11 in BAFTA Award - Best British Film
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    BAFTA Award - Best Briti…

    11
  2. This movie ranks #11 in BAFTA Award - Best Film
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    BAFTA Award - Best Film

    11
  3. This movie ranks #11 in BFI's Top 100 British Films
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    BFI's Top 100 British Fi…

    11
  4. This movie ranks #14 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers
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    AFI's 100 Years...100 Ch…

    14
  5. This movie ranks #16 in Spike Lee's Essential List of Films for Filmmakers
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    16
  6. This movie ranks #21 in Golden Globe Award - Best Motion Picture
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    21
  7. This movie ranks #26 in National Board of Review Award - Best Film
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    26
  8. This movie ranks #29 in 101 War Movies You Must See Before You Die
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    29
  9. This movie ranks #30 in ASC's 100 Milestone Films in Cinematography of the 20th Century
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    30
  10. This movie ranks #31 in Academy Award - Best Picture
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    31
  11. This movie ranks #34 in IMDb's 1950s Top 50
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    IMDb's 1950s Top 50

    34
  12. This movie ranks #36 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies
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    36
  13. This movie ranks #38 in IMDb's War Top 50
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    IMDb's War Top 50

    38
  14. This movie ranks #51 in Academy Award - Best Cinematography
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    51
  15. This movie ranks #58 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills
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    58
  16. This movie ranks #75 in Roger Ebert's Great Movies
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    75
  17. This movie ranks #79 in Time Out's The 101 Best Action Movies Ever Made
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    Time Out's The 101 Best …

    79
  18. This movie ranks #88 in Time Out's The 100 Best British Films
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    88
  19. This movie ranks #89 in iCheckMovies's 1950s Top 100
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    89
  20. This movie ranks #93 in Box Office Mojo's All Time Adjusted Box Office
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    93
  21. This movie ranks #119 in The New York Times's Book of Movies
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    119
  22. This movie ranks #131 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
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    131
  23. This movie ranks #133 in FOK!'s Film Top 250
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  24. This movie ranks #135 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
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    135
  25. This movie ranks #163 in Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time
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    163
  26. This movie ranks #171 in IMDb's Top 250
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    IMDb's Top 250

    171
  27. This movie ranks #209 in Academy Award - Best Picture Nominees
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    209
  28. This movie ranks #225 in Library of Congress's National Film Registry
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    225
  29. This movie ranks #320 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
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    320
  30. This movie ranks #420 in Emma Beare's 501 Must-See Movies
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    420
  31. This movie ranks #498 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
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    498
  32. This movie ranks #537 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
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    537
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