Movie: Return from the River Kwai

[Jason]

Return from the River Kwai, has anyone heard of this movie? is it worth watching?

I was going through this list on IMDB when I found it: WWII Hard to Find movies

[Lars]

I think I saw it once on tv .. was crap and i switched channels after some time

[-ViTaMiHnM203-]

That's weird, it is considered an historical masterpiece.

[Lars]

sometimes history is just crap Better watch an documentary on that

[Duke0196]

Jason, I'm not familiar with the movie but I noticed you can find it on Youtube. One user even broke it down into several parts.

[Jason]

Big question is, is it better than the sequel to The Guns of Navarone, Force 10 from Navarone?

[-ViTaMiHnM203-]

Why? Must you choose between them? Is it gonna come down to personal preference.

[Duke0196]

Big question is, is it better than the sequel to The Guns of Navarone, Force 10 from Navarone?

I can't answer your question as to whether "Return from" is better than "Force 10" but at least I now know why I hadn't heard about it . I don't know how accurate Wikipedia's entry is but it states it was never promoted as a sequel but "due to legal disputes Return from the River Kwai has not been released in Canada or the USA." I see DVDs available on Amazon but they are PAL imports.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_from_the_River_Kwai

Why? Must you choose between them? Is it gonna come down to personal preference.

What Vit says is totally truel You may like or dislike something that I might think the opposite; but to his credit, the Director has done some well-received work. I think "Return from" may not have been so well received because many folks, whether sequel or not, were expecting it to be more like "The Bridge over the River Kwai."

[Jason]

Force 10 is a famous peace of shit that why I asked if Shaw and Ford can't save it who can but to be totally honest it wasn't that bad. Bridge Over The River Kwai is over rated though, good but not great. The Devil's Brigade is a much better Holden film I'll watch any WW2 film at least once, there's a lot of bland one's out there.

Do you prefer Pacific WW2 movies over European set one's Duke?

[Duke0196]

Force 10 is a famous peace of shit that why I asked if Shaw and Ford can't save it who can but to be totally honest it wasn't that bad.

I didn't mind "Force 10." I had the VHS tape but admit I haven't replaced it with a DVD.

Bridge Over The River Kwai is over rated though, good but not great.

TBH, I was a lot younger when I last saw "Bridge" and found it a little slow-paced at the time I'm sure I would view it with renewed interest now that I've mellowed, been to Thailand, and lived in Oz.

The Devil's Brigade is a much better Holden film

I see the guy who directed "The Devil's Brigade" also directed "Return from the River Kwai." I don't mind "The Devil's Brigade," it has its moments.

I'll watch any WW2 film at least once, there's a lot of bland one's out there.

A lot of movies, as with games, have their moments. I picked up a box set with 20 movies, some from the war years up to the 70s. Some minor classics including a few foreign movies. Definitely a mixed batch.

Do you prefer Pacific WW2 movies over European set one's Duke?

I never thought about it. I guess I do, directly and indirectly, if you base it on what I've purchased. What I mean by Indirectly is because I am a John Wayne fan and his WW2 movies were primarily in the Pacific against the Japanese.

Still, I think its because I can relate to the Pacific more. The Pacific War affected our family directly as many of my relatives were under Japanese Occupation and my dad's unit fought against the Japanese. I also spent many of my Navy years in the Pacific and Pearl Harbor is just down the road from us.

A unique movie is "Go For Broke" based on the 442nd Infantry Regiment. Many local Nisei were part of that unit and they fought primarily in Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Infa ... ed_States)

[Duke0196]

So Jason, you have a chance to check out "Return" on Youtube?

[Jason]

No, not yet. I'll probably wait a while before I can track a good quality version down. Must admit that I am a little more interested in the film after you told me it was directed by the same guy that did The Devil's Brigade.

Still need to replace my WW2 DVDs with blurays, not an easy task I'll tell you was hard enough tracking some DVDs down.

[Duke0196]

No, not yet. I'll probably wait a while before I can track a good quality version down. Must admit that I am a little more interested in the film after you told me it was directed by the same guy that did The Devil's Brigade.

He also directed McClintock!, Hellfighters,, The Undefeated, and a couple others with John Wayne (most are in my John Wayne collection) and "Shenandoah" which is about the American Civil War (ACW). He also did the TV mini-series "The Blue and the Gray" which also about the ACW and the TV-movie ... "The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission." I admit, however, I didn't care too much for "The Wild Geese" which were about mercenaries in Africa.

Still need to replace my WW2 DVDs with blurays, not an easy task I'll tell you was hard enough tracking some DVDs down.

Oh please, don't even start. The only WW2 movie I have on Blu-Ray is "Battle of Britain." Well, that is unless you consider "Australia" a WW2 movie ... the Japanese do attack Darwin. Heck, most of my James Bond collection is Region 4 from when I was in Oz.

[Duke0196]

Oh, I forgot "The Sea Wolves" is another of his movies. It's based on Operation Boarding Party. It stars Gregory Peck and David Niven (remember them from Navaronne?), Roger Moore, and Jack Watson (Cpl Peacock in The Devil's Brigade) among others.

"Organized by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the Calcutta Light Horse regiment was deployed to attack the German ship Ehrenfels, anchored in the Portuguese, hence neutral, Mormugao harbor in Goa, India. Ehrenfels became a target when it was discovered that she was transmitting information on Allied ship movements to German submarines, which played a part in the sinking of 12 Allied ships in the Indian Ocean in early Mar 1943. The Calcutta Light Horse regiment sailed aboard the barge Phoebe and sailed from Calcutta to Goa. Upon reaching Mormugao harbor in the night of 9 Mar 1943, the men of the regiment infiltrated the German ship and detonated explosives. When British intelligence received word of the successful destruction of Ehrenfels, it sent an open message to announce that the British was about to invade Goa, which was a bluff. The crews of the other two German ships at Mormugao, Drachenfels and Braunfels, along with several Italian ships also present, scuttled their own ships to prevent British capture.

The attack was conducted covertly so that it would not create an international incident; the truth of the attack was not revealed to the public until 1978."

Source: http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=209

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcutta_Light_Horse

[Jason]

He also directed ... the TV-movie ... "The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission." I admit, however, I didn't care too much for "The Wild Geese" which were about mercenaries in Africa.

The Next Mission is really bad, the script for Lee Marvin is like almost exactly the same during the first half of the film. I have seen some of the others but not all, forgot which ones I saw back in early 2000. I am yet to see the The Wild Geese, but the cast is a good one.

The only WW2 movie I have on Blu-Ray is "Battle of Britain." Well, that is unless you consider "Australia" a WW2 movie ... the Japanese do attack Darwin. Heck, most of my James Bond collection is Region 4 from when I was in Oz.

Yeah I only have the Longest Day, which is the best quality Blu-ray I have seen. It's a totally new movie in full HD, but I love that movie no matter what The black & white is just beautiful to look at, I'd like to see other B&W movies at this quality.

I refuse to watch that "Australia" movie, the trailer was bad enough! Only good movie Huge Jackman has done is Swordfish

I sold my ultimate collection of James Bond dvds so I'd be forced to buy the blu-rays... kept putting it off, but I only have the two Daniel Craig movies now. Still waiting for the full release of them on Blu-ray. The 50th anniversary is coming up, so they better hurry up!

Oh, I forgot "The Sea Wolves" is another of his movies. It's based on Operation Boarding Party. It stars Gregory Peck and David Niven (remember them from Navaronne?), Roger Moore, and Jack Watson (Cpl Peacock in The Devil's Brigade) among others.

Yeah I saw that one in the list he did, will have to watch that - have you seen it Duke? Gregory Peck and David Niven, who are they? were they famous or something? I'm 26 but I love older movies. They make a lot of crap these days, hardly any good actors