charmwayster It seems that historical movies like this are getting harder to find. It is an movie about an American general in Japan just after their surrender. He has an assignment to determine if Hirohito should be tried as a war criminal.

BoomerDT When I came upon this on Netflix, I figured it was just an another bio about MacArthur, but being a fan of Tommie Lee Jones I thought I'd give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised that instead of this being focused on the General, it was about the US Army's occupation of Japan, just less than a month after the atomic bombs dropped on the island convinced Hirohito to order his militarists to capitulate before facing complete destruction. MacArthur and the Army have a difficult situation, they are occupying and enforcing martial law with a relatively small force, on the home island of our foe, whose population had been very willing to fight to the death rather than surrender just a few weeks earlier. He also has the responsibility of rounding up and bringing Japan's war criminals to trial and he assigns Brigadier General Bonner Fellers, an expert on Japan, the task of leading the investigation and to gather the information to decide whether Emperor Hirohito should also bear the same responsibility as Tojo and the other militarists who directed Japan's brutal war campaign in SE Asia and the S Pacific. Fellers, played by Mathew Fox, has been advised by MacArthur that he and the American public want to see Hirohito stand trial as a war criminal. But Fellers has pointed out that the peace in Japan is tenuous and that arresting the Emperor, seen as a deity to the population, could be disastrous as it may incur full scale rioting among the population, which would be exactly the opportunity Stalin and the Russians are looking for.Unfortunately, rather than just be focused on this story, the film has to meander to a totally contrived and BS love story, as Fellers is trying to find his ex-love, a Japanese girl he had met in college in the US and that he continued his relationship with when he was assigned as a military attaché in Japan before the war. There are a number of flashbacks, as Fellers tries to understand their love affair in the context of the differences between western and Japanese culture, something that has been done a number of times in films. I really don't understand the purpose, especially because this story simply wasn't true-Fellers had married an American woman in 1925 who had lived in Japan with him. The story of whether to bring Hirohito to trial is a good one and the scene where he meets with MacArthur is fascinating. Great job by Jones who plays MacArthur as the American Caesar for all it's worth.

endersgame1972 I was very moved by this film as a History Buff I found the Insight in to Japanese culture to be very Insightful and Enlightening.You don,t find much in the way of film in regards to World War 2 Japan and the culture Surrounding His Majesty. The choice to have Tommy Lee Jones play General MC Arthur the Supreme Commander of all Ali ed Forces was the right one In my Books.I saw him Play Thaddeus Stevens in Daniel Day Lewis,s Lincoln and many other films he is a very capable Actor. I gave this film 10 out of a possible 10 stars. I found the look in the inner workings of the Empire truly Educational. Though I would not recommend this film for any one under 13 due to the dark references and some Violent seen,s. also any one under 13 will not get a lot of the Historical Data included in this movie it is very involved.Def worth a watch for any one who is in to History like me

Gary Kramer Great acting from most of the cast, and well filmed. The sets of bombed Tokyo a shocking in their desolation and you really get a feel for "surviving".Despite the fact that the film is based on actual events, this is not a docudrama. Many liberties are taken with the facts so don't watch this film looking for education. It's a real shame that the script could not mirror the actual events better. This was a turbulent time, and important decision were still being made. The true story would probably have been every bit as good as what we saw, perhaps even better if it was told with care.Also, here are parts of the Japanese dialogue that just don't ring trueThe fictitious love interest of General Bonner Fellows, while somewhat intriguing, was a) not true, and b) very distracting to the main story. It's mystifying to me why this was inserted in the film except to show a one-star general being derelict in his duty. If it was to highlight the differences in culture, then it failed miserably as only hints were given.