Saw the DVD To End All Wars [1] this weekend. It’s based on the book Through the Valley of the Kwai by Ernest Gordon, and this film follows the book more closely than the classic The Bridge on the River Kwai [2] of 1957. It’s a pretty heavy film, and if you’re averse realistic violence (think Mel Gibson style), you may want to pass. Other than that, it’s a film you really need to see and will have you evaluating things long after it finishes.
The actors are primarily unknowns (save for Kiefer Sutherland), and they do their job well. The Japanese are real Japanese speaking real Japanese. It was funny in the “making of” documentary to see them speaking through a translator.
Redemption and forgiveness are major themes in this WWII prison camp movie. It’s not a pacifist film, but it is an anti-war film. Even people like me, who support the current war on terror, would do well to be reminded that the goal of war is peace. To End All Wars is worth seeing.
8 out of 10