Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!
Stars: Robert
Carlyle and Kiefer Sutherland
Writer:
Brian Godawa
Based On The Book
By: Ernest Gordon
Director: David L.
Cunningham
Feature length:
117 minutes
Extras:
Director’s Commentary, Documentary, and Trailer
Languages: English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles: English
Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging: Amaray
Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 32
Sound: Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year of DVD
Release: 2004
Home Video
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R
Reviewer: Mark A.
Rivera
A few years ago
there was a film released on DVD about the shared experience of a group of women
in a Japanese POW camp during World War II that starred Glenn Close entitled
“Paradise Road.” “To End All Wars” is somewhat similar in that the
viewer witnesses the true account of English Soldiers captured and tortured by
their Japanese captors and made to build the infamous “Railway Of Death”
between Thailand and Burma during the height of World War II. The story focuses
on how the POWs ultimately triumphed over their subjugators through adapting
their own code of self-honor and respect and ultimately forgiveness.
The film presents
both sides as victims of their circumstances and unflinchingly depicts the
horrors and inhumanity of war. Some might find the overall depiction very timely
in light of international events, but the film was actually produced in 2001.
While the film is poignant it somehow does not seem as powerful a cathartic
experience as one might expect. However those with an interest in history and
who read the book are likely the ones who should check it out. Robert Carlyle is
terrific and electrifies the screen in every scene he appears in and in my
opinion he has a greater screen presence than Kiefer Sutherland, who somehow
seems out of place here.
Twentieth Century
Fox Home Entertainment’s DVD edition presents “To End All Wars” with an
anamorphic (1.85:1) widescreen presentation on one side and a full screen
(1.33:1) version on the other side. The picture quality is terrific and the
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack tends to be subtle due to the
intimate nature of the film. However there is an action sequence that gives the
speakers a healthy workout. English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing
impaired and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto both presentations of
the film on DVD, as is the insightful and screen specific Director’s
commentary,
A
behind-the-scenes documentary (29:55) and an out of place trailer for “Hang
Man’s Curse” (1:07) appear on the widescreen side of the DVD. The menus are
all standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. “To End All
Wars” will debut on DVD-Video from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment on
Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at retailers on and offline.
© Copyright 2004
By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!