Prisoners of the Sun

Plot

In 1945, a tribunal was held to investigate atrocities committed by the Japanese upon Australian soldiers during World War II. At an internment camp, 1100 Australian soldiers were tortured and killed by the Japanese, with only 300 survivors. This horrible event was not known until a terrible discovery of decapitated corpses was made at a grisly site on Ambon Island in Indonesia after the war. Stephen Wallace directed this courtroom drama based on the incident and follows the intrepid investigator who uncovers the truth behind the missing Australian soldiers. Bryan Brown plays Captain Cooper, the prosecutor of the case, in which 91 Japanese officers and soldiers are accused of murdering the Australian prisoners-of-war. The chief defendants are camp commander Takahashi (George Takei) and Captain Ikeuchi (Tetsu Watanabe). Takahashi denies knowing anything about the atrocities, as does Ikeuchi. Nevertheless, Cooper presses on to undercover the truth. But standing in his way is the American delegation, led by Major Beckett (Terry O'Quinn). They don't want a case to go forward that would reflect badly on the Japanese high command, since General MacArthur wants to reinstate many of the Japanese officers in a new postwar Japanese order. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Cast

• Bryan Brown - Captain Robert Cooper
• George Takei - Vice Admiral Baron Takahashi
• Terry O'Quinn - Major Tom Beckett
• Toshi Shioya - Lieutenant Hideo Tanaka
• John Bach - Maj. Frank Roberts

John Clarke - Mike Sheedy; Deborah Kara Unger - Sister Carol Littell; John Polson - Private Jimmy Fenton; Nicholas Eadie - Sergeant Keenan; Tetsu Watanabe - Captain Wadami Ikeuchi; Sokyu Fujita - Mr. Shinji Matsugae; Ray Barrett - Lieutenant Colonel Johnson; Kazuhiro Muroyama - Lieutenant Noburo Kamura; Jason Donovan - Private Talbot; David Argue - Flight Lieutenant Eddy Fenton; Andrew Booth - Private Bill Mitchell; Malcolm Cork - Australian Soldier; Russell Crowe - Lt. Corbett; Matthew Keyes - Flight Lieutenant Rogers; Shane McNamara - Major Robert's Aide; Christina Ongley - Nurse Pearson; Tim Reuther - Flight Lieutenant Smith; Peter Waterstreet - Flight Lieutenant O'Donnell; Yuichiro Senga - Lieutenant Shimada; Alison Barrett; Donal Gibson - Cpl. Patterson

Credit

Virginia Bieneman - Art Director, Annie Bleakley - Co-producer, Roger Kirk - Costume Designer, Stephen Wallace - Director, Nicholas Beauman - Editor, John Tarnoff - Executive Producer, David McHugh - Composer (Music Score), Bernard Hides - Production Designer, Russell Boyd - Cinematographer, Richard Brennan - Producer, Graham Burke - Producer, Gregory Coote - Producer, Brian Waterstreet - Producer, Charles Waterstreet - Producer, Denis Whitburn - Producer, Brian A. Williams - Producer, Hugh Johnson - Set Designer, Denis Whitburn - Screenwriter, Brian A. Williams - Screenwriter

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