My #7 favorite film of all time

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2006)

Without spoiling 'Bridge' too much, in my personal opinion this film has to have the best ending I have ever seen. Everything in this movie is leading up to this point and it doesn't disappoint even though it is still a fantastic film up to the climax.
Easily the best prisoner of war film ever made. Which is ironic since, "There is no barbed wire. No stockade. No watchtower." Yet there is a sense of seclusion. The thought of escape is so impossible that Colonel Nicholson has no other choice to keep his soldiers occupied by helping out the Japanese by building a bridge that would link an important railway system.
The top notch performances are led by Guiness, Holden, Hawkins, and one of the best supporting performances ever by Hayakawa. The whistle march of the soldiers is something the audience should instantly recognize. And with the budget and the on location setting, it is ever a wonder how this film was made for an estimated 3 million when it would probably cost easily 50 times that today.
David Lean's subsequent 2 films of Lawrence (my #1), and Zhivago (my #90) make this probably the greatest triad of films a director has ever made.