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 | Heavy Rain | Cigarette Smoking | Severed Leg

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

Colour:

Black and White (archive footage) | Colour

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:

Anachronisms: When Yank tries to persuade Ernie they should escape the camp, he tells him he is not kamikaze (suicidal). That moment in the movie is set in the beginning of 1942, but the first kamikaze (suicidal pilots) actually appear in 1944.

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

Wow! Totally surprised that this slipped by my radar

After repeated watchings my rating may go up. I love the movie THE THIN RED LINE and this movie reminded me of it strongly except it did not have the excellent cinematography that film did.

I watched it because I like Robert Carlyle a lot and was not disappointed by his performance or any other of the actors on both sides of the war. The pacing was perfect and the violence was very brutal and sometimes unexpected but effective.

The message it delivered to me made the movie for me. Loving thy enemy. Just realizing that we are all just humans caught up in something we didn't start. I highly recommend this movie if you like a film made with compassion.