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The Purple Heart

1944 1h 39m War List
Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
In 1942, Air Force Capt. Harvey Ross (Dana Andrews) flies his B-25 bomber and crew during a crucial bombing raid on Tokyo, but their plane is shot down and they parachute into Japanese captivity. Ross, Lt. Canelli (Richard Conte), Sgt. Clinton (Farley Granger) and the rest of the tight-knit crew are put through an illegal civil trial before a triumvirate of Japanese judges. When secretly offered their lives in exchange for vital military information, the crew must make a unanimous decision.

Critics Reviews

View All (3) Critics Reviews
Alberto AbuĂ­n Espinof Purple Heart it's not up to Milestone's other film but it's a substantial work. [Full review in Spanish] Aug 30, 2016 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jun 29, 2005 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Wartime jingoistic POW courtroom drama. Rated: B- Feb 9, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Looking back to the time the film was made, it was an important film in showing a ruthless enemy and the need for American unity. The film employs many interesting cinematic techniques involving light and shadow. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member US Wartime propaganda movie loosely based on the 'Doolittle' mission to bomb the Japanese homeland. This film sees the pioneering airmen shot down and put on trial by the Japanese for war-crimes - and whilst being tortured showing the resilience and bravery that America espoused at the time. It is however by contemporary standards less than enthralling and chock-full of stereotypes. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member USA! USA! USA! not the best propaganda film ive seen but worth it if only for the ultra patriotic last 10 minutes. i am kind of suprised that only 1 person has rated this. that must be a record of some sort...well, aside from the movies with 0 ratings Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member [b][size=5]X-Men: The Last Stand[/size][/b] Directed by: Brett Ratner [img]http://www.komix.it/img/x-men3.jpg[/img] This was a very plesant surprise. I definately liked the first two films, but I thought they were overhyped. I use to be a huge fan of the comics and while on the surface they were doing some cool things, I felt as if something was missing. In this film, they recapture what was missing. That is, it really does feel like a whole new, exciting universe. One of the coolest things about fantasy is getting to step into a whole new universe, a whole new place to explore. It's part of what makes Star Wars and LOTR cool. It's especially true of comic books, which the stories go on for decades in thousands of different comics with hundreds of different characters and many different writers. This film captures the hugeness and the wonder of that sort of world. Also, it's considerably more interesting from a moral/philosophical and political standpoint. While the original issues faced by the X-Men were a not-so-thinly veiled commentary on the Civil Rights movement, the first two movies were a not-so-thinly veiled commentary on the gay rights movement. This one is a little more sophisticated then the first two, it brings up issues that are relevant, but not in such a heavy handed way. And the issues surrounding a power like Jean/Phoenix's power were facinating from a whole lot of different standpoints. It's hardly high art, but it handles such issues in a fairly interesting way, better then I thought it would. The plot is all over the place. There are more holes in it then the standard brick of swiss cheese. But that's so frequently true of comic book movies I was inclined to overlook it. Some of the jokes don't work, and I still think Magneto's helmet looks rediculous. But while flawed, it was a lot more entertaining and a lot more thoughtful then I expected. It rivals the first Spider Man movie as the best 'pure'* comic book adaption ever made, which still doesn't make it great, but makes it well worth a watch. [i][size=4] 8.5/10 [/size][/i][size=2]* - By 'pure', I mean one that took a well known comic book series and adapted it without changing the basic ideas and style of the comics. This probably discounts most of the movies that anybody might point out is 'Do you really think it's better then _________?" (Say, Ghost World, Dark City or The Incredibles). The answer would be no, but that's not what I'm talking about. [size=5][b]The Purple Heart[/b][/size] Directed by: Lewis Milestone [img]http://www.autographsmovieposters.com/War_Purple_Heart_1sht.jpg[/img] This was a WW2 movie made during the war and has to be judged as that. It's about the men who were captured after Doolittle's Raid over Japan in 1942 (if you don't know what this is, learn history, or if you must, watch Pearl Harbor :shutters:) and the torture they were put through to try to get them to tell where they came from. Apparently, it's based on a true story. As I said, it needs to be judged in context. The Japanese characters, while not sub-human, are clearly stereotypes and caractactures. Yet the struggle of the men to hold and not break is well done and in the end, the moral choices they must make, while perhaps glorified, is real and difficult. Judged in context, this is a fine little film. [i][size=4] 7.0/10 [/size][/i] [/size] Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Purple Heart

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis In 1942, Air Force Capt. Harvey Ross (Dana Andrews) flies his B-25 bomber and crew during a crucial bombing raid on Tokyo, but their plane is shot down and they parachute into Japanese captivity. Ross, Lt. Canelli (Richard Conte), Sgt. Clinton (Farley Granger) and the rest of the tight-knit crew are put through an illegal civil trial before a triumvirate of Japanese judges. When secretly offered their lives in exchange for vital military information, the crew must make a unanimous decision.
Director
Lewis Milestone
Genre
War
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Apr 24, 2007
Runtime
1h 39m