To End All Wars
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Movie Reviews of To End All Wars
Movie Review: "Chariots of Fire" for our time
Summary: 5 Stars
I only thought I understood what "love your enemies" meant, then I saw "to end all wars", last week (6/15). Here is an emotionally moving and redemptive film with a powerful (true) story. Thanks to producer Jack Hafer and director David Cunningham for NOT holding back on the cruel, inhuman conditions in a Japanese POW camp. Yet it was not a bloodbath like a silly Torentino flic. Add to that, the casting of Kieffer Sutherland, the monstrously gifted Robert Carlyle, and three of Kirasowa's most ferociously talented Japanese actors. I watched this film first alone (the day it was released on DVD) and wept throughout, then viewed it in a theatre with 200 other theatre artists at a conference (two nights later) and at the end of the film they all rose to their feet and applauded for a lenghty standing ovation. As the story unfolds there is one dramatic moment after another. Though it is rated "R" (for POW camp violence and language) it is less bloody than "The Passion...". Just when you think you've "got it" (the film's message or forgiveness, redemption, courage) there's another piercingly moving moment from the lives of these remarkably courageous soldiers (British, Australian, American.) Some of the film's best and most impactful moments have no violence at all. That Fox studios (video/DVD distributors) would not give this film a chance in theatrical release is a loss to movie goers everywhere. Buy this film, NOW, and screen it for a group of friends on the biggest screen you can commandeer for the evening. Not since "Chariots of Fire" have I been so profoundly inspired by a Hollywood film. See it!Movie Review: Outstanding film that decides to teach rather than preach.
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is not, like some have been led to believe, based on "A Bridge Over the River Kwai." In fact, it's quite the opposite. This is the real account of what happened to those soldiers and how they overcame Imperial Japan's monstrous violations.
The film is but a simple account of what actually happened there at that camp, it doesn't try to glorify it or make it conducive to some secretly hidden Christian agenda. Like it or not, many WWII veterans became Christians on the battlefront. The religion has helped, is helping, and will help American soldiers deal with their stresses for ages to come.
The movie is a gripping tale of forgiveness, humility, and responsibility that will leave a permanent impression. The story is even more gripping of a tale than "The Great Raid," which is similar to it.
Keifer Sutherland and Robert Carlyle do an excellent job with their acting and really bring their characters to life. The Japanese actors are also on top of their game as the movie is very well paced and acted throughout. The video and sound also leave you with nothing to complain about.
WWII movie fans simply cannot pass it up and others would be cautioned, it is violent. But within the blood and suffering, the themes of forgiveness and ultimately love are seen more clearly and last longer.
No one ever griped about "The Last Samurai" having some fiendish Buddhist agenda, or "Pitch Black" having an Islamic agenda, so why all the hate towards this film (which is based on actual events, not fiction)???
For the same reasons you didn't catch this in the theatre.
Movie Review: Thoughtful and moving
Summary: 5 Stars
What is courage? What is the worth of a single human life? What is justice? These are the issues explored in this moving film about the power of Christian forgiveness.
What takes more courage? To plunge a knife into your enemy, or to lay down your life for another? The answers presented here will make many uncomfortable, especially those who view Christ's words of love as "superstition," like the Japanese officer in the film. But what else could inspire us to love and forgiveness, instead of hatred and vengeance? The answer they would like to avoid is: nothing. There is no other answer but the supernatural, transforming love that is on display in various forms in this film.
What of those who believe that human beings exist to serve the State? That their lives are worth "less than a feather"? They will also despise the message of human worth here.
P.S. While watching I was reminded of the book, "Flyboys," which I have reviewed, and I felt the need to reiterate one point: my disgust at the author's attempt to equate incidents of American brutality towards the Japanese with the Japanese's systematic and horrific treatment of non-Japanese, white and Asian alike. I must repeat that sentiment here. The actions of the Japanese, as detailed in that very book, were orders of magnitude more abhorrent than any Hollywood fantasy conjured up against our fighting men. To attempt to equate them is equally abhorrent, even in the name of "fairness." On the other hand, this film calls us not to "eye for an eye" vengeance but to a higher ideal, possible only through a certain "superstition," and impossible without.
Movie Review: Edgy, sobering, magnificent!
Summary: 5 Stars
"To End All Wars" is far and away the most gripping film I have ever seen. What begins as a prisoner-of-war story in the WWII Pacific Theatre, ends in the viewer's most private chambers of the heart and mind. People left so quietly out of the theatre that only a light rustling could be heard. Jack Cosmos delivers the single most impressive moment in acting that I have ever seen in film; an explosive moment that will leave all who see it breathless--if not catatonic. New-comer to the States, Ciaran McMenamin delivers when it comes to the raw moment that he realises he is in hell already; he takes on the manner of paranoid schizophrenic as he suddenly stumbles away from the chow line. Sutherland's acting as the lone Yank brings in a performance of steel, which later goes through a metamorphosis that must be seen. Carlisle displays a range of the most complex emotions imaginable with textured grace and flawless perfection. Mark Strong, who plays Dusty, exudes an inner dynamic and peace in the face of everything that demands hate. His very presence on screen is reassuring. There is a luminosity Strong brings to any scene that characterizes what is best about this movie.This Indie has Academy Awards written all over it--but it must be seen in order to be nominated. I plan on seeing it several times to pick up more of Producer Hafer and Director Cunningham's subtle and oblique slants on ethics, what is true greatness and how are we to grip tightly to what we hold nearest and dearest.
Movie Review: Another masterpiece overlooked by hollywood.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the finest films I have ever seen. So many powerful performances. It helps if you are at all familiar with the suffering of prisoners of war under the Japanese during WWII. The bottom line is, that the individual means nothing according to the Japanese 'moral' code during the war, and it ultimately can turn men and nations into animals. The prisoners of war in this film defy this way of living, and embrace the value of the individual, and the ultimate value of 'laying down ones life' for others. They are Christian values for those who do not know it. This is a true story, and only an indie. film would show the power of true salvation as it was lived and demonstrated by those who endured pain beyond description in this film. The man who lurks behind the message of this film is Jesus Christ whether that offends you or not. Though today He is being sensored out of American life, slowly but surely, He slipped through in a powerful way in this true story, which may not make sense to those wedded to our self-centered culture of today. Are we in a very subtle way becoming a perversion like the Japanese we hated over 60 years ago? Of course Hollywood will not recognize such films, but how many hollywood movies have you seen lately that have critics here say it is the 'best film' they have ever seen? In the midst of death, you can find life in this film! And it is not preachy AT ALL------- Just powerful and true!!