On an obscure Pacific Island just north of Australia, the Japanese Empire has operated a prisoner of war camp for Australian soldiers. At the close of World War II, the liberated POWs tell a gruesome tale of mass executions of over eight hundred persons as well as torture style killings of downed Australian airmen. In an attempt to bring those responsible to justice, the Australian Army establishes a War Crimes Tribunal to pass judgement on the Japanese men and officers who ran the Ambon camp. In an added twist, a high ranking Japanese admiral is implicated, and politics become involoved with justice as American authorities in Japan lobby for the Admiral's release. Written by Anthony Hughes
Acting
Takei's aristocratic menace—no Captain Sulu warmth here.
Writing
Australian perspective on Pacific theater justice rarely seen onscreen.
Director
Stephen Wallace
Bryan Brown
Captain Cooper
George Takei
Vice-Admiral Baron Takahashi
Terry O'Quinn
Major Beckett
John Bach
Major Roberts
Deborah Kara Unger
Sister Littell
John Clarke
Sheedy
Russell Crowe
Lt. Corbett
John Polson
Private Jimmy Fenton
Tetsu Watanabe
Captain Ikeuchi
Nicholas Eadie
Sgt. Keenan
Jason Donovan
Private Talbot
Sokyu Fujita
Mr. Matsugae
Ray Barrett
President of the Bench
Kazuhiro Muroyama
Lt. Noburo Kamura
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on actual 1946 Ambon war crimes trials—one of few Australian films to confront Japanese WWII atrocities against ANZAC prisoners.
Released the same year as 'Come See the Paradise' and 'Pacific Heights,' this capped a strange trilogy of films about American-Asian political tension.
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