It makes "River Kwai" look like a Disney film. The depiction of conditions during the building of the railroad is much more realistic and makes it easy to understand how 20,000 Allied PWs died during the
project. I don't want to give away too much, but the contrast between Bushido and Western ideas of human freedom is underscored. The film builds to a conclusion that asks whether the cultural differences and even justified hatreds between people, or at least some people, can ever be overcome. The answer is yes.

"All Quiet on the western Front" (1930)is probably the best World war I movie, but the acting and direction looks old-fashioned now. There's a 1970s remake starring Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine that to me is just as good. It's in color and was filmed in Czecholslovakia. One thing that makes it especially interesting is that it's from the German point of view.

Please don't think that any one of these movies glorify war or violence. They do just the opposite, but they also show that war and peace issues are not simple black and white.