Only The Brave (2006)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Wooden, disjointed, clichéd. Random flashbacks pop in an out and don't do much to push the story along. Actually, they show up to put the brakes on any kind of momentum building in the main arc of the film. The acting ranges through very good, to "meh", to community theater. The action is limited, and not very convincing. Low budget, yes, but considering the current standards for realism and this movie was made in 2006, it doesn't make it any more appealing to the crowd that watches war movies just for the bang and spatter.That said, it's a wonderful thing this film was made at all. This segment of American history has spent too long stuck in a dusty corner. The combat record of this unit alone is worth a dozen Saving Private Ryan's. Maybe someday a major studio will quit concocting fictitious accounts of heroism or making rehashes and remakes, and come up with the money and direction this story deserves.

I've read the negative reviews and the conclusion I draw from them is that their authors obviously refuse to look at the real purpose of the script. The easy way to look at this movie is to see the courage and determination of those guys to save the Texas battalion from complete destruction. But is it really the point the script writer and the director wanted to stress out?My answer is no. From my perspective as a French citizen this movie deals from the first image to the last about tolerance, respect of the one who is different from you . The USA after the shock of Pearl Harbor took measures totally inexcusable against citizens born in the country and treated like prisoners of war. In the Army those who nevertheless volunteered to join the allied forces, were like their fellow black compatriots , subject to racist behavior of the white soldiers.The problem is that the bullet which kills you doesn't care if you're white, black or your skin yellow. The result is for all the same. Loss of life, grief of your companions on the battlefield and in the families and friends far away. For both groups fear is the same. For both groups you try to connect with some unreachable element which you call god with different names and which reassures you and gives you courage.That's what this movie is all about. Perhaps some of the flashbacks could have been suppressed, but all in all the script is well constructed and the acting very convincing and many times very moving.

I was excited to see this film was in production when I first stumbled across it a few months before it was released. I managed to find it at a local video rental place about three months after it became available on the website and decided to give it a look. Although not perfect, "Only the Brave" presents a story that needs more recognition in this day in age. Especially with so many 442nd vets passing on every day. Although the characters are fictional, they are no less real, with a lot of attention paid to their lives before and after the war. My family was sent to the internment camps after Executive Order 9066 was signed by FDR, and their experiences mirror those of the men in the film. They too lost their jobs, then their property, then their basic freedoms in what is still regarded as one of the largest civil-rights atrocity in the history of the country. Three of my Mother's uncles served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, one of them earning a Bronze Star with Valor Device during the same mission portrayed in the film while serving as a Combat Medic.A subject I wish they had touched on during the film was the degrading 'loyalty tests' that Active Military personal of Japanese Decent were forced to take after Pearl Harbor, as one of the aforementioned uncles was subject to those as a member of the US Army Garrison in Hawaii at the time. As far as film craft is concerned, the picture is not without it's faults. A few scenes really would have worked better in a stage production then a feature film, and some of the scenes seemed to have an out of place dream-like quality. But all things considered I am simply glad that this film was made in the first place. Obviously a work from the heart for a lot of the actors and crew. Who all, like myself, had a deep personal connection to the story being told. Hollywood has pointed the spotlight on minorities serving in WWII frequently in the past few years with films such as "Miracle at St. Anna", "Windtalkers", and "The Tuskeegee Airmen", but always seems to overlook the story of the 442nd RCT/100th Battalion (with the exception of the film "Go For Broke" which was released in the 50's). Hopefully 'Only the Brave' will be the first of many more films to highlight the sacrifice and heroism of these men who were told they weren't Americans, then proved their government wrong in the most spectacular way possible.

I was privileged to be able to see this movie @ a screening put on by the filmmaker @ The Majestic Theatre in Seattle Washington. This movie was very eye-opening for anyone that hasn't experienced or looked into the Japanese during the time they were put into internment camps.There are some great action scenes but also slow scenes... they all intermix and show the lives of the people fighting in an American War. I thought this movie was very moving and touching but very slow at some points where the point was made and needed to move on. The acting in this movie was great and at some points, I almost shed a tear because the movie was so touching. I would recommend this movie to anyone willing to learn about cultural differences between Americans and Japanese-Americans.