'To End All Wars' out on DVD

By Doug Nye
Knight Ridder News Service

Before he got involved in the hectic world of agent Jack Bauer on Fox's "24," Kiefer Sutherland starred in "To End All Wars" (2001, Fox), shot on on Kaua'i and now out on DVD.

The film, released in 2002, tells of the cruelties of a Japanese POW camp during World War II. Sutherland plays Jim "Yank" Reardon, a lone American among the mostly British prisoners.

The project made Sutherland marvel at those who participated in WW II. "It just amazes me, the sacrifices they made," Sutherland said during a phone interview. "I think it's difficult for a lot of people to fathom. It was an incredible generation. What strikes me is how young so many of the soldiers were."

Based on a true story, the focal character is Ernest Gordon (played by Ciaran McMenamin), who tries to get other prisoners to spend time talking philosophy and studying the Bible. Reardon and Gordon's superior are cynical about the idea.

"It does cause them to think," Sutherland said. "In the end, they are faced with certain decisions."

Sutherland thinks the fact that the film dealt so frankly and graphically with Japanese atrocities made some studios nervous.

"Not many films have done that," he said. "Most World War II movies seem to be about the Germans and the European theater."