Just returned from an early screening.
I read "Ghost Soldiers", and I think that the producers of this movie did a very good job of keeping the film as close to the actual story as is possible under the limitations of cinematic limitations.
As a New Mexican with family and friends who were at Batann and in the Death March (some survived, some didn't), and a former NM National Guardsman, I have always had a keen interest in this and any WWII Pacific Theater story.
There were many New Mexicans at Bataan, and they still honor them to this day there. I drove down Bataan Blvd. outside of Santa Fe to drill for years.
The father of my mother's best childhood friend was a Colonel in the NM National Guard (200th Coastal Artillery) who died in a camp there, and the father of my own best friend, who had never had a cavity in his life, lost all his teeth in a Japanese camp, and my uncle escaped capture and fought with the Filipino guerrillas for years.
In today's poly-cultural, politically correct world, Hollywood types don't usually like these kinds of stories, because they shine the light on another culture's brutality, so bravo to Ben Bratt. He does an admirable job of portraying Ltc. Mucci. I'm not familiar with the other actors, but they all did a great job. I'm surprised this movie was ever even made, let alone released (even if it was released late).
All in all, I think it's a great movie. I'm going to buy it as soon as possible and make my 19-year old daughter watch it. If kids her age could fight, she can certainly watch a movie about it.
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