Customer Reviews

Prisoners of the Sun

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Several years ago I found a copy of this movie on vhs and picked it up. As someone who is very interested in the Pacific war, this movie caught my attention. This is a well done Australian movie that is based on a true story. It is about military trials that were held at the end of WWII on the island of Ambon, in Indonesia, to deal with mass atrocities that the Japanese committed against their prisoners. There are some flash backs and a few other scenes with strong imagery and actions in it, but Prisoners of the Sun (originally entitled "Blood Oath" in Australia) is primarily a courtroom drama. It not only shows a glimpse of just how degenerate the Imperial Japanese army was towards its prisoners, but it also shows how governments after the war just wanted to forget and move on quickly in their desire for strategic world building. Thankfully, the Australians have not let the world forget about these atrocities and the terrible price that men paid for freedom.

Yes, a very young Crowe does have a bit part in this movie, but he is not the main character so don't expect a lot of screen time. Bryan Brown is the main character, and there are some fairly lengthy scenes with George Takei (Lt. Sulu from Star Trek). The dvd sounds good and has a decent enough, clear looking picture (full screen though, and I'm not sure if it was in any other form originally). As for dvd extra's, there are a few, a trailer, biographies, a small historical text account of the incident, a more recent interview with Russell Crowe and Bryan Brown in which they appear on a Australian tv show or such together and talk about this film and Crowe's early days as an actor, and a musical video "Memorial Day" sung and performed by Russell Crowe and his band "30 Odd Foot of Grunts". All in all these extra's sounds fairly decent for a little unknown film on a heavy subject. However, this movie first came out on dvd in Australian mate, and there were more extra's to be had there, including a "behind the scenes" that featured some interesting footage, "Ambon Pow's remember", as well as documents and transcripts of the Ambon trials, and more! It would not have been so hard to give us the rest of these wonderful extra's and that's very disappointing. Most of the extra's I have on a vcd copy I obtained from Australia, but there are still things I'm missing as well.

All in all, it's a very good (though perhaps not outstanding) film that shows the slow agonizing process of trying to see that justice happened after the war, and the flimsy results that came from the struggle. Good atmospheric piece that grips you in places, and if you're already interested in the subject matter it will probably keep you very interested. If your not one who is caught up in the subject matter or just want to see a young Russell Crowe, you might want to think a little more about getting this. It is interesting if you like courtroom drama stuff, but I'm sure there are more thrilling courtroom dramas elsewhere. Giving an audience courtroom thrills is not the point of the movie.

For a very thorough, down to earth, documented study of WWII Prisoners in the pacific, read the incredible Gavan Daws book, Prisoners of the Japanese, Pow's of World War II in the Pacific. ISBN: 0688143709

There is one aspect of this movie that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere, and I am surprised because it really is central to the story. This movie shows only one Japanese soldier who was executed as a result of the trial. (There were actually six executed by the time the trials were over; 85 went free.) What is interesting about the man who was executed is that he was a Christian, a Roman Catholic. He had already gone home to Japan, and was free. We aren't told if he was a Christian before he went to the island where the prisoner of war camp was located, or if he converted while there, or after he went back home to Japan.

However, he knew that he had executed one of the Australian airmen by beheading so he voluntarily went back to stand trial and to testify. It is subtle, but very clear that he went back because of his Christian faith; that he had to tell the truth and face whatever the consequences may be. While all the other Japanese on trial were lying about the execution of over 300 Australians, this one Christian Japanese soldier told the truth. He could tell the truth because his faith was stronger than his human fear of death. That encouraged one or two others to start to tell the truth. The officer who actually ordered the killings was so angry he tore the cross necklace from this Christian Japanese's neck.

I won't give the outcome of the movie for those who don't know it. However, I will say that the movie ends with the camera focused on this Christian soldier's Rosary/crucifix held in his hands. I would say that without this aspect of the movie, it never would have been made. Who would want to watch a movie where 85 out of 91 brutal, heartless soldiers, killers, on trial went free because of their lying and the politics of the post-WWII period?

I am not a great fan of Australian movies but this one is good.

The story itself is of a small war crimes tribunal of major significance to Australians but no-one else. In February 1942, about 1000 soldiers mainly Australians were taken by the Japanese to a camp. When the camp was liberated in 1945, only 139 Allied POWs survived. The film focus on the trial after the war mainly from the prosecution trying to pursue a case the public demanded but the Allied leaders found inconvenient and messy. To do this they follow two events that occurred at the camp the mass killing of 300 Australian soldiers and execution of 4 Australian airmen. The tragedy at the end is the man who was executed by the court I think probably should not have been. Even the prosecution did not want him executed. It is a common problem that it is harder in law to convict the person who ordered the event then the one who did it.

The acting, I thought was good.

The big problem when filming such an event is few actors would let themselves become skeletons, which is what the survivors are. So it is going to lack realism and there is nothing anyone can do about that. Even big budget movies have this problem. The filming was interesting mainly because it was done so cheaply. Check out the directors commentary, as he has some interesting comments on this topic.

Screenwriter Stephen Wallace reportedly found momentos of this real life WWII court room drama in his father's garage. Japanese soldiers tortured and murdered hundreds of Australian prisoners of war on the island of Ambon in Indonesia. Captain Bob Cooper (Bryan Brown) is the prosecutor who must see that justice is done. Unfortunately, he finds out that some politicians prefer top Japanese military officers escape their due punishment. It has been decided that these guilty men are indispensable in leading Japan into the modern world. Will only lower echelon defendants be found guilty of their crimes? Is such a compromise reconcilable with the dictates of a civilized society---or should we be cynical? Is there even enough proof to present to a court of law? A very young Russell Crowe portrays Lt. Jack Corbett, the prosecutor's right hand man. He gets a fair amount of screen time in a very unchallenging role. This is definitely not his best work. Bryan Brown, however, deserved an Academy Award nomination. The overall acting is superb to say the least.

I am flabbergasted that Prisoners of the Sun is not considered to be among the better films of all time. Am I too easily impressed? Or, did the political correct establishment discourage reviewers from giving it a rousing thumbs up? I also recently highly recommended The Great Raid. If you enjoyed that movie---then you should almost certainly like Prisoners of the Sun.

This is one of those movies that really makes you think about why there are wars. Are there really any winners?

Acting was fabulous, especially, as usual, Bryan Brown.

Set on a small island off Indonesia, Brown, a lawyer for the Australian War Crimes Tribunal, has the task of prosecuting Japanese officers and soldiers for war crimes committed against Australian prisoners. Unfortunately, all of the records and most of the witnesses have disappeared.

Very moving scenes. This is one of those movies you MUST watch again to get the full effect of it.

Bryan Brown is the star of this film which deals with an Australian military trial of Japanese soldiers who were responsible for a WWII prison camp on a small island. The focus is on the trial and the aftermath of harsh treatment of Australian POWs by the Japanese. The ambiguities involved in bringing the miscreants to justice, and the political undertones involved in the trial are explored with potent dramatic effect. Russell Crowe has a small supporting role. The special feature interview with Crowe and Brown indicate that this was Russell's first film, and that he gained a lot of experience from interacting with Brown. Don't buy this if you expect to see a full blown Russell Crowe performance. However, his fans may treasure this initial sojourn by RC. George Takai has an important role as the senior Japanese officer who was in charge of the entire island. War crimes against the prisoners are revealed through flashbacks. This film was far better than I had imagined. It could have been just another prison camp drama but instead it dealt with the legal and moral dilemmas of bringing justice to war criminals. These are extremely important considerations especially now when it is clear that torture was used against prisoners held by the USA. I never thought I would live to see the day when senior American government officials would admit to torturing prisoners, and even promote the continued use of torture as an official policy of the USA. It is easy to pass judgement on what others did, especially when their acts were so odious. However, it is apparently difficult to turn the mirror on ourselves when we are in the position of authority over those we revile. There are important lessons to be learned form this compelling film which has superb acting from one and all!

This is a horrific account of wartime atrocities committed by Japanese troops during World War II. Anyone who sees this or knows the true story would not dispute the need to have used the Atomic Bomb. Even though it is dramatized, it does use people that really existed and something that actually happened to tell the story. The question posed is "why were some obviously guilty people" given a pass (for political exigencies) while an honest person caught up in the situation punished for following orders. Food for thought.

The DVD was in great shape. I continue to use Amazon because of the convenience and the fact that I can rely on the quality of the product. Once again I was completely satified with my order.

Altho in this movie, Russell Crowe has not yet begun to reach his acting pinnacle, it is a fair movie and definitely one that belongs in any complete Russell Crowe movie collection

This was a heroic story about Australian prisoners of the Japanese. I had never thought about other countries having POW's but this opened my eyes that all of our most loyal allies also have their tragedies and triumphs. Good movie.