I think this movie speaks volumes. So many people born in countries who fought against Germany/Japan in WW2 have this view of all Japanese/Germans being heartless, cold-blooded, killing robots. However this movie shows that the soldiers on the ground were humans with feelings, with orders and opinions. Soldiers who fought for morals, to protect their families and loved ones, not some propaganda conceived animalistic bloodlust.
Some people, very influential people sometimes, have strange, viciously damaging and dangerous ideals, and these are the people that mastermind such atrocities, but most are just people, trying to get by, trying to survive.
10/10 would recommend. This will go down as Eastwood's' best movie ever, and one of the greatest wear movies ever made. It will be one of those movies that gets the majority of it's praise long after it's release, but the praise will be well justified.
No other movie conveys the true nature of war like this movie does, and no other movie conveys the hardship and perseverance of the Japanese in WWII like this movie does.
It's been 18 years and this is still the only major western film to show the Japanese perspective.
Thank you Clint Eastwood. This one will go down in history, as will your namesake.
by FromTheOrdovician