10 Famous Movie Moments Made Possible By Totally Ignoring History

7. The Bridge On The River Kwai Was Never Actually Blown Up And Stood Strong For Two Years - The Bridge On The River Kwai

The Bridge on the River Kwai is one of those movies that people genuinely assume is based on a true story because a) it's old and b) you can go and visit the bridge in real life and everything. In actuality, there are lots of things about David Lean's war-time masterpiece that don't match up with reality - and that's including the iconic final scene whereby the bridge is blown up by a fatally wounded Colonel Nicholson, who falls on the plunger and activates the explosives. Okay, most people who sat down to watch the movie probably thought some artistic licence had been taken with the way the bridge was blown up... but most people probably assumed, too, that the bridge was still actually destroyed? Nope: the bridge in the movie doesn't actually exist - in at least it's "real life" counterpart is located five kilometres away in Thailand's Kanchanaburi. The bridge was bombed by the Allies two years after it was built, but was not destroyed immediately after its construction (and especially not by the man who helped to construct it).