An Exercise In Nonsense

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It turns out that Toho Studios - the guys who made all those GODZILLA movies back in the day - are still going strong in Japan, making this lengthy and sometimes epic-feeling WW2 movie that was undoubtedly based on a true story. What's surprising about this film is that it's a US-Japanese co-production that strives to show both sides of the conflict without ever demonising one or the other.As a film it recalls the likes of LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA and although it's not quite as good as that Eastwood classic, it's well worth a watch for WW2 fans. I loved the way that the Japanese soldiers are humanised rather than just being painted as vengeful, almost supernatural demons as in American war films. Yutaka Takenouchi is a former TV actor who has gone on to success recently in SHIN GODZILLA and he does very well in an emotive part here.The film delivers a warts-and-fall portrayal of military might and the battles are less gung-ho than resolutely realistic in terms of violence and effect. Certainly there are flaws throughout but these aren't enough to detract from the experience overall which strives to show the complexity of the situation and does so effectively. I was also pleased to see a couple of familiar Hollywood faces in the form of Daniel Baldwin and Treat Williams drafted into the tale.

This was a surprisingly realistic war film, although it did have factual inaccuracies, such as inexplicably exaggerating the casualties inflicted by the Japanese during the infamous Saipan Banzai Charge. And while I suppose it's possible that a handful of Americans existed who understood and respected the bushido culture of Imperial Japan, they were probably nonexistent in the war zone, and therefore I found Captain Lewis' character to be totally unrealistic.I can't speak for the acting of the Japanese. As for the Americans, Treat Williams and Daniel Baldwin can act. I can't say the same about the rest of the cast; they are terrible.This is a Japanese film. Given the enormous scope and nature of their aggression and war crimes in the 1930s and 40s (dubbed The Asian Holocaust), and given their longstanding refusal to acknowledge said crimes, or apologize to their tens of millions of victims, I find that any portrayal by the Japanese of their WW II soldiers as heroic - even if probably true - leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This was a film that should never have been made. Imagine if modern-day Germany released a film depicting the bravery and loyalty of their soldiers in 1942. It's just unseemly, no matter how accurate.

I saw the words "refreshing", "Japanese perspective" and "realistic" in the previous review which is UTTER tosh. Where does this guy get off telling such lies? There must be an American media machine feeding these lines to try sell this typical American self righteous arrogant movie, because so many have been made, I guess they are trying a new selling angle to make more money.The acting is Awful, believe me, its some of the worst you will ever see, a knife wound results in instant death, an explosion forces everyone to lie flat facedown in a perfect 20m radius. There are 2 emotions in this film, and you will be hard pressed to recognise either of them.The script is soooo cheesy, I think Disney would blush. The lines seem to specifically say "We Americans were so kind to the Japanese while we were killing them, we couldn't have torture bases in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Baghram Airbase etc etc" Move on people, nothing to see here you haven't already seen 10 times 10 years ago.

This movie portrays an episode at the Pacific theater of the World War II, without over dramatization.The battle of Saipan is said to be the decisive battle of the Pacific theater. After Japan lost most of the island, a captain found himself the highest ranked officer among Japanese soldiers that survived. His behaviors, struggles and decisions form the plot of the movie. It is interesting that he was not a career military man, but a teacher of geography.Besides the lead character, Captain Oba, a tattooed man Horiuchi and a nurse Aono accent the movie. Another unique character is an American captain Luis, but his acting is mean compared to other three.You can see this movie as food for thought about leadership. Oba's leadership is not like the one President Mandela in Invictus showed - very strong, indomitable leadership led by high ideas. In far outnumbered circumstances, with little reliable information from outside, and without anyone to consult with, he makes his decision, which turned out right in many cases. But he can not persuade some of subordinates who stubbornly refuse to surrender and stick to hopeless fight. At first, Oba was to attack the US back, but he flexibly changed his mind that his mission is no longer to attack but to defend the civilian survivors. Now I will not write more to keep this article from a spoiler. Anyhow, corporate senior managers would feel strong empathy with Captain Oba.