It's depression era Los Angeles. Guy Gabaldon is a troubled kid at school. His father is dead and his mother is in the hospital. He steals to eat. He is taken in by his classmate George Uni's family. He learns Japanese and gets adopted by them. After Pearl Habor, George and Kaz are eager to join the fight but the family is sent to internment camp. With mama-san's approval, Guy joins the Marines to fight the Japanese empire. He is first sent to Hawaii and then his unit is sent into the Battle of Saipan.
A Star Trek fan may notice George Takei as older George and Jeffrey Hunter as older Guy. The childhood section is fascinating and war's opening has some important scenes. The Hawaii section could be cut. It serves no plot development other than some female gyrating. The last half is the battle itself. There are stock war footage. The battle charge has a good amount of extras although it is not quite authentic. The background does suffer due to its greenness. One can't expect the charred remains of landscape that comes with a real battle. There are some tanks but they're not authentic to the era. After an initial big battle, the movie peters out into smaller action. It's not until he comes face to face with Gen. Matsui that the movie gets different. It's an interesting ending to a war movie but it could have something much deeper. The writing isn't there in the end. It needs more mano a mano debate with Matsui.
A Star Trek fan may notice George Takei as older George and Jeffrey Hunter as older Guy. The childhood section is fascinating and war's opening has some important scenes. The Hawaii section could be cut. It serves no plot development other than some female gyrating. The last half is the battle itself. There are stock war footage. The battle charge has a good amount of extras although it is not quite authentic. The background does suffer due to its greenness. One can't expect the charred remains of landscape that comes with a real battle. There are some tanks but they're not authentic to the era. After an initial big battle, the movie peters out into smaller action. It's not until he comes face to face with Gen. Matsui that the movie gets different. It's an interesting ending to a war movie but it could have something much deeper. The writing isn't there in the end. It needs more mano a mano debate with Matsui.