This was one of my dad's favorite films, he loved David Lean. He introduced me to this, Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars and Star Trek, he planted the seed that blossomed into my love of cinema.

I am a Sri Lankan ( Ceylon) citizen. I have not seen this movie completely. But I've watched last scene of this movie on youtube and I have heard lot of stories about this film. This location is Kithulgala countryside village of Sri Lanka. This river is Kelani River. Now this area is very famous for the white water rafting and other water adventures among local and foreign tourists. still remaining some memorize of the bridge on the river edge on the location of that bridge was built . However this film was supported to bring my country's name and country's natural beauty to the world.

This is one of the best videos that anyone has done on this film. I'm from Sri Lanka (former Ceylon) and there are a few remains of the bridge still on either sides of the river banks. The river (Kitulgala river) is a major tourist attraction by now, and every time when people do white water rafting, they talk about The Bridge on the River Kwai. Anyway, thank you for these videos, I've been enjoying them a lot! Keep em coming.

Fun fact: Lean directed two films that had a delusional character at the center of the action. Colonel Nicholson in Bridge on the River Kwai and Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. In both films, the character realizes their mistaken judgement just before they die and they utter the same exact line: "What have I done?"

I remember when it aired on TV in 1966. It was a real event, everyone in school excitedly talked about it. I was not aware that it was an experiment in TV presentation. But then, Tyler's commentaries are uniquely excellent. Thanks.

What's really weird is that Pierre Boulle also wrote the original novel of Planet of the Apes

The whistling of "Colonel Bogey March" was performed by real British soldiers, the Band of the Irish Guards quartered at Wellington Barracks in London, and their recording was then dubbed into the final soundtrack of the film.

Have been watching this film for over 50 years... And I still get anxious at the end on whether the bridge will in fact blow up with the train whistle getting louder and louder juxtaposed with the one on one struggles in the river.... It stands the test of time in 2021 and no doubt will still look great in another 50 years... have to call it, it is the greatest movie ever made!

It's John Milius' favorite film. He keeps coming back to it again and again. Bridge on the River Kwai was one of the many the inspirations of the futility of war and what it's like to be a soldier in Apocalypse Now.

I never, NEVER EVER, expected to hear someone who sings worse than I do! You make me happy to be alive!

Im from SriLanka. I really like this movie. This was filmed in Kitulgala, Sri Lanka. I'm proud of that. That area is still very beautiful. The elders gave some information about where the bridge was built, but now there are no ruins.

Loved by film buffs. Despised by the men who actually worked on this railway.

I just saw this brilliant movie an hour ago and this is the most comprehensive and well reserched review I've read.. keep up the good work.. more people should see your videos!

one of the finest examples of on location filming in the history of film making, a true masterpiece.

Best analysis I've ever seen or read on The Bridge on the River Kwai. I saw this movie as a nine year old, during its initial run. I've watched it at least a dozen times over the years since then, first on VHS tape and later on DVD and then Blu-Ray. I've great and lifetime interest in Pacific War history. You've done justice to what is otherwise an exceptional movie--with great acting, direction, cinematography, etc. Location shooting was one of the keys in the making of this film, just as you point out. Thank you for your superb presentation! Andrew McKane, 7 January 2023, Maunaloa, Molokai, Hawaii.

Never feels like a 3 hour film. In my collection and easy to watch again an again.

How rare to witness a commentary that is as good as the movie itself. Thank you!

I was stunned when I saw this film as a youngster in the early 60s. I need to watch it again.

I went rafting in Sri Lanka on "the river". The guides point out the remains of the bridge foundations. Pretty cool.

Nearly ending a film production because there isn't any white women in it is the most absurd thing I've heard all 2017 but this is one of the best video essays I've seen so far this year as well so hats off to you your hard work is much appreciated

I’ve been subscribed to this channel for awhile. I really appreciate Cinema Tyler taking the time to learn about how these films were made. His comment that the physical effects, using real set doesn’t date the movie, making it timeless in quality is well said, That review opinion is because CT studies how films were made. That’s the approach I also try to use with movies / TV I like a lot.

You forgot to mention the incident where the can holding the money shot negative of the bridge blowing up went missing on it's way to England! It was eventually found on the runway of an Egyptian airport, safe and sound.

This was the age of truly great movie making. Masters of the craft like David Lean created unforgettable pieces of art.

I have only watched this video now for the first time (after the Apocalypse series I simply had to join your Patreon, you are doing world class work of sublime quality here!) and even six years ago you made one of the best analyses I have ever seen on this film! Bridge has been one of my most favourite movies ever since I first watched it as a kid, both in terms of cinematography, character development and of course acting it remains a masterpiece, and I couldn't agree more with your statement that the amount of work Lean put into crafting this picture has rendered it an absolutely timeless piece of art! Thank you so much for your great work, currently catching up on the Alien series and I cannot wait to watch the rest of your excellent videos!

Couldn't agree more the excessive CGI in vogue today will not wear well. Great cinematic analysis.

Brilliant essay. Great work. This movie is one of my early favorites. Along such films like "Guns of Navarone" this too is directly responsible for my love of cinema.

It's remarkable how similar this area of Ceylon was to the real bridge site at Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Two bridges were built at Kanchanaburi: A flat wooden temporary bridge to aid in construction, and the permanent one made with concrete pillars and steel spans. The wooden bridge was destroyed by Allied bombing, the permanent bridge suffered damaged to its central spans, but has been repaired and still stands to this day. To build the bridges, the Japanese engineers used an old American book on railway bridge construction. Re-enactments of the Allied bombings are staged each year at the bridge in November and December, and are best viewed from the far side of the bridge from the main town.

Excellent! Watching the old movie Dunkirk, I thought the music rang a bell, and sure enough the score was by Malcolm Arnold, who did the music for Kwai too. Also an eye-opener that that b/w film actually came out after Kwai.

Hayakawa was *in his late 60s* when he took on the role?? He surely DID NOT look that old to me....

It's incredible when you look at the quality of the film it's hard to believe that this was possible way back then.

Great work again! Your movie analysis videos are by far the most comprehensive ones on KZfaq! It's quite apparent you do a TON of research in order to make these videos. Looking forward to the next video!

The first time I saw the men marching into the camp while whistling, I did something I'd never done before: I burst into tears. That's what staying with the scene until all of the information has been imparted.

Th Bridge of the river kwai is one of the greatest achievement in the history of filmmaking, this one of the first films that makes me love to find out what's the story behind from a movie! i love to read everything about it on imdb page and now in this youtube age, somebody has made a clearer, more informative and more interesting way to tell, thanks Cinema tyler.

I wanted to add that we had a college film class that talked about Kwai but you presented a feast of information. I would have loved to have watched your video back then. Again, GREAT JOB!!!!!

CinemaTyler: You covered this most excellently. By staying away from the fact that this is entirely fictitious and sticking to your fine essay on the making of this great film, you did justice to yourself and your work. Well done!

This movie has such a fantastic build up to a perfect ending. Love William Holden in this and how it humanizes the Japanese which I did not expect

I did not watch your entire take on this film, but I will say from what I saw that you understand it. I watched this film with my ten year old grandson recently and told him about my Dad and about old movies (Dad, a WW2 and Korea Vet, and also a projectionist, photographer and film officianato) I'm glad you took the time to highlight this film. First time I saw it was on a pull down screen in my parents' living room in Boston, MA. Dad rented classic 16mm prints and showed them on his Bell and Howell projectors (and kickass Altec Lansing speakers) for mom's "movie club" and for all. Great film, fabulous actors. I told my grandson the history, and Im glad you are telling the history also.

The Colonel Bogey March, was sung by one of the characters, Hugo, in the 1995 sequel to Terms of Endearment, The Evening Star right before he dies.

wonderful movie, I always thought the design of the bridge was based on the victorian rail bridge that links Edinburgh with the north east coast in Scotland, called The Forth Bridge, crossing the river Forth, they are identical in appearance. Twenty years ago I visited Sri Lanka and hired a driver and car to make a tour of the Island, I had in mind to find the location of the movie and armed with a map and directions from locals I found the sign pointing down a path off a single track road east of the town of Candy, the sign was crudely painted on a square piece of rusty tin and said...."location of the Bridge on The River Kwai. A ten minute walk down the path took me to the site of David Lean's bridge set. It was hard to imagine that this was the same place as the vegetation had closed in and the river seemed much narrower and very shallow, I think various dams were built during filming to modify the width and depth of the river and to allow filming of the low tide where the explosive cable becomes visible in the water. On one side there was clearly visible a large rock on the river edge with large round holes bored into the rock and these were used to plant the main wooden logs that held up the bridge structure. I guess the most fascinating thing about visiting that location was that there was an middle aged man and his wife who lived in a modest cabin next to the river who gave guided tours and offered to ferry people across the river in a small two man coracle, he spoke quite good english and he informed me that he had appeared in the film, he was one of the children flying the kite in the village that William Hiolden crawls out the jungle to, you may remember the scene, he is almost delirious and mistakes the kite of the children for a vulture swooping down on him, so this man who had appeared as one of the children had remained by the river bank and was making a living giving tours to travellers and telling stories of his experience on the film, I was happy to have him show me around and ferry me across the river for photos, I ended up giving him around £20 which he was elated with, I later learned that £20 represented 6 months income to him.

CinemaTyle - your videos are fantastic, I watched your review of Bridge on the River Kwai and French Connection and have a totally new and richer perspective on these great movies - I'll surely watch these classics again soon. Beautiful job - well done!!

As many have stated here, you do earnest, excellent work on your videos and communicate your love and enthusiasm for a film marvelously. The abundance of background information and "making of" cuts and interviews is staggering. I would only say that you missed a pivotal scene - one of my favorites - the planning meeting between Saito's and Nicholson's staff where Nicholson completely subsumes Saito's authority by relocating the bridge, insisting that meals be served while they all plan together, and ultimately, where he (Nicholson) states that his officers will do manual labor. All the while, Saito mumbles compliantly, "I have already given the order*.

I'm so happy to learn the lyrics to that famous tune! Thanks, Tyler!

Superb work Mr Tyler. Thoroughly enjoyed this, and starting to see how wonderfully composed all your uploads are.

Thanks!! I really enjoyed your breakdown. I saw the movie on TV in '66 and remember it fondly. I still haven't seen it a second time but I have placed it very high on my "to see" list, mostly because of your review.

What you have forgot to mention is the American character ( by Sheer) vs the British character (colonel Nicholson) . The cocky America vs the Staunch British upper lip disciplined soldier. That's critical.

Gosh. I'm a bit breathless after that. What a wonderfully open, enlightening, brilliantly narrated and beautifully produced treatment of a film I love and revisit over and over again. Now I know why :) I'm just sorry I've only discovered your superb, life-enhancing work three years after its conception.

I have been watching this move my whole life. between this and The Bridges at Toko-Ri you can learn every life lesson you ever need You did an excellent job on the analysis of this great movie Thank you

Note on African Queen. Re-shoots and additional outside river scenes where actually done on an old disused stretch of canal near Elstree studios after Uganda location filming had been completed.

Love how there is sources to each statement in the subtitles. 10/10

Fantastic video with great insights on production of Bridge on River Kwai... one of my all time favorite films by one of the truly legendary directors -- David Lean. Been to the River Kwai many times but never to the shooting location in Sri Lanka. On the bucket list

I remember the1966 special show on TV - it was a big deal and one of the few times my parents allowed us to stay up and watch it until the end. I was always impressed by the movie and now am really impressed by what it took to make it.

One of my favorite war movies, no doubt. Great analysis and breakdown!

One of my all-time favourite movies, too. You did a good job in this exposition.

I remember watching this in the 70’s as a kid! Great movie even today!

Such a good movie. Just watched the full film for the first time. My favorite storyline of the movie is the conflict between Colonel Nicholson and Saito. So good. Alec Guinness was the definite star of the film.

I remember watching this film in the theater when I was about 4 or 5 years old and then again when it aired on TV - I was about 7 years old at the time. Since then I've seen it at least a half dozen times; this is, for me also, one of my all time favorite movies.

What I learned from this film? There is always the unexpected, isn't there?

This has been my favorite movie since I was about 10, 40 yrs ago. I've seen it about 10 times. This video about the movie taught me things I never knew. Some I kinda wish I didnt learn. But the most important point is how it was so realistic. WW2 has nearly limitless stories to share and lessons to teach humanity. This movie is one of the most important. Oh by the way, I went on to become a US military officer. Not totally because of this movie, but it was part of it. Good show o chap.

I have just read that the film is now available on DVD 4K -HD,remastered and 5.1 sound enhancement and ''the making of'' in the extras

Another great film to watch for wide screen composition is BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK by John Sturges. He was one of the first people (along with Lean) to understand how to shoot intimate scenes on a wide screen.

This is an excellently made analysis of the film, and a great presentation of this analysis. Very, very well done!

I am impressed that you have an eye for the narrative, and other key elements that go into making an epic film. Too man films consist of too few elements to carry them, action, drama, or special effects. The truly timeless one have a bulletproof narrative which is further embellished by many of these other element to create a masterpiece! Thanks agin for your comprehensive look at one of my favorites, as well!

Thank you so much for this - brilliant work

I never knew that whistling tune had words to it. I love it! Thanks.

Two years ago I was living in Thailand and hiked the old Thai-Burma railway. It was an amazing experience to pass through an area where so many people suffered horribly and died . The real bridge over the river Kwai is steel, not wood and the men had to hand make their own tools as we, the allies, were so effective at destroying Japanese shipping they could not get any equipment through. To see the roughest of country that these POWs and Malasian prisoners slaved to construct is at once humbling and sorrowful. You can still see the hand made tools discarded along the way. In the end the bridge was bombed by a young pilot from Vancouver, British Columbia flying with the Royal Canadian Air Force out of his base in India. It was a million in one shot to get his bouncing bomb to strike the bridge but it was done. The Japanese rebuilt the destroyed section of the bridge after the war as reperations. Please review the more recent film, "The Railway Man" as it is actually filmed onsite and is about the same events from a different perspective. Thank you, excellent job.

I love this movie. I just watched it yesterday. Can never tire of it. Brilliant film.

Your videos are absolutely fantastic man.

What a brilliant piece of work you did! Really amazing, it enhanced very much my vision of the movie. Congrats!

You did a great job! I didn't know all the concepts until you presented it. EXCELLENT!

Your videos are edifying and entertaining. Thanks for making them!

I remember whistling that tune when i was a kid, I was obsessed with WW2.

I just watched this movie for the first time this morning and I was very moved and impressed.And since then I've been watching your videos all day and really enjoying it. Needless to say, you've got a new subscriber. And I try to remember to click like on each vid. I have trouble finding interesting things to watch lately so this was a great find. I have seen some of your videos in the past too because I love watching videos about movies I have watched. About to check out your clockwork Orange vid now. Thanks for the great content.

Excellent video. This is an invaluable resource for filmmakers.

All your videos are excellent. THANK YOU!

I understand that former soldiers in England protested this film when it came out. Appears it was more like a Summer Camp compared to reality, which could not be shown at that time. I read a great book called, Prisoners of the Japanese, with stories from guys who were POWs in several locations taken by the Japanese; it was worse than most people can imagine. Many of those POWs would never have surrendered if they knew what was coming.

Growing up in the 1970s the lyrics we knew referred to his lost ball being kept in the Albert hall, and the story as to how he came to only have one ball? It was his mother (described somewhat disparagingly) who cut it off when he was small.

Thank you, this was a fantastic discussion about this movie

It was a long watch for me in my teens during the 90s when I first saw it but it was definitely worth it, as was Lawrence of Arabia, Lean was a master of the epic film in the proper sense of the word and as you say I have to wonder now how badly dated all these cheap superhero films will look in just 20 years time when all the CGI technology has moved on as it inevitably does. it may cost more to do location shooting but you get out what you put in and that can equal money, something studios cant seem to get their head around now.

Lean wasnt happy but the hot blonde ‘love interest’ really is such a perfect measure of just how big Shears’s sacrifice was.

David Lean is such a great filmmaker, he is also a big influence on Sergio Leone another great filmmaker

Great, i love those movies with all these orchestrated big pictures in a real environment, this is very rare in today's cinema.

really amazing - such an amazing essay

My enjoyment of watching your essay was spoiled slightly by the superfluous bgm throughout.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 SPECTACULAR JOB BY THE NARRATOR AND ALL THE PRODUCTION TEAM. THIS WAS MY DAD'S FAVORITE MOVIE. HE HAD SERVED AS A MARINE IN WWII. THANKS TO YOUR FANTASTIC BACKGROUND HISTORICAL CONTEXT ABOUT THE PRODUCERS, WRITERS, THE HOLLYWOOD POLITICAL EVENTS, ETC., NOW I UNDERSTAND MY DAD'S PASSIONATE APPRECIATION FOR THE FILM. WAS AWESOME WATCHING ALEC FROM WAY BACK THEN, THE GREATEST ACTOR OF EPIC STORIES RIGHT UP TO OUR TIME, WHEN HE BREATHED LIFE INTO THE SOUL OF "STAR WARS", WHICH I SAW 50 TIMES JUST TO STUDY HIS GENIUS.

Keep up the high quality work!

I wish people would remember this is the construction of the Thai Burma railway the 'death railway 'while American and phillipino forces were fighting and surrendering to the Japanese British empire troops were fighting and dying in Burma and Mayla. After the surrender of Singapore. 130,000 British empire troops capulated to the Japanese. Thousands would never see home again . POWs were put to work on this railway project. There was no commando raid to blow up this bridge it still stands today concrete and steal as a testimony to Japanese engineers and the sheer will and sacrifice of those troops who built it 🇬🇧🇦🇺

one day when i was in 6th grade, (1963/4) our teacher announced "we're going to see a movie today". ever ready to get out of class we all cheered and walked 3 blocks to the englewood theater. (suburban new jersey) we saw "bridge over the river kwai", the awarded film of great renown. i enjoyed it and don't remember any negative reactions from students or parents. now it would be unthinkable to take students to see a "war movie" as parents would be triggered... i'm glad we had that experience.

It is my prefered film. I saw it about 50 Times ! Kwai is immortal.

very well done, i will look for more of your work.

Great video! I love your channel by the way!

Interesting facts about one of my favorite films. Thank you.

i remember watching this on tv in 1966.

One of the greats if not best! Thank you.

Great video One of best films ever made Thanks Tyler

This was fantastic thanks

My god, I love this film.

Superb work

My grandad was a (UK) Japanese POW in WWII And considering what an otherwise talkative & jokey big Mancunian fella my grandad always was with me he would *never* talk about his time there (even when I asked him to as a kid) - And he never did, but left dad and me a trunk full of miscelaneous WWII stuff in his loft, for us to look through after he died. R.I.P. William Wilde, my fantastic grandad ❤

Excellent, thank you. BTW, the clips here are very high quality, much more so than any other movie analysis videos I've come across on youtube; thumbs up and subscribed.

One of my favorite movies. Saw it when it first was released. For all the attention to realism and detail, I always wondered why the Japanese were armed with British weapons (Enfield rifles, Vickers machine guns).