The Fighter Pilot

I would put this in one of my top favorite films. It's as good as "Letters from Iwo Jima"

Was the lives worth it for the future of Japan?

It's kind of like "The Notebook" meets "Pearl Harbor". (well, better than those two films!) If you had to choose love between your own family and country/men; many had to face the same dilemma. People can have different perspective whether one is a coward or a real hero.

I'm not sure how I missed this film when it first came out, but I recently watched it and I was engaged throughout the whole film.

The director Takashi Yamazaki also makes really large scale Hollywood-like production quality.

There's many war films out there, but this one is actually refreshing and meaningful. It really hits hard on the impact and value of life - how precious it really is.

I really liked how it brought up the controversy/showed and compared how people/kids of modern Japan also judged the way they saw the kamikaze pilots who fought for them. Some people argue they were just crazy brainwashed terrorists, but not everything is just simply black and white.

The film stars Juichi Okada, a famous former Japenese boy band group member called V6, who plays the main pilot. I was surprised he could act so well, as he was amazing in the film.

I liked how the film had that small subtle connection/twist of the old man with the security cameras in his home/samurai sword; you'd only get it if you were paying attention.

I highly recommend this film. It's definitely one of the quality war films made.

This movie was a big hit in Japan which is good because it is essentialy an anti war film. The military detail is outstanding, right down to camoflage changes to aircraft and ships throughout the war. The Impirial Japanese Navy did start the war th the best pilots and best plane (Mistubishi Zero) as quoted in the movie. A lot of Japanese pilots were already veterens of the war in Manchuria (China). In the long run as Admiral Yamamoto feared the US became unbeatable once their industrial and economic power ramped up. Without a doubt the fact the allies cracked the Japanese naval code contributed to the allied victory (at Midway especialy). The nuclear bombs and then the Soviet Union declaring war on Japan forced the Japanese surrender saving countless lives no doubt. As a side note, Japan and the Russians are technicaly still at war and have land claims against each other.

I love Eternal Zero. I watched it twice, and I still think this movie is great.

As I'm watching it, I thought about what really makes this movie interesting for me. Is it the wonderful drama, the exciting dogfights, or the personal point of view from those war pilots? The answer: all of it. I respect war veterans, because having gone into war at a fairly young age was one of the hardest duty, not to mention how risky and full of torture it was. A kind of duty no one should undertake, because ego and greed will only lead to human destruction.

Eternal Zero gives a different perspective of war. How the main character is in all conscience not willing to die for his country. An unexpected confession, seeing how common it was for survivors to have their brain washed, so they can be patriotic in all sense, fight until the very last breath to conquer the enemy, not to holding on for dear life so they can reunite with their beloved family at home. It was pretty touching to see.

I highly recommend it, because truthfully, Eternal Zero is about human, and a view about the importance of life.

A brother and sister initiate a personal project to find out more about their grandfather, a World War II kamikaze pilot. When they discover their grandfather was universally regarded as a coward, their enthusiasm begins to wane. But the brother persists, discovering there is more to the story.

This is a subtle film, foregrounding the personal consequences of war for rounded, authentic characters. In the process, the film astutely stays away from either justifying or apologising for Japan's war actions. Jun'ichi Okada is a revelation as the pilot instructor who attempts to save his young charges from the excesses of his superiors, often at great personal sacrifice. He makes a promise to his wife, but then seems to compromise it in order to be loyal to his men. The resolution of this conflict makes for a powerful and well-plotted storyline.

The flashbacks to the war are engaging and dramatic, but the film's weak point is the bland Haruma Miura guiding us through the story. In a scene conspicuous for its shallow clunkiness, he berates his friends for equating tokkutai with modern-day suicide bombers. No real camaraderie seems to exist between the friends, and the whole scene seems designed merely to relay the point that modern-day fanaticism and historical Japanese 'heroism' cannot be equated. It is a fop to present-day rightist revisionism that is unworthy of the rest of the film.

Eien no Zero shows ordinary people living extraordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances. A thoughtful, emotional film that, casting flaws aside, proves cathartic and thought-provoking in equal measure.

This is an involved and engaging love story using Japan's involvement in WW2 as a back drop. It starts and ends with I believe a replicated scene that was based on actual footage that I remember seeing when I studied the history of the Second World War in the Pacific.

There was nothing I didn't like about the film. I liked the characters, the plot and the CGI. Nothing overpowered any other part of the film.

It is a long film at nearly 2.5 hours but I found it totally engrossing.

A week after I saw it I watched it again with my daughter (who knows very little if anything of the Japanese involvement in WW2) and she enjoyed it also. She rated it 8/10

I found it to be a refreshingly different portrayal of the other side in that conflict.

Last Friday night a group of friends came around for dinner. During the meal I was asked if I had seen any good films lately. So after dinner we watched The Eternal Zero. Harry gave it 7/10, Vicky 8/10. If anyone else rates it then I will update this post.