A searing portrait of war and prejudice, ‘Only the Brave’ takes you on a haunting journey into the hearts and minds of the forgotten heroes of WWII – the Japanese-American 100th/442nd. In 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, overnight Japanese Americans were put into internment camps for the duration of the war. Determined to prove their loyalty, 1400 Japanese Americans successfully petitioned the government to serve becoming the 100th Infantry Battalion. They were sent to North Africa, Italy and finally France were they performed an impossibly-dangerous rescue of the Texas 36th Division. During their two years of combat these men received an unparalleled 21 Medals of Honor, 9,486 Purple Hearts, 8 Presidential Citations, 53 Distinguished Service Crosses, 588 Silver Stars and 5,200 Bronze stars – making them the most decorated unit of their size in American military history. This is their story.
Tech Specs
Runtime: 99 min.
Format: 1:85 (35mm)
Sound: Dolby SR
MPAA rating: R
Genre: WWII/Action Drama (true story)
Language: English
Country: USA
“A gripping story with riveting performances. More poignant than your typical war movie showing both great conflict and the cost of war at home.” Denver Post
“A good, powerful, haunting feature that is long overdue. Solid tech credits, nice performances that detail the hardships of Japanese Americans in WWII and the heroics of them in War.” Honolulu Star Bulletin
“Stirring action film featuring great perfs from Jason Scott Lee, Mark Dacascos and Tamilyn Tomita. Lane Nishikawa Clem turns his camera to a faithful, personal, and introspective look at the war — His film has surprising production values and is full of period detail: Authentic uniforms and weaponry are used to outfit our heroes – This may be the last chance to watch Pat Morita in a new role as well – he is good here. The end result is a very watchable and often quite good war flick.” Christopher Null – FilmCritic.com
“Longtime stage actor-director-scribe Lane Nishikawa has corralled a strong cast and worthy subject for his feature helming debut. Tale of true patriotism trumping societal prejudice is inherently inspirational enough to ensure educational broadcast and classroom shelf life.” Dennis Harvey – Variety
**** “One of Asian Americas most compelling voices. In the recent spate of movies about the World War II Greatest Generation, one story has not been told to a large audience. That’s the story of second-generation Japanese Americans who volunteered for military service, even as their families were forced from their homes into internment camps. There is a beautiful feature-length film of this experience – Only the Brave. Even in harsh scenes, the film has a light touch that makes a point without dwelling on it from an encounter with white soldiers at a Mississippi training camp to goodbyes from an internment camp. Through their great sacrifice, the Nisei helped reverse deep-seated hostility at home. That great American story deserves a wide audience. This film honors it humbly and I hope that people will make a point of seeing it.” Piz Lopez – Sacramento Bee
