The Bridge On The River Kwai (Bluray)

[pelam123]

Due for release (at last) shortly on Bluray in the UK . Have to say ,along with Lawrence of Arabia, been anticipating the HD version for a long time. It 's already been out in the USA since November and apparantly looks stunning in the original CinemaScope 2.40:1.

[christoph404]

Due for release (at last) shortly on Bluray in the UK . Have to say ,along with Lawrence of Arabia, been anticipating the HD version for a long time. It 's already been out in the USA since November and apparantly looks stunning in the original CinemaScope 2.40:1.

Is it really coming out in the UK soon? Amazon is not displaying any release date, frankly I had given up hope, it seems odd that the restored version aired at the London film Festival last year and it has been available on Blu ray in the US for quite some time but not here.

[WarFilmBuff]

I live in France and it came out on Region 2 Blu-Ray here a few weeks ago. I bought it for only 15 Euros at my local hyper market and it is a brilliant transfer of this classic movie - except for the opening title sequence which was only shot on 16mm and so has aged particularly badly. The jungle has never looked better and the detail on the faces of the actors is incredible. Generally I have been a tad underwhelmed by some of the classic Blu-Ray transfers, Where Eagles Dare for example was not much different to the DVD. But Bridge on the River Kwai is as good as The Italian Job and well worth getting.

If you can't wait, just get the French disc via Amazon

[christoph404]

The special edition that is out in the USA ( released by Sony) is apparently region free according to many reviews I have read so that version would be playable on a UK machine, Im getting very dubious about it being released in the UK as region 2, if it was going to be released here surely it would have been out by now, Im wondering if there must be some legal,marketing or copyright reason that the studio that controls its distribution is not telling us about.

[AdrianTurner]

The US Blu-ray is region free and plays OK on my machine. However, I wouldn't say that the new version is a huge improvement on the DVD release - Kwai was never exactly a visual masterpiece and indeed some of it looks pretty poor. There's no new footage and even the extra width isn't really noticeable. At the same time I bought the new R1 Blu-ray of Apocalypse Now and that is truly a stunning disc.

[JamesM]

[darrenburnfan]

It should always be taken into account that The Bridge on the River Kwai was a 35mm CinemaScope film shot with early anamorphic lenses and not a 70mm film, so there is a limit to how good you can make it look even on Blue-Ray. Besides, it is 54 years old now and in my opinion, going by the frame capture above, it looks as good now as it ever will. In fact, it looks alright to me.

[narabdela]

...and apparantly looks stunning in the original CinemaScope 2.40:1.

Advertising for the 4K digital showing at Bradford on 25th March claims a 2.55:1 aspect ratio and imdb agrees.

[Onedin]

Wow..........that looks like fantastic quality to me.........

[JamesM]

UK release date: 6th June 2011

The Bridge On The River Kwai [Blu-ray] [1957]: Amazon.co.uk: William Holden, Geoffrey Horne, Andre Morell, Sessue Hayakawa, Ann Sears, Peter Williams, K. Katsumoto, Henry Okawa, David Lean: DVD

"New Blu-ray Exclusive Bonus Features

* William Holden and Alec Guinness on The Steve Allen Show
* The Bridge on the River Kwai Premiere, Narrated by William Holden
* Crossing the Bridge: Picture-in-Graphics Track: Includes information on the progression of the bridge’s construction, the challenges of creating a bridge in the jungle during wartime, the real POW experience, and a book to screen comparison.
* Original Trailers

More Special Features

* Four Featurettes
- Making of The Bridge on the River Kwai
- USC short film introduced by William Holden
- “An Appreciation” by Filmmaker John Milius
- “Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant”
* Photo Gallery"

[pelam123]

At last, my pre -order copy arrived today. It looks fantastic from a quick view, can't wait to sit down and watch it tonight!