The best WAR movie about just plain war ever made was Tora Tora Tora. It was on TCM yesterday. A movie without computerized armies and planes that just tells a story straight is a wonderful thing to see. Everything wrong with the Pearl Harbor movie of a few years back is totally right in "Tora etc." Viewing this movie from the perspective of now, we see a clunking American bureaucracy indifferent to anything but their own "turf" in spite of the obvious threats coming from Japan. (The 9/11 parallels are inescapable) The Japanese bureaucracy is similarly messed up but a war was in the minds of the leadership, period. If you've never seen this movie in its restored state be sure to tape it the next time it is scheduled.

Urban legend persists that the Japanese segments were directed by Akira Kurosawa. Wrong. They were directed by Kinji Fukasaku who went on to direct another 41 movies before he died. The criticism of the movie is that it is a plain old war movie and didn't "include context" like the Rape of Nanking, Manchuria, and so on (The "Passion of the Christ" anyone??). It didn't include the Great Depression either. Just a war movie and a very good introduction to history for kids and told without the tedious "character development" of most movies today..