Just Like Travelling back in time...

Rating: 4/10 (15 December 2005)

I can not fathom why this movie has such a high rating.
When I say "travelling back in time", I mean reliving in the era of biased prejudice that we all witnessed in those 'old time' black and white war movies of days (thankfully) long past. The movies where the Japanese/Germans were unspeakably evil one and all, with no redeeming features, as well as being terribly bad shots when it came to dispatching the righteous.
In those old films we were presented with the idea of the righteous American ideal, but in this film we are subjugated to a generous helping of Christian propaganda, and the righteous path is only walked by those of the faith. The film even depicts the Japanese executing Christian priests to ensure the audience is made aware that they are BAD BAD BAD.
I am sure this sort of directorial religious indulgence goes a long way when selling Cinema tickets in the US but it just made me cringe at every tired cliché. This idealist approach takes something away from the bravery of real soldiers.
Putting these issues aside, the film itself leaves the viewer feeling disinterested. The acting from the major cast is passable but the script gives you no insight into the characters themselves and hence the viewer feels no affinity with them. For example, while in The Thin Red Line there are a far greater number of characters, the audience is given a far greater impression of their personalities. A few vaguely personal scenes with each of the commanding officers is all we get in this movie and as a result, when at the end we are told of their personal outcomes, I only knew them by rank and had difficulty working out who they were referring to.
Given Hollywoods obsession with changing history to suit the glorious American ideal, seeing the text "inspired by true events" just makes me think "fiction". I give full credit to every soldier that acted with honour during any war, and I am sure there is some truth in the story, it's just that given this Hollywood trend its impossible to discern said truth and I believe this belittles the real soldiers.
I give this movie 4/10, I would give it 5 but I know there is a Christian fundamentalist out there just waiting to hastily write a review in opposition.