Only the Brave

On December 7 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy raided Hawaii's Pearl Harbor and decimated the United States Navy's Pacific battleships.

Two months later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, permitting the U.S. military to uproot thousands of West Coast Japanese and Japanese-Americans and ship them to inland interment camps.

In February of 1943, the ban on Japanese in the military was lifted and the 100th Battalion 442nd Regimental Combat Team was formed. Containing Japanese-American volunteers from Hawaii and, remarkably, from out of the mainland interment camps, the 100th/442nd was sent to Europe.

"Only The Brave" is a fictionalized account of the 100th/442nd's most famous success: the October 1944 rescue of the "Lost Battalion", the all-white "Texas" 141st, trapped behind enemy lines deep within the Vosges Mountains of France.

The movie opens during the battle for the town of Bruyeres, France. After a receiving a head wound, Sergeant Jimmy Takata (played by the film's writer and director, Lane Nishikawa) begins to "see" the memories of his dying troops. As they die, Takata also becomes a walking repository of their mementos: a signature pair of eyeglasses, a photograph of children, an engagement ring never given.

Through the Bruyeres battle and the five bloody days of desperate fighting it takes to break through the German line and rescue the 141st, Nishikawa uses Sergeant Takata as a metaphor for the quiet and proud generation of Japanese-Americans who endured life in the relocation camps, who fought in battle and who kept up the home front, but who have mostly held onto their stories. Nishikawa's moral is an old one: the release of the past brings healing for the future, but it is especially poignant given that so few of that generation remain.

Working with a limited budget and an abbreviated shooting schedule, Nishikawa wisely chose to "go small" with his shots. Each scene is personal to the viewer. Each battle is realistically chaotic without wide shots and multiple angles to give viewers their bearings. The result for the viewer is – as it is for the characters - an exhausted embrace of the story's pauses.

Nishikawa also "goes small" with his characters. The memories that haunt Takata are often short, deeply personal gut punches. The realistic pidgin banter between the "local boy" Hawaiian Japanese and the exploration of the tensions between the Hawaiian Japanese and the mainland "kotonk" Japanese are products of character development and not just tossed in for "authenticity".

Unlike many recent war films, there is little battle gore in "Only The Brave", making the infrequent bloody scenes that much more powerful.

The cast, featuring Nishikawa, Jason Scott Lee, Yuji Okumoto and Tamlyn Tomita, turn in solid performances but Pat Morita's cameo was a little wonky for me.

"Only The Brave" will definitely be worth watching when it is finally released into theaters. I was lucky enough to attend a private screening in Seattle. I'd gladly wait in line again.

I began this movie with having no info about the real history behind it, only knowing that it is based on true events and I hoped to learn something new by watching Only The Brave. Well, it didn't really work. The movie is confusing. Pretty much in the beginning we see Jimmie, the main protagonist of the film, sitting in the dark and stare into nothingness. His wife desperately tries to reach him, but he doesn't respond. Then the movie takes us on a journey through his mind, so it seems. Back to the battlefield and and the soldiers he fought with. Constant flashbacks follow, showing their lives at home with wives, girlfrinds, kids, etc. and at some point you just begin to question, why are we seeing the flashbacks of other characters when we are within the main characters mind? How can he see the private lives of his fellow companions? At some point you just ignore it and try to focus on other things, leaving logic aside. For a war film, there must be some intese moments, right? But nope, all we get to see is one side. The opposing German soldiers are nowhere to be seen and the characters which we got to know fire towards whatever. With no enemy in sight the battles seem unreal. And even if "our" characters got hit by a bullet you don't really care. None of these soldiers have anything interesting to tell and so the audience is forced to listen to generic dialogues about poker games, heritage mocking and what women they desire. On top one of the soldiers is so stupid, that the doc even has to explain the concept of a flesh wound to him. This movie tries to drown you in sadness and self pity, but nothing really touches you when seeing this. You only end up in feeling sorry for the time you invested by watching this boring thing.

This is a terrific film and tribute to an unbelievable group of soldiers and just one of their amazing accomplishments. With all the renewed interest in World War II as this generation of men begin to pass from the scene, I can't believe there haven't been more films about the little- known exploits of this all-Japanese American 442nd RCT. As of this writing, this film has mainly been on the film festival circuit - I can't believe this was a low-budget, independent film - a period piece, and a war picture, to boot. A great cast, including such Asian American luminaries like Jason Scott Lee, Mark Dacascos, Tamlyn Tomita, Pat Morita (maybe his last performance), and others, along with a scrupulous attention to detail - weapons, uniforms, etc. - make this a stand-out film. The script's basic theme - that each of these men were more than just soldiers, they each had families, loved ones, reasons to live - magnify the tragedy of each death, so this film not only honors and glorifies these men's accomplishments, it also serves as a meditation on the true cost of war. Hope this sparks many, many more films about these guys!

I really wanted to like this movie, even though seeing the bad reviews and grades, but I'm sorry to say I just couldn't. Already in the first scene,(incense and cultural clichés accompanied by ramblings), I was thinking "Nooo". Cheesy and conceited were adjectives that came to mind...

I'm very interested in military history, especially WWII. I have my roots in Finland, and therefore I have the same relationship to Finnish movies about the Winter war and Continuation war (btw something to take a look at for anyone interested in WWII, to see some of the least discussed but most astonishing military wonders of all times - a tiny Little poorly equipped army in a tiny little country, literally crushing the USSR Bear), as I suppose Asian Americans have to this movie, since it portrays a part of the US Army which seldom have gotten any recognition for their efforts and sacrifice.

(Also see "Days of glory", a rather good movie about the Algerian French soldiers in the French army during WWII - Another "forgotten" Group).

I also have a great interest and fair insight into different Asian cultures due to both personal interest and having several Asian in-laws in the family. Also, some of the areas in WWII history, which I have spent the most time on, are the affairs in Asia and the Pacific. So the genuine interest is there, and also a good insight and knowledge of actual history.

Still, I have to practically force myself through this syrupy mess... The degree of melodrama, over acting and oh-it's-so-sad, is so extensive that it makes me queasy. Everything is shoved in the face of the viewer, in a pathetically naïve way, leaving no room for any thought or reflexion. Nothing is subtle nor actually touching, since the director has drenched it all in banality and cheap clichés.

The acting is horrible and over dramatic overall, and leaves one with an uncomfortable feeling of embarrassment on the behalf of both the actors and the characters. They are all flat and one-dimensional, delivering predictable portraits with no depth. I would even say that the characters, in a way, mock and ridicule Asian Americans, and place the whole group in an old and clichéd POV. Which is both sad and frustrating.

The depiction of battle and warfare is badly acted, but mainly badly planned and executed by the director, giving an air of boys playing war at a paint-ball field, rather than actually being at the western front. Low budget is not an excuse since many movies pull it off anyway.

The script is annoying in it's throws hence and forth, and in it's lack of continuity and a red thread. The scenes don't drive the story forwards, but just seem random and confused. Dialogue is mostly bad.

Overall, this movie is a crappy mess with not much good to be said about. And that's irritating since this forgotten part of WWII-history is a very interesting one, and a movie made by a good director, with a good script and screenplay, with good actors, could have made it a see worthy pearl of a flick, instead of a pathetic puddle of syrup. :( I can't even recommend it to anyone except maybe descendants of the Asian American soldiers from the US troops of WWII. I think they could have some kind of benefit from this Movie, otherwise, it's mostly a waste of time. See something good instead.

Sad to say, because I so much would have wanted to like this.

But Lane Nishikawa kind of fu*ed up. Seriously badly so.

I recently saw Only the Brave, and I was very impressed!

I had seen an earlier screening of this film, and although I had thought there were some very effective scenes, things didn't seem to flow together. Well, it is obvious that the director and editor have been working hard because the version that I just saw was very tight and a huge improvement over what I saw a few months ago.

I thought the combat scenes were very well done and they did a good job of conveying the amount of tension and fear that these soldiers must have been feeling. But even more so, I loved the little glimpses into the personal lives of each of these men. They helped to create fleshed out characters that the audience could have an emotional connection with.

The acting was all very strong. I liked the art direction which did a good job of making this film a step back in time to a different era.

I watched this screening along with my father who was a veteran of the 442. He was deeply moved by the film.

Kudos to Lane Nishikawa and company for making a very important movie.