Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Bryan Brown | ... | Captain Cooper | |
George Takei | ... | Vice-Admiral Baron Takahashi | |
Terry O'Quinn | ... | Major Beckett | |
John Bach | ... | Major Roberts | |
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Toshi Shioya | ... | Lt. Tanaka |
John Clarke | ... | Sheedy | |
Deborah Kara Unger | ... | Sister Littell (as Deborah Unger) | |
John Polson | ... | Private Jimmy Fenton | |
Russell Crowe | ... | Lt. Corbett | |
Nicholas Eadie | ... | Sgt. Keenan | |
Jason Donovan | ... | Private Talbot | |
Tetsu Watanabe | ... | Captain Ikeuchi | |
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Sôkyû Fujita | ... | Mr. Matsugae |
Ray Barrett | ... | President of the Bench | |
Kazuhiro Muroyama | ... | Lt. Noburo Kamura |
The island of Ambon in Indonesia, 1945. During the War, the number of Australian POWs on the island had dropped from 1100 to less than 300 due to abuses by their Japanese captors. Capt. Cooper is the chief prosecutor. In a mass grave, the bodies of 300 executed servicemen have been unearthed. Cooper assumes that the massacre was ordered by Baron Takahashi, Japanese commander on Ambon. But the one potential witness has gone mad and is due to be shipped back to Australia. No captured airmen were found alive on the island at all, not even the four-man crew of a reconnaissance plane shot down late in the War. Takahashi is returned to the island in the custody of an American officer, Maj. Beckett. But there is little evidence with which to prosecute the Baron. Cooper thinks he could make a case for the missing airmen if only their bodies could be located. And why does Maj. Beckett appear interested in not seeing Takahashi convicted? Cooper gets a break when Lt. Tanaka, a communications ... Written by David Stanko
There is a video for this film and it is a good one. The story, a post WW2 investigation of atrocities committed against allied prisoners of war by the Japanese Imperial Army, is a gripping one with an ironic twist. George Takei, the lovable Sulu from the old Star Trek plays a first class slime. Bryant Brown is dynamic (isn't he always) and there are other excellent performances turned in by Japanese actors Tetsu Watanabe and Toshi Shioya. This is not a film for the faint of heart. The story line often presented in flashback is tense and intense. The final scenes with their political agendized justice leaves all us with much to ponder. An excellent film in many respects. A wrenching portrait of a terrible time in our history. Check it out.