Terrible historical event deserved much better treatment

Rating: 5/10 (9 January 2012)

Lots of others have written about the performances and basic story. I guess I feel that this story did little to truly portray the terrible atrocity of the Japanese occupation of Nanking. Don't get me wrong, I thought that the ultimate selfless sacrifices were very moving, even the sacrifice of the Chinese Major. If only the movie had made a little bit of effort to appear even vaguely even-handed in its contrast between selfless Chinese Heros who can single handedly destroy a battalion of stupid nasty Japanese and Japanese soldiers who on the whole spend their time running around leering and hunched over cackling like monkeys as they chase girls around and around. I have read many accounts and the Nanking Massacre is undoubtedly one of the worst in history. If only they had toned down the stereotyping then this film may have been a credible introduction to the topic for people and opened real discussion. Instead it just looks like an incredible piece of nationalistic propaganda with zero credibility which diminishes the true powerful story of this terrible event.