MOVIE CRITIQUE: "TO END ALL WARS"

******************************* ******************************* Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space: Last night, after preparing some hot dogs and some popcorn, and filling my large Clan Henderson engraved pewter tankard with ice cold Pepsi-Cola, I sat down to once again watch one of my favorite movies, "TO END ALL WARS". Have you seen this movie? For those of us who are blessed with a wee bit of the ancient Highlander blood in our veins, this movie is really very inspiring. To begin with, it's a TRUE story! The events of this heroic saga actually happened. "TO END ALL WARS", made in 2001, takes place during the Second World War, and is the true story of Scottish prisoners of war being used and abused by their Japanese captors as slave labor to build a railroad through the jungles of Thailand.  Of course, as is the usual case, Hollywood took some creative license and changed the facts in a couple of the scenes. In case you haven't yet seen this movie, I'm not going to spoil it for you by revealing the distortions. After you've seen this movie, go to the INTERNET MOVIE DATA BASE web site and read the explanations in the "TRIVIA" and in the "GOOFS" columns. I liked "TO END ALL WARS" so much, that I ordered my own copy of the DVD from the AMAZON web site, so it's now a part of my DVD library, along with another favorite Scottish movie, "BRAVEHEART", which is yet another example of a truly inspirational historical event distorted by unnecessary Hollywood creativity. When you do watch, "TO END ALL WARS", be sure to pay special attention as the credits are rolling at the end of the movie, when you'll see the actual survivors, all of them now elderly veterans well decorated with numerous medals, marching on parade. Several scenes in the movie are emphasized with background singing provided by Maire Brennan of the musical family, Clannad, the same family which gave us Enya. The events in this TRUE story are brutally cruel and violently gory, but this movie is very unusual in that it teaches true Christian humanity being triumphant under the most awful conditions imaginable.  Therefore, as you might well surmise, I give this movie, "TO END ALL WARS", my highest recommendation for you and your family. Thank you.  John Robert "SAIGON" Mallernee Armed Forces Retirement Home 1800 Beach Drive, Unit 311 Gulfport, Mississippi  39507 ******************************* *******************************