Great film. Great performances. Deserves the acclaim.

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2000)

This is a great movie. Many of the comments that people have submitted reflect my opinion too. Alec Guinness is amazing. Jack Hawkins is as strong as ever. William Holden is as good as he needs to be. People have commented that Holden's character is what stops this film from being as good as it could be. I'll argue that Commander Shears is necessary to help draw attention to the attitudes of Colonel Nicholson and Major Warden... he has to be there to provide an alternative to the single mindedness of the "Gallant Brits." Sure, Holden probably didn't deserve top billing, but it probably helped to sell the film at the time and, in any case, Guinness won the Oscar he deserved so who cares about billing.
I don't pretend to know a great deal about film making, but I think I can safely say that The Bridge on the River Kwai deserved all the Academy Awards it received.
I'll say one more thing about this film. As a British Citizen living in the US, watching The Bridge on the River Kwai made me proud to be a Brit. Whether you think that Nicholson's actions were gallant or foolish doesn't really matter. The fact is, he won his arena of the war... he defeated his immediate enemy. Throughout history (especially military history), it is the kind of discipline shown by Nicholson - and his officers and troops - that has made Britain great. The sun may be setting on Britain as a world power... but at least we have movies like this to cling on to!