BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

kobaincito The film is excellent in making its point. The documentary arrangement is spotless, and the color gimmick is tolerable. In fact, for such a piece of propaganda, it is a good documentary. This nonetheless does not take away the fact that for a historian, or anyone interested in world history untainted by American revisionism, the film is of a heavy bias. Sadly, not a Japanese bias but rather a North American bias. There is no background to the traditional conflicts between China and Japan, no mention of the detrimental effects of Western (UK and USA)military pressures to open their markets or most importantly the pressure of American imperialism (Hawaii, Philipines, misc naval bases) upon Japan, in fact the film is so biased that the Japanese view of the Rape of Nanking is described thus: "to them it is not an invasion, but a liberation". Now, even if it was brutal, and accepting it was an invasion, why isn't there mention of the presence of Britain in China, the country it was being "liberated" from. There is even one ridiculous mention of "the great depression which originated after the market crash in NY 1929", it makes you wonder what kind of history degree is needed to make a documentary. The film even manages to make it seem like American and British control of CHina was a positive thing but Japanese control a bad thing. I mean, if i knew just a tad less of the actual history, i would have knelt right then and there and said the pledge of allegiance. Once again, well done, but, not truthful, real or accurate. Veredict: PROPAGANDA

James McNally I saw this film at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival.The film was almost three hours long, but compelling all the way through. This documentary features the confessions of 14 Japanese soldiers, detailing their atrocities against the Chinese in the war that Japan waged for most of the thirties and forties. At times hard to listen to, it was nonetheless an exercise in bravery for these men to speak out when the overwhelming majority of soldiers did not. A deeply difficult film to get made and shown in Japan. (8/10)

Pittwater This is a MUST SEE. Japanese director Minoru Matsui should be praised for releasing a 'confessions of ex-WW2 Japanese soldiers'. This is a very sensitive issue in Japan today due to their many living in denial of their crimes. These ex-soldiers confessed of their indiscriminate murders, rapes, plunders, tortures and so on. Basically the most horrific of crimes against humanity unimaginable. You have to see this to believe it. The average Japanese soldier would make Joseph Mengele look like Mother Theresa. The average Japanese soldier would make any Nazi T4 personnel look like pussycats. These soldiers have contributed to the most sickenning part of mankind's history. This documentary should be made compulsory viewing for all students of modern history and warfare. In the way it was presented, I can guarantee that there is no "off-putting" part as suggested by another reviewer in his "perceived bias of the victim nation's propaganda". HELLO... it was made by Japanese!!! Duh. There's simply no excuse for what these men did.We should all view this so history will never repeat itself.Lest we forget the past for our future's sake.

psteier Various Japanese who served as enlisted men or low ranking officers in the Imperial Army in China and Manchuria and were later put in forced labor camps in the Soviet Union and then in Red China discuss the atrocities against civilians that they participated in.At least some of the men have already published their experiences in Japan. They are usually calm and straightforward in their presentations.The main interest is that this is seeming the only time that this sort of material has been filmed.