Three strategic logic issues with the second half of The Bridge on the River Kwai, initially posted on 10.25.10:
1. When Jack Hawkins and Geoffrey Horne chase an armed Japanese soldier into the jungle, Hawkins orders Horne to “use your knife, man, or we’ll be shooting each other.” Use your knife to kill a a guy with a loaded rifle? What kind of sense does that make?
2. Why does the commando team have to blow up the bridge at the precise moment when the train’s about to cross? Who cares about the train? Wouldn’t this action guarantee that Japanese troops not killed in the blast would hunt the commandos down and almost certainly kill them? How could they expect to escape when they’re positioned so closely? It’s a hopeless suicide mission.
The more sensible approach would be to blow up the bridge in the dead of night and then hightail it into the jungle while the Japanese are still waking up. Not getting killed in the aftermath of the explosion isn’t against the rules, is it? Isn’t it better to complete the mission, escape and live to fight another day?
3. Near the end Hawkins tells Horne to set up the detonation plunger on the far side of the river and then “swim back” after the explosion. Swim back? He’ll get shot. The smarter thing would be for Horne to scamper into the jungle on his side of the river and then meet up with Hawkins and the others at a rendezvous point a few miles away.
Chase Kahn
15 years
“Simply blowing up the bridge during the night while everyone is sleeping wouldn’t give us much ‘madness'”.
moviemorlock
15 years ago
“Blowing up the train on the bridge eliminates supplies and reinforcements, not just the supply line. It also adds a rescue mission for troops on the ground with far more distractions and the ability for prisoner escapes. I never had a problem with this. Plus–it’s a movie and one hell of a climax.”
Jeffrey Wells
15 years ago
“I thought the train was just carrying dignitaries, and was also going to take the sick men to a hospital. Who says the train is carrying supplies and reenforcements? I don’t recall that.”
TheCahuengaKid
15 years ago
“If the empty bridge is blown up in the middle of the night, then David Lean has no awesome climax for his movie.”
the analog kid
15 years ago
“The train carries VIPs and troops. It is specifically stated in the film. One could infer there are supplies on it as well.
“They actually talk about blowing the bridge with timers, but they decide to trigger it manually so they can get the train as well.”
“And they blow up the train because it would be ‘something’ if they did.”