‘Masterpiece’ WW2 epic is ‘one of the most underrated war films ever’ | Films | Entertainment | EUROtoday

A lesser-known World War 2 movie from the attitude of the Japanese military is hailed by one fan as an “incredible epic”. The Battle of Okinawa/ Gekidō no Shōwashi: Okinawa Kessen (1971) is a conflict drama from the Japanese perspective that depicts the Battle of Okinawa, “a massive amphibious assault by US troops that left more than 150,000 Japanese civilians dead”, in line with Mubi’s synopsis.

The brutal motion is captured in a quasi-documentary type that heightens the realism of the customarily stunning motion sequences. The movie was directed by Kihachi Okamoto, with a screenplay by Kaneto Shindo and Ryōzō Kasahara. Fans have showered the forgotten basic with reward.

One in a touch upon Mubi wrote: “So much for the great war. Another masterpiece of bleakness, violence and torment from the director who best understood that violence belongs on the screen, not in our lives.”

A fan writing on IMDb stated: “Little known but impressively detailed and completely uncompromising depiction of the battle of Okinawa from the Japanese perspective.

“I feel it deserves a re-release or extra publicity, as a result of as an anti-war movie, it’s extremely spectacular, and even forward of its time.

“American war films were still a fair way off from showing war in a truly hellish manner at this point in film history- there’s a real misery in this one that prevents any battle scenes from being fun or exciting to watch, even if there is a degree of spectacle due to the relatively high budget.”

Another stated: “The Battle of Okinawa is an incredible epic, one of exhaustive and continual bombardment that takes no prisoners leaving the camera smeared with blood by its dramatic end.”

Collider ranked the movie second among the many 10 most underrated conflict movies of all time.

The outlet described it as “one of the most nightmarish and deeply haunting war movies of all time, but those up for the challenge of watching it ought to check it out, as it truly is something great”.

One viewer on Letterboxed warned that it’s “exceedingly violent and grim and pulls no punches when it comes to the battle it portrays; even by war film standards it’s a lot to take in (especially the copious amount of suicides), and I’m not particularly squeamish as it is”.

The Battle of Okinawa would not seem like obtainable on any streaming providers within the UK, and it would not seem like in the stores on DVD for Region 2 (which covers the UK).

Those who want to see it could want to purchase the DVD from one other territory on-line and play it on a multi-region DVD participant, or await a theatrical screening.

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