They worked so hard building it, and wasted all that time and remember when the leader said how he wanted people to remember the bridge as British soldiers who built it and not slaves but then they blow it up at the end, sorry I didn't tkae in all the plot as I had to miss part of it.
Finally who survived at the end out of the British soldiers as I missed that part
They worked so hard building it, and wasted all that time and remember when the leader said how he wanted people to remember the bridge as British soldiers who built it and not slaves but then they blow it up at the end...the reason the bridge was selected to be blown up was that it was a critical link in the railroad line for the japanese.
Thank you I get it now
shareIf you didn't get the ending, you need to watch it again. The ending of this movie is one of the most unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat, dramatic endings that even when it happens right in front of your face, you can't believe it.
I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.
The ending of this movie is one of the most unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat, dramatic endings that even when it happens right in front of your face, you can't believe it.
"Yeah, I can't believe how stupid, I mean REALLY STOOPID Lt Joyce is at the end, his stupidity not blowing up the bridge, makes the ending pretty much a joke and ludicrous.
See my post here for more on the young, stupid, idiot Joyce, Gomer Pyle is a genius compared to that bozo.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050212/board/nest/198608798";
Not particularly fair. I'm not just saying that because I'm Canadian, either (like Joyce). He held off detonating the explosives because they wanted both the bridge and the train. In the book it explains that without the added weight of the train, the explosives would likely not be sufficient to completely destroy the bridge. As for his hesitation in killing Nicholson, anyone would have had a tough time stabbing an allied Col to death in cold blood.
If Jack Hawkins had been a good leader, he would have arranged some sort of signal to blow up the bridge ahead of time. Better yet he could have started firing the mortars sooner and Joyce would have gotten the message.
shareThere are some other threads about why the ending was "ludicrous", but you've hit the nail on the head here for me. Hawkins was so meticulous but failed to give a contingency plan. I guess that was in keeping with his statement that there's always the unexpected, but that is a major (pun intended) oversight.
share*********ATTENTION********SPOILERS AHEAD***********
The ending is certainly not "a joke and ludicrous". I think Joyce's actions were perfectly understandable.
First, they were instructed by Headquarters to blow up the train and the bridge. The radio message they received said "you should synchronize demolition with passage this train". That's called an order, and Junior officers are not supposed to disobey direct orders.
But, I assume you'll say, "Here comes Nicholson and Saito, and they're determined to stop the destruction of the bridge, so Joyce obviously should have blown the bridge early." But think about it - Joyce, Warden and Shears have no idea that Nicholson would want to prevent the destruction of the bridge. They don't know that he supervised the whole project or took any pride in its construction. As far as they know Nicholson and his men have been grudgingly slaving away on the bridge for several months. Why wouldn't he want it blown up?
Joyce has every reason to expect that once he has killed Saito and identified himself, Nicholson will allow him to complete his mission.
Up until the point where Nicholson grabs him and starts yelling for help, Joyce has no reason to believe he can't get back to the plunger in time to blow the bridge.
So you see his decision to wait for the train is perfectly logical.
Which leads to the whole point of the movie: There is more madness than logic in war.
"Push the button, Max!"
It is not a logical risk, it's a stupid risk, and I maintain that Joyce is an idiot, and failed in his mission, any competent officer/commando would have blown the bridge the instant the wire was found, which Shears would have done in his place.
shareI thought that they built to the climax very well, although the actual climax itself was pretty average.
shareThis is well stated. You're right, Joyce has no reason to expect anything other than Nicholson being on his side until Nicholson begins yelling for help. You win!
shareA Enviromental Impact Analysis report was not filed to ensure the pristine area woudn't be negatively affected so the British Commandos were sent to destroy the bridge
sharei thought it was pretty obvious? he spent all that time building the bridge and took a lot of pride in it by the time it was finished, which is why he did not want to blow it up. When the two allies who were trying to blow it up were killed, he finally realised how selfish he was being, and put things into perspective. He had been closed off from his allies for so long that they had turned into enemies and Saito had become almost a friend of his. He was brought back to reality with the allies death at the hands of the Japanese, and this is why he is forced to choose a side, which ultimately leads to him blowing up the bridge himself. Pretty ironic considering how he was the one so insistent on the bridge being made to a high standard. It just shows how stubborn he was at the end, and made me remember his conversation with the doctor who questions the high quality of the bridge but is immediately shot down by the colonel, who advises him to stay out of military affairs.
shareHe was brought back to reality with the allies death at the hands of the Japanese, and this is why he is forced to choose a side, which ultimately leads to him blowing up the bridge himself. Pretty ironic
Even more ironic when you notice that Nicholson was actually dead before he fell on the plunger.
He says, "What have I done?", then gets hit by mortar fire, then picks up his hat and dusts it off (like a proper British officer), and appears to die before he falls.
Did he intend to blow the bridge? I think so, but it was gravity and chance which actually did the job. He could have just as easily fallen backward and missed the plunger.
The madness of war.
"Push the button, Max!"