Changi

Changi has a delightfully fresh script, acted superbly by both young and old actors alike. John Doyle has done an excellent job bringing humour to a tragic true story, keeping a sometimes sad story fun and engrossing, particularly to those of us not familiar with the events of South East Asia during WW2.

John Doyle's parallel story line successfully bridges the gap between past and present, allowing the audience insight into the long-term effect war had on the prisoners and their family's lives as well as providing the basis for an excellent narrative which nicely rounds out the tales, both individual and collective. Doyle deserves praise for this effort. We have in the past been delighted by his abundant and quick-witted humour as evidenced in his long running collaboration with Greg Pickhaver as `Roy & H.G.'

As the series is approaching half way, we are looking forward to how the story develops with anticipation.

Having had a great grandfather be captured and sent to Changi during World War two I was hesitant to watch this when it was first screened on TV. My great grandfather kept a diary whilst he was in captivity and when he died over there his mates bought it back and I have been lucky enough to read it and feel I have at least some idea of what Changi was really like, first hand.

This is a fantastic recount of what happened to those poor blokes who were sent to Changi Prison and shows what hardship and cruelty they witnessed in order to protect their country. It is a terrific story of mateship, commitment and Aussie Spirit, that never going to give up attitude. It is worth watching if you like Australian History or anything to do with World War Two.

I enjoyed this mini very much and give it 10 out of 10.

My family and I enjoy this show and find it a fair thumb nail sketch of what the people went through.

My own father spent some time in Changi before going onto the Thailand-Burma Railway in "F" Force. Much as been said about the treatment the POW's received, I will just say that my father was 6 foot 1 inch and 196 lbs when Singapore fell, at the end of the war he was 5 foot 11 inches tall and 91 lbs.

No show could truly convey what the POW's went through, but this comes closer than most.

As the Ex POW's say, "If you didn't have mates you didn't survive." This show succeeds in getting this message across.

I have an advantage in reading other's comments before making my own. I have heard this "accuracy" comment about other movies/mini-series before and I really don't understand people's statements. Visual stories about historical events are never accurate unless they are documentaries. Beautiful Mind, and Seabiscuit are both examples of movies about true events that were off the mark where telling the whole truth is concerned.

I liked Changi because it showed the effects of war on soldiers both at the time of the event, and on their future lives. I thought the flash backs, both forward and backward, were fine--after all I want to watch a story that makes me use my brain, not just be mindlessly entertained. I thought the humor at times was sophomoric, but weren't most the soldiers in WWII of the age to be sophomoric? I loved the music, and I thought the "Singing Detective" type transition into song was very believable here, as the human mind in times of stress, pain, and torture will use its own devices to preserve sanity--the song sequences could be the writer's depiction of one way the human soul protects itself. How many of you have experienced completely weird dreams while suffering from an illness accompanied by high fever?--this is my point. As to the Japanese captors and the way they were portrayed--the commander here was, in my opinion, a detached person that let his underlings assume all of the responsibility for the horrid treatment of the POWs while the commander fed his bird and listened to music--totally detached, and I think in the end out of touch with reality. As for Lt. Aso, it was plain to see that this character was both bitter and jealous and took this out on his charges. Lt. Aso was bitter that he was not in the thick of the war instead of being stuck at Changi in charge of insulting, spirited, enemy prisoners. He also could not figure out why these enemy soldiers made jokes to laugh at, and sang songs to buoy their spirits.

I also thought the story showed that in a normal situation these six blokes would not have been friends. Their personalities were to varied--from the supremely bright to the un-educated; incredibly brave to perpetually cowering; passively innovative to unbelievably creative. However, under the situation of a POW camp these diverse individuals came together and drew from each other's strengths in order to survive, and in that situation became mates. Rowdy was the father/headmaster figure that the six turned to in times of trouble that was above their expertise. Rowdy also was available to buck them up when their spirits were flagging, and gave them hope that they would survive.

I'm buying this DVD for my WWII collection.

A very good series, though it had great potential to be much better. John Doyle had a perfect opportunity to build six characters, make us love them, and then show the pointlessness of war and bring tears to our eyes by letting one or more of them be killed by the Japanese. Thousands of POWs died needlessly and that is the main thing that people think of when they think of Changi or any of the other camps. That fact seems to be all but forgotten about in this series. Instead of making us wonder if everyone will live through the war, he shows us right from the first second that all six of the lead characters not only survived the war, but live to the year 2000.