Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Claire Dunne One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

svikasha The 1988 Hong Kong-Chinese film, "Men Behind the Sun" is the first film to ever receive a "III" rating in Hong Kong. The "III" rating in Hong Kong is equivalent to the NC-17 rating in the United States. However, audiences abroad are usually not as sensitive to on-screen depictions of gruesome violence as western audiences. So the fact that this film shocked the conscience of its host country to this extent should discourage most from watching the film. It is not an easy movie to watch. The violence and gruesome content will make most viewers sick. But such a film is necessary. Because, compared to German atrocities, the international film community has not paid nearly enough attention to the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War Two.In Chinese, the title of this film is hēi tài yang 731 which loosely translates into, "Black Sun: 731". The 731 is an allusion to the atrocious but mysterious Unit 731 of the Japanese armed forces which carried out unimaginable atrocities against both European and Asian populations in Imperial Japan's "conquered" territories. Make no mistake; Unit 731 is not a fictional invention of a filmmaker's imagination. Unit 731 actually existed and participated in many truly horrifying war crimes ranging from the development of chemical warfare to live human testing. The extent to which this unit utilized lethal human experimentation will perhaps never be fully known. The organizers of Unit 731 were successful in hiding their work at the end of World War Two. Most of the most heinous perpetrators of war crimes in this unit were pardoned.Unit 731 had many affiliated units. The film depicts one such unit which is made up of a group of young Japanese boys who are forced into the Imperial Japanese Army's Youth Corps. These playful boys end up serving under the cruel Shiro Ishii. Ishii doesn't care about the Japanese boys assigned to his unit. He doesn't even seem to care about his own men, let alone the Chinese people. The boys in the Youth Corps eventually lose faith in the Japanese war effort's leadership as they are exposed to horrific cruelty. These "men" behind the sun witness people being frozen alive to test how brittle limbs become when exposed to harsh temperatures. They witness a mute boy being harvested by Japanese medical researchers for his organs. Babies were separated from mothers. Women were raped to intentionally create babies that could later be used for further experimentation. Unit 731 is perhaps the darkest military unit in human history. "Men Behind the Sun", attempts to depict this tragic part of mankind's history. As the film progresses, Ishii becomes increasingly obsessed with winning World War Two at all costs, even if it means using chemical and biological weapons. As Japan loses battle after battle, Unit 731's desperation only increases. They begin to test epidemic causing bubonic plague bombs in assaults against the Chinese people around the major city of Harbin. But as everyone knows, Japan eventually lost the war. Unit 731 forsook humanity for nothing. At times, it is hard to watch and believe what is happening on screen. Such raw barbarism has very little entertainment value. But it is very informative. The cold-hearted nature and lack of empathy among the elder Japanese soldiers stands in sharp contrast to the initial optimism and playful nature of the boys in the Youth Corp. It is important to note that every atrocious moment depicted on-screen is merely a taste of the true scale and breadth of the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War Two. This fact alone should make anyone feel sick. The makers of this film were criticized for making a film that had the potential to hurt Chinese relations with Japan. But as the opening of the film depicts, "Friendship is friendship; history is history".There are probably only a few films in existence that can cause people to be so horrified that they actually vomit. As a witness to this, it must be said that "Men Behind the Sun" is one such film. There are scenes in the film that were so gruesome and difficult to digest that they will leave viewers nauseated and uncomfortable. This nauseating discomfort is indeed the desired effect of this movie. It is impossible to discuss the atrocities committed during the course of World War Two without mentioning some genuinely heinous atrocities. It is even more difficult to depict such atrocities in a vivid medium as captivating as film. The makers of this film should be commended for their attempt.

ukclaire_475 Real life animal cruelty - I did not watch this scene I was only faced with a disgusting character holding a cat in his arms approaching a room slithering with rats. Hence my 'fingers in ears, lalalalala from mouth FAST FORWARD IT' reaction. I have just read online that this scene, which I am far too disgusted with myself for watching this film to repeat. I have now learned that this scene was with real animals and I hate myself for watching the rest of this film. I can happily deal with fake/props/special effects of human torture but when it's animals I cannot watch. Even more so with real animals, I can't even watch the Butterfly Effect with the dog in the bag scene. I even cry at Planet Earth when a Predator catches its prey.Anyone who loves animals please do not watch this film, PLEASE! This film shows how little some countries think of animals. Also the boy having an autopsy on him? WTF? I hid behind a pillow when it showed his winky, I mean come on who wants to see that??? WTF??? Who wants to see a child having an autopsy and even worse...... THE BODY WAS A REAL DEAD BOY!!!! I just read that too. That is utterly utterly out of this world words cannot describe horrendous sick disgusting.I love horror films, I love a good scare and a good shock but come on this is ridiculous. I am glad I didn't watch the aforementioned scenes although just reading that I have watched a film, albeit one I fast forwarded the bad bits, I will struggle to sleep tonight. I am disgusted with the film makers.I am disgusted this film got a 6???? WTF who is rating this film? You are bad bad people with little care for the lives of others. How can anyone rate this film a 6?? God help us because if this is the sort of film people 'like' I for one don't want to leave my house knowing people out there advocate this kind of horrific violence.It deserves a minus 100, 000, 000. Cheap camera, cheap sets, cheap acting, cheaper voice dubbing and cheap pathetic use of shocks that need someone to get the director 'The Dummies Guide To Making A Decent Film.'

The_Void With a couple of exceptions, generally any film to do with war is guaranteed to bore the hell out of me. However, Men Behind the Sun is generally held in high regard by gore fans as one of the most sickening, disturbing and shocking films ever made; and it's that alone that made me want to see it. After the first twenty minutes or so, I was beginning to think I was in the wrong film as I was watching an extremely badly dubbed film about a bunch of young Japanese soldiers horsing around at a prisoner of war camp, and it didn't seem like it was going to turn into the shock-fest I was expecting. However, things soon start to turn around... The film is apparently a history lesson, and takes place in Japan towards the end of the Second World War. The plotting is very loose (anyone that has seen any of the Italian Nazi films will have an idea of what to expect) and really only focuses on a bunch of experiments carried out on prisoners of war at a Japanese prisoner of war camp.The whole atmosphere and style of the film is very grim and depressing; the camp itself is portrayed as an entirely hopeless environment, and that pays dividends once the film begins showing the most grisly and shocking scenes. The film is not wall to wall nastiness and the memorable scenes are few and far between; which is probably a good thing considering how strong the shocking scenes are! I counted six scenes in particular that are liable to shock viewers. Sequences that show women have their hands frozen and prisoners crucified in a bomb field are obviously special effects; but the compression chamber scene (which is very well shot) is rumoured to feature a real corpse, while the autopsy footage is apparently real also. It's the scenes of animal violence that I will remember for the longest, however; a scene that sees rats burned en mass and another that depicts a cat being eaten alive by rats are too realistic to be fake. Animal lovers should take note. I really can't say I enjoyed watching this film; I appreciate the way that it goes 'that extra mile' at times and I do think that all adults should have the opportunity to experience something like this if they choose to. However, while I enjoy a good gory film; I also watch films primarily for entertainment, and this one is just too grim to really be liked. Good enough for a single viewing if you think you can stomach it.

karp77 This film should get a double vote. Technically it's superpoor. Acting is poor, story is just an excuse to show the drastic images, everything looks very cheap. Maybe my impression was strengthened by the fact i watch the version with English dubbing which made things look even more grotesque. (Generally i hate dubbing, so this might not be a disadvantage in somebody else's eyes) Overall quality of this movie is really below the acceptable ranks.But on the other hand - it's something i could call "absolutely hadcore" as the amount, inventiveness and quality of violence raises this film to very high positions in my Extreme Film ranks. What can i say? I just enjoyed the creativity of its inventors regarding graphic visualization of brutality and i am pretty sure many other people would not. The general poorness of the pictures added special spice to it and after the slow beginning I couldn't wait to see more. This film is not for everyone, but those who think they might like it will love it. It's cruel, bloody, violent and extreme. You have been warned!