Tuesday, May 8, 2001

Men Behind the Sun

*** This review may contain spoilers ***
It's not worth it. Big disappointment. As I did, you probably are familiar with the title "Men Behind The Sun" because of it's violence; you heard this was a very violent movie. But, it's not even that violent. Anybody will be able to sit through this.

I was very p***** after viewing this film. Mainly because a lot of people who wrote reviews about this very film at IMDb said it was so violent.

Bulls**t. There is not very much violence to this film. That's probably why I didn't like it is because some stupid people built it up and over-rated it.

**SPOILER AHEAD**

(CH) -- Cold-hearted; Not violent at all, but just the idea that it actually happens will stay with you forever. (M) -- Mild violence. R-rated movie violence. (MED) -- Medium violence. Violence that about anybody will still be able to handle. (D) -- Most disturbing.

The only violent scene in this 90 minute film are:

- Cold-hearted soldier buries an infant in the snow. (CH) - A woman getting her hands dismembered; by freezing them, and then putting them in hot water, which leaves them melted. Then scientist rips off the skin, and we see the bones. (M) - Soldiers tie prisoners to a cross, and blow them up, but to the point where there still alive, to see what it's like. (M) - A man is put in a pressure-chamber, and his intestines come out of his body. (D) - A pigeon, a woman and her daughter and put in a gas-chamber. (CH) - Autopsy on live child, the mute-child actually. (MED) - The famous cat/rat scene. (D)

**SPOILER ENDED**

All those violent scenes combine, consists of about 10 minutes, if that. So the rest of this film is just bulls**t about trying to create a plague, and young soldiers who are against the experiments or something; I don't really know, it was a poorly made film. The directing was poor, and the acting wasn't that great either.

First off, there are no credits, so the director doesn't give anybody any credit for the film. Second, the violence is unnecessary for the film. Killing a real cat, and doing a real autopsy, etc. was completely unnecessary. Yet, one could argue that that was the point, to make us feel p***ed, so we'd know how offensive this event was. But that's what really p****s me off, because it was like they were trying to get to the point that it was worse than the holocaust; or at least that's how I felt. And it wasn't even close.

Sure, the events that occurred here, at Unit 731 were terrible, but it was no big event. The unit was closed down.

And third. The cat and rat scene was so inappropriate. It has nothing to do with the film. Plus, killing a live animal is just wrong. Now, I know Cannibal Holocaust, one of my favorite movies, had a bunch of real animal deaths in it. But the animals that died in Cannibal Holocaust died in less than two seconds. The poor cat took about three minutes to die. It was just wrong. Most unnecessary thing I've ever seen.

So, in conclusion, it was a very crappy war film. Wasn't tragic at all, nothing compared to the holocaust, and the violence was terrible. If you wanted to see this movie because you're a big war-film fanatic, don't waste your time, it sucks. If you wanted to see this movie because you heard that it was really violent, don't waste your time, because it's not even violent at all. I realized why this film is so hard to find, because nobody probably wants to see it. It sucks. If you're looking for a violent movie, see Cannibal Holocaust. That's a gem. Good plot and good violence, which Men Behind The Sun didn't have.