The Bridge on the River Kwai
Is it just me or did this look almost like a remake of that movie?
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MovieChat Forums > To End All Wars (2001) Discussion > The Bridge on the River Kwai
This movie took place in the same place as "The Bridge on the River Kwai", but the issues and the focus were different.
The sacrifice in "Bridge on the River Kwai" was the destruction of the bridge. And although this destruction was to help the allies and save lives, it did not have the same Christian or the same moral focus as "To End All Wars".
It is so rare today to see any movie today, in this era of policical correctness, that employs Christian principles as a plot focus. This one was done so well. The fact that is is a true story makes it especially compelling. That this inhumanity could have such an effect on the faith of so many of these men was inspiring. I only wish that it were more widely known or acknowledged.
Similar setting to Bridge on the River Kwai, different story.
Personally I felt that To End All Wars blew Bridge on the River Kwai completely out of the water.
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." -Voltaire
very well said!!!
shareT-E-A-W and B-O-R-K are based on the exact same novel(true story). However, this one is more of a true story. B-O-R-K, like so many war films of that time(coming out of WWII) was very pro-allied victory. So the story was very much watered down and given a more glorious story and a morally satisfying ending.
I think both films are great, except this one follows the true story much better
You should all read the book, it's very interesting and a lot more powerful
Actually "The Bridge on the River Kwai " tells to many ridiculous lies.In fact, those British POWs in the film were looked down upon by Japanese soldiers.And British POW officials must work, too!As a POW you were not entitled to negotiate at that time.
I don't like watching a film which dare not tell the truth to its audiences.I know some people don't have their courage to face the reality---Good men were defeated and became POWs.
Pain is pain,it is no use to add some sugar into the bitter reality.Taste it,and think out carefully---why did they become POWS.How to avoid it from happening again.
Amen to the last post. This practice of adding sugar to the POW experiences,
as portrayed in Bridge Over River Kwai, is obvious nonsense. Even Japs
are smart enough to build their own bridges, and don't need white people to show them how. This racist, "Christian" view of war and history does a disservice to those who suffered, and continue to suffer, regardless of phony geopolitical lines and skin color due to latitude of ancestors, continue to suffer throughout the world. We are all brothers on this earth, and war is a curse on all humanity. Any film that is propaganda for some "right" side, with "correct christian values",
is just that--propaganda, which I have seen to much of in my life, and does a disservice to everyone. "Triumph of the Will" is a beautiful film, but it didn't mean that Nazis should rule the world. It meant that Leni R was a good filmaker that they made used of. I prefer her mountain movies--those a real classics.
Unfortunately, almost all 'war films', even so called anti-war films, are propaganda for war when you think about it, IMO.
Van
Not based on the same book
'The Bridge on The River Kwai' was based on the NOVEL " The Bridge over the River Kwai"
by Pierre Boulle (also known at the author of The Planet of The Apes
While 'To End All Wars' was based on : the autobiography of Ernest Gordon originally titled
"Through the Valley of the Kwai"
"Cabbages, Knickers, Its not got a beak"
It's was the same railway as the actual bridge. I thought the story was familiar; I watched a History Channel show a couple of months ago called "The True Story of the Bridge on the River Kwai". Portions of the railway are still in use, and as the narrator said, probably few even know how the railway was built. Some sections were abandoned w/ the engines and cars still on them. The cemetary at the end of the movie was also shown on the History Channel.
I would have preferred they mention at the end about the war crimes trials after the war. The Japs killed thousands of local inhabitants, tossing their bodies into the jungle. The POWs also died; I think it was several thousand.
Relatively few POWs died under Allied control. Even POWs held by the Nazis stood about a 97% chance of returning. If you were a POW of the Japanese, you had a 30% chance of dying.
Does anybody know if Clavell's "King Rat" has any connection with the story told here? I just watched the movie at German TV, or better said, a part of it -- I must have zapped in after the first half hour or so. And I thought it must have been a kind of adaptation of Clavell's novel. Above all Kiefer Sutherland's character reminded me of King -- at least at the beginning.
BTW the movie was a gut wrenching experience -- in a positive sense. A second before Dusty faced his destiny, I felt a kind of foreboding, and my stomach sank for a moment -- a reaction I haven't had for ages while watching a movie. I wonder how I could miss it.