The Bridges at Toko-Ri Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Bridges at Toko-Ri Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 31, 2021

James Michener experienced overwhelming success as an author of both fiction and non-fiction, winning the vaunted Pulitzer Prize for one of his first large scale pieces to attract global renown, Tales of the South Pacific. The last two words of that title may indicate another way in which Michener found acclaim in both critical circles and box office receipts, since Michener had a rather incredible amount of good luck in terms of others appropriating his material for adaptive purposes into other media. South Pacific was just the first, but certainly not the last, of Michener's work to be produced on stage and/or screen (both large and small), and rather amazingly it, too, won the Pulitzer Prize (for drama) when it took Broadway by storm in 1949 (and for several years thereafter). Michener's winning streak continued pretty much unabated for decades afterward, with a number of high profile adaptations, including Return to Paradise, Men of the Fighting Lady, Until They Sail , Sayonara, Hawaii, its follow-up The Hawaiians and Caravans gracing various cineplexes through the years. Similarly, television benefited with everything from the relatively long running series Adventures in Paradise to such well-remembered miniseries as Centennial, Space and James A. Michener's Texas, with all of these efforts owing their genesis to the writing of the venerable author.

Michener seemed to be especially adroit at portraying the lives of men and women caught up in various conflicts, including World War II and what many have termed the "forgotten war", Korea. And in fact The Bridges of Toko-Ri follows the exploits of a number of pilots, chief among them Harry Brubaker (William Holden), who are tasked with taking out the titular structures, which are located in North Korea. Interestingly, The Bridges at Toko-Ri was released at almost the exact same moment as another film starring William Holden and Grace Kelly, The Country Girl, and perhaps due to the fact that Kelly unexpectedly was awarded the Academy Award Best Actress statuette for that film over presumed favorite Judy Garland (for A Star Is Born), The Country Girl may have stolen at least a bit of the thunder from the film currently under review, at least from the perspective of hindsight.

In that regard, as some of the supplements included on this disc get into, Kelly is really not a major on screen presence in this film, though it's probably her role that helps to give the third act its emotional power, as Brubaker and another airman named Mike Forney (Mickey Rooney) find themselves stranded behind North Korean lines. This has a couple of other interesting story elements, including a somewhat psychologically fragile hero who might be thought of as a foxhole companion in at least some ways to the Gregory Peck character in Twelve O'Clock High. Holden does an admirable job in a difficult characterization that has to navigate (no pun intended) a pretty broad range of emotions. Frederic March is also on hand with another of his no nonsense performances as a commanding officer. The special effects, while probably quaint looking to modern day younger eyes raised on the wonderment of CGI, won an Academy Award.

The Bridges at Toko-Ri Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Bridges at Toko-Ri is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint and ViaVision with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. This appears to be an older master, but not a particularly objectionable one, especially in terms of the palette. While there is some fading apparent which can tend to push flesh tones toward brownish areas, suffusion and densities are both very good almost all of the time, and elements like the greens the Rooney character wears really pop with considerable vividness. There's certainly no sign of any aggressive filtering, as grain is rather heavy, though mostly reasonably tightly resolved (opticals can be a little problematic, as is probably to be expected). There is quite a bit of damage to be spotted in the form of nicks, scratches and especially white flecks. Detail levels are generally commendable as well, to the point that some of the miniatures used in the Academy Award winning special effects are pretty clearly noticeable. The aspect ratio of this release may cause concern for some, but there's an interesting artifact which can be spotted during the opening credits and which I've documented in screenshot 21 accompanying this review. The Bridges at Toko-Ri was produced just as aspect ratios were beginning to widen, and as some historians may know producing studio Paramount was right on the cusp of introducing VistaVision when this film came out, and within just a couple of years even wider aspect ratios began to dominate. It appears from the projectionist framing mark on the title card that Paramount was allowing for exhibition in everything from Academy ratio to 1.66:1 to at least 1.85:1 and possibly even wider, as odd as that may sound (I'm not quite sure why the vertical line extends downward, unless that's to indicate the top of an even wider frame). All of this said, the framings here don't look especially odd or "roomy" to me, though your mileage may of course vary.

The Bridges at Toko-Ri Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Bridges at Toko-Ri features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track that, like its video component, shows some signs of age related wear and tear, with a bit of crackle and distortion, but with generally fine support for dialogue, score and sound effects. There may not be an exceptional amount of low end in the bombing raids depicted, but there's sufficient force and reasonable dynamic range. I noticed no real issues with regard to problematic dropouts in dialogue. Optional English subtitles are included.

The Bridges at Toko-Ri Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Alan K. Rode


• Grace Kelly: The Actress, the Princess, the Great What If? (HD; 30:57) is a career overview by Kat Ellinger.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:01)

The Bridges at Toko-Ri Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As much as it heavily redacts Michener's source novel and has been found lacking by others, my favorite Michener adaptation has long been Hawaii, but The Bridges at Toko-Ri certainly shows Michener's facility for creating memorable fictional characters within an ostensibly non-fiction universe. There's some surprising emotional impact as this film wends its way toward a rather uniquely tragic conclusion. Technical merits are improvable but certainly serviceable, and the commentary and visual essay by Kat Ellinger very enjoyable, for those who are considering a purchase.