One of the Great War Films

Rating: 7/10 (2 February 2007)

Why this film failed at the Box Office is a mystery. It can stand proudly as one of the greatest war films ever made. Certainly not in the league of Paths Of Glory, or The Thin Red Line, but an important addition to the genre, as it depicts the not-so-often told story of the Asia/Pacific theater. THIS film should have had the success that the pathetic Pearl Harbor got. Technically it is a knock-out, with its large budget of $us70m right up there on the screen; huge set-pieces, authentic period re-creations, excellent cinematography, editing and casting. The inclusion of archive footage of the actual survivors a nice tribute, and a reminder that what we have just seen was real. As real as the onrushing World War Three that we are allowing to unfold, today, before our eyes. When will we realize that ALL wars are rich-man's folly, that send millions of innocents; soldiers and civilians on all sides, to their needless deaths?