Leftenan Adnan (2000)
This is a film about a Malaysian soldier, Lt. Adnan, who gave his life in defending Malaya from the Japanese invasion during World War II. It exemplifies an example of the patriotic spirit that should be in every Malaysian. Lt. Adnan was a courageous individual who was willing to give everything, including his life, for the people and nation. He also succeeded in destroying the widely held myth that Malays were good only as rebels and pirates. He believed that no matter what, as a patriotic citizen, one had to fight until the last drop of blood to defend the nation.
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Fresh and Exciting
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
This was the first and still the best epic war film ever produced in Malaysia by a Malaysian director and Malaysians actors&actress. this film is a success at that time and until now. the story, cinematography, acting and plot were overall good. Hairie Othman was delivering a fabulous acting throughout the film. until now, there is no other history/epic war that can beat "Leftenan Adnan". maybe the Malaysian directors nowadays no longer interested in producing such films.(as the youngsters are now more to western movies and lost interest in historical genre). Aziz M. Osman had done a great job of directing this great film. A big applause to all the crews that took part in making this great film a reality.
The movie revolves around the character Lt Adnan Saidi, an officer from the Malay Regiment during the 2nd World War. As the first few Malay officer, his conduct in the war was commendable. Infact, his unit is the only unit that had hand to hand combat against the Japanese Imperial Army. Enough with the intro, for me the movie does merit some points. As the first war epic ever film by Malaysians in Malaysia, it is considered a succcess. However, the high sales is mostly due to the patriotic spirit surrounding the time of the launching of the movie (during the Independence Day of Malaysia). Hence, there is a high volume of movie goers.The lack of interest among Malaysians in history has caused the Armed Forces themselves to sponsor the movie, in a way also helps to lift up their spirit.
This attempt to make a war epic is pretty impressive by Malaysian standards. The characters are well built-up (except, curiously, the lead, who remains too much of a paragon to be believable) and production standards are good (except for some budget limitations during the battle scenes). I like the look, the sound effects, the acting. Sure, the dialogue gets a bit too preachy, but what do you expect from a film sponsored by the Armed Forces? Director Aziz has shown that he can handle a big theme on a big scale; give this man more money!