To End All Wars (2001)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

David L. Cunningham

Writers:

Brian Godawa (screenplay)
Ernest Gordon (book)

Genre:

Drama | War | Action

Tagline:

In a jungle war of survival, they learned sacrifice. In a prison of brutal confinement, they found true freedom.

Plot:

A true story about four Allied POW's who endure harsh treatment from their Japanese captors during World...

Plot Keywords:

Jungle | Corporal Punishment | Shot In The Chest | Exploding Building | Voice Over

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Ciarán McMenamin	...	Capt. Ernest 'Ernie' Gordon
Robert Carlyle	...	Maj. Ian Campbell
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Lt. Jim 'Yankee' Reardon
Mark Strong	...	Dusty Miller
Yugo Saso	...	Takashi Nagase
Sakae Kimura	...	Sgt. Ito
James Cosmo	...	Lt. Col. Stuart McLean
Masayuki Yui	...	Capt. Noguchi
John Gregg	...	Camp Doctor Coates
Shu Nakajima	...	Nagatomo
Greg Ellis	...	Sgt. Roger Primrose
Pip Torrens	...	Lt. Foxworth
James McCarthy	...	Norman
Brendan Cowell	...	Wallace Hamilton
Winton Nicholson	...	Duncan

MPAA:

Rated R for war violence and brutality, and for some language.

Runtime:

125 min | USA:117 min | Germany:110 min (TV version) | UK:110 min (TV version)

Country:

USA | Thailand | UK

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | USA:R | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Kaua`i, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Argyll Film Partners

Goofs:

Factual errors: The American 'paratroopers' who liberate the POW camp all have large protective goggles on their helmets. However, such goggles were usually worn only by special troops such as bazooka teams and tank crews.

Quotes:

Lt. Jim Reardon: Colonel, I've been watching these Nips. There's never more than a handful of 'em guarding the perimeter at any given time. And they're not watching very closely. It just doesn't make sense to me unless...
McLean: Unless what?
Dr. Coates: Well, unless every prisoner's been caught or died in a thousand miles of hostile jungle. Unless the local villagers are willing to turn in a POW for a bowl of rice. Unless - escape is impossible.

Soundtrack:

JESU, JOY OF MAN'S DESIRING

The powerful, true story of what REALLY happened on the River Kwai during WW2.

THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE KWAI, the story of British POW's forced to build the Japanese jungle railroad, was my favorite book when it came out in 1962. Thus I was a bit apprehensive at what filmmakers would do to it when I heard about TO END ALL WARS, the title itself being changed. The film is different in many ways from the book, but is so powerful that the addition (apparently for dramatic excitement) of fictional characters bent on staging an escape can be forgiven. Agnostic Ernest Gordon's story of his being nursed back from the brink of death by Christian friends, thereby starting him on the road to faith--and incredibly, understanding and then forgiveness of the harsh brutality of his Japanese captors--raises this film far above any other WW2 films that I have seen (except perhaps the under-rated THE THIN RED LINE, like TO END...also filled with philosophical questions and ruminations). Although the brutality of the Japanese bushito system is shown in all its horrific brutality, some of the Japanese, especially the young man who serves as interpreter, are depicted as having touch of humanity. The film's central thesis seems to depict the affects of clinging to anger and vengeance versus seeking to be able to forgive and reconcile. The latter is shown at the end of the film when, similar to the scene in SCHINDLER'S LIST, the real Capt. Ernest Gordon and Japanese interpreter Nagase, now old men, meet and shake hands in Thailand at a memorial to those who died building the railroad. The creativity of the men, forming a Jungle University where Plato and Shakespeare are taught, is celebrated, calling to mind the inspiring film of women POW's, PARADISE ROAD.

When this thought-inspiring film finally is released to theaters or video, don't miss it. It can serve as an antidote to the dozens of mindless, vengeance-based flicks cluttering up the screens of our cinemaplexes.