A group of American army nurses end up prisoners of war, and like the women in older movies like "Cry Havoc", "So Proudly We Hail" and "Three Came Home", they face some truly awful conditions. Susan Sarandon was a popular working actress, not yet a superstar, when she made this TV movie, along with Kristy MacNichol, Valarie Mahaffey, Alberta Watson and later Neva Patterson, they deal with brutish guards (one in particular is downright rotten, forcing Sarandon and MacNichol to have a slap down with each other), that is until commanding officer Patrick Bishop steps in, shoes a bit of compassion, but that doesn't stop additional violatons including rape, beatings and murder.
While the women do look a bit weather beaten and exhausted at times, it is obvious that they would end up being much dirtier in the real war, so this is still quite tame in spite of certain monstrous situations that would drive the average person mad or to dying of disease or their own hands. It's obvious that at least one woman survives because of the way the film begins, but overall it's worth seeing for the elements of truth it does show, fortunately adding some compassion to the enemy, one no. English speaking guard who expresses friendliness and of course the gentle spirited American born Japanese commander living by his presumed duty, not his own conscience. Sarandon is quite commanding and gets a gold star for her efforts in creating a believable and courageous character finding some humanity as she struggles to survive and protect the others with her.
While the women do look a bit weather beaten and exhausted at times, it is obvious that they would end up being much dirtier in the real war, so this is still quite tame in spite of certain monstrous situations that would drive the average person mad or to dying of disease or their own hands. It's obvious that at least one woman survives because of the way the film begins, but overall it's worth seeing for the elements of truth it does show, fortunately adding some compassion to the enemy, one no. English speaking guard who expresses friendliness and of course the gentle spirited American born Japanese commander living by his presumed duty, not his own conscience. Sarandon is quite commanding and gets a gold star for her efforts in creating a believable and courageous character finding some humanity as she struggles to survive and protect the others with her.