# What's a good movie about the Asian theater in WW2? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981 "2003-06-19T18:48:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/1 "2003-06-19T18:48:08Z")
I think the title asks it all. There are tons for the western theater (LONGEST DAY, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, PATTON) but there don’t seem to be as many about Japan, the Phillipines, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/2 "2003-06-19T19:02:47Z")
Are you looking for land battles or sea battles. Sea Battles Midway The Enemy Below Mr. Roberts Land Battles The Thin Red Line (YMMV) These are right of the top of my head and I’m sure after I hit submit I’ll think of more. Like Father Goose and Operation Pettycoat , well they are both lcomedies but they are good movies and set in the time and place. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/3 "2003-06-19T19:04:38Z")
[Empire of the Sun](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0092965) It’s not a shoot em up like the ones you mention at all. But, it’s a great movie set in China during WW II. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/4 "2003-06-19T19:08:02Z")
Oh, and technically **Pearl Harbor** meets your requirements. Although, of course, it sucked. Oh, and I second **Midway**. Excellent flick. Oldie but a goodie. It’s the pacific theatre equal of **The Great Escape**. If you like it a similar one is **Tora, Tora, Tora**. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/5 "2003-06-19T19:10:26Z")
**Bridge on the River Kwai** , of course. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/6 "2003-06-19T19:17:45Z")
For an off-beat and superb story about Japanese occupation of the Malay peninsula, please check out, “ **A Town Like Alice** ” by Neville Shute. It isn’t really a wartime story in its overall text, but it covers a little known women’s “death march” and the character arc and plot scope are both pretty fantastic. Brian Browne (one of my favorite actors) hands in a fantastic performance. It is also a really good book to read. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/7 "2003-06-19T19:26:41Z")
**The Last Emperor** shows smoe of the intrigues between Japan and China during the war. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/8 "2003-06-19T19:29:01Z")
**Tha Sands of Iwo Jima** **From Here to Eternity** ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/9 "2003-06-19T19:31:46Z")
One more: [Bridge on the River Kwai](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0050212). ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/10 "2003-06-19T19:46:42Z")
Wow. I actually attempted that post before **spoke’s**. Damn hampsters. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/11 "2003-06-19T19:59:14Z")
It wasn’t a major success, but I liked _Windtalkers_. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/12 "2003-06-19T23:42:19Z")
[Hell in the Pacific](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0063056) is pretty good. I guess it’s two movies in one; Marvin speaks in English, and Mifune speaks in Japanese - no subtitles. Not being able to say more than a dozen words in Japanese, I have no idea what the movie would be like if you’re bilingual. **The Bridge on the River Kwai** is a great movie, but in terms of historical accuracy, it’s 100% dead wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/13 "2003-06-19T23:52:38Z")
(this post was hamster kibble a few hours ago, please excuse if it pops in as a duplicate) Masaki Kobayashi’s "The Human Condition (3 DVD’s) Kon Ichiwawa’s “Burmese Harp” The WORST is “The Private Navy of Sgt. O’Farrell,” with Bob Hope trying to save a shipload of beer and not have sex with Phyllis Diller. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/14 "2003-06-20T00:06:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > **The Enemy Below** Actually _The Enemy Below_ is set during the Battle of the **Atlantic** , unless there’s another version with that fine Asian actor Curt Jurgens in it 😃 If you want a Pacific submarine movie, I would suggest _Run Silent, Run Deep_. Other movies : _Bataan_ _Saipan_ _The Flying Tigers_ _Guadalcanal Diary_ _The Fighting Sullivans_ _The Flying Leathernecks_ _The Fighting Seabees_ BTW, does anybody know if there is a movie about the battle of Kohima/Imphal ? ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/15 "2003-06-20T01:32:48Z")
How about PT-109? A pretty good Sunday afternoon flick overall. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/16 "2003-06-20T02:03:59Z")
Frankly, there are no good movies that accurately depict conflict in the Pacific theater. Thin Red Line, while some (not me!) may admire it for its cinematics, was horribly inaccurate in its portrayal of the Japanese. Wind Talkers was a bubble gum action flick, not much for plot or accuracy. The older movies were better made but were much more propoganda pieces as well (not that there is anything inherently wrong with propoganda, but it doesn’t make for truthfulness in movies. I am waiting patiently for someone to make a Saving Private Ryan or Blackhawk Down style movie about the Pacific Theater. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/17 "2003-06-20T05:26:26Z")
Let me get this straight. You want a Pacific Theater version of _Saving Private Ryan_ or _Blackhawk Down_, but you don’t want a bubblegum action flick or a propaganda piece. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/18 "2003-06-20T05:35:33Z")
Not a battle film so much as an unusual human drama is **Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence** , about British soldiers in a Japanese POW camp. Made by the director of “Realm of the Senses”, it’s notable for being a non-musical in which the two lead roles are played by musicians (David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto). Also stars Kitano “Beat” Takeshi way before he was a big shot. [http://us.imdb.com/Details?0085933](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0085933) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/19 "2003-06-20T05:53:07Z")
**Zenster** , I have been trying to remember the name of the film _A Town Like Alice_ for years! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-movie-about-the-asian-theater-in-ww2/182981/20 "2003-06-20T12:27:12Z")
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