Blutiger Schwur (1990)

Blutiger Schwur: Directed by Stephen Wallace. With Bryan Brown, George Takei, Terry O’Quinn, John Bach. The island of Ambon in Indonesia, 1945. During the War, the number of Australian POWs on the island had dropped from 1100 to less than 300 due to abuses by their Japanese captors. Capt. Cooper is the chief prosecutor. In a mass grave, the bodies of 300 executed servicemen have been unearthed. Cooper assumes that the massacre was ordered by Baron Takahashi, Japanese commander on Ambon. But the one potential witness has gone mad and is due to be shipped back to Australia. No captured airmen were found alive on the island at all, not even the four-man crew of a reconnaissance plane shot down late in the War. Takahashi is returned to the island in the custody of an American officer, Maj. Beckett. But there is little evidence with which to prosecute the Baron. Cooper thinks he could make a case for the missing airmen if only their bodies could be located. And why does Maj. Beckett appear interested in not seeing Takahashi convicted? Cooper gets a break when Lt. Tanaka, a communications officer and a Christian, surrenders himself…

“This film is well made and well cast. The story-line is fairly easy to follow and has just the right amount of action. However, in places the action can be somewhat heavy… although this can only really be expected of a film on this theme. If you like war-time court-room dramas then you will enjoy this film. It is not predictable and the characters are believable.”