Why so much hype?

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

So what do you have to "get over" to like this movie? The fact that standing sets and one American are used to be Vietnam. Those are small faults in a tightly put together potential exploitation film that instead manages to actually be dramatic and yes it's nasty in a war that's realistic to war in general and Vietnam in particular.Due to a fast pace and tight dialogue this one won me over very quickly. It's well acted and there are things you won't see coming. The faith elements--both of the nuns and the doctors--are changed and broken realistically.Unlike other Vietnam films--those made while the war was still being fought--this one presents the war in a way that time has supported, not torn down. There is no flag waving here. Also given good context and excitement to it all is a good musical score by Paul Dunlap.James Clavell--as he proved with his novel turned movie KING RAT and with his later last film as director, THE LAST VALLEY, doesn't shy away from rape and death and nastiness in war but manages to make it about characters and drama not cheap exploitation. Which isn't to say that fans of just that wouldn't find this enjoyable and maybe even a little bit educational as well.It's a good movie with limited production values--but makes the most of itself.

I haven't seen this film since the early seventies, and I can remember it being a shocker to my teenage sensibilities. ( I think I had just been allowed to wear white lipstick, shades of Yardley!) But it held my attention, and I can remember seeing Nancy Culp (Yikes, Miss Jane, what are you doing with a grenade?) in a role 180 degrees from the office of the Commerce Bank and Mr. Drysdale. I remember the role of the nun being virtuous, but stoic in the face of war, and that Neville Brand was riveting as the main character. I wish this were available on DVD. The writing and the story were gripping, and Clavell never disappoints...

I was against film censorship and film ratings less than zero until I saw the aptly named Five Gates of Hell.As a previous critic noted, 'A shabby little shocker'. When asked to name a movie I wanted to 'unwatch', this is at the top of my list. Oh, and just when you thought the sociopathic film couldn't be worse, there's Nancy Kulp(Miss Jane Hathaway from the Bev Hillbillies) with a hand grenade, and Neville Brand in oriental blackface. If you're interested in the fates of women in World War II and Asian prisoner-of-war camps, I suggest you watch the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) miniseries 'Tenko'.

George Bernard Shaw once referred to Puccini's Tosca as that "shabby little shocker." That's an apt description for this Vietnam war film written and directed by James Clavell. Every manner of atrocity is committed in this unredeemable mess: garroting, rape, human boiling, crucifixion, pick-ax murder, and of course point blank shooting. Sure, it's a bloody war, but Clavell goes for the obvious sensational effect, without meaningful human values, much in the same way we've seen more recently in slasher pics.Clavell manages to elicit terrible performances from his usually-commendable team of actors. Patricia Owens as a cynical nurse and Shirley Knight as a sanctimonious nun win the awards for bad acting against fierce competition. And for all the murders he commits, the usually tough Neville Brand is surprisingly innocuous, although it doesn't help that he's forced to play a Vietnamese leader. Greta Chi gives the best performance; doesn't that say it all?There's some consolation at the end of the film when the women take arms against their captors. It's rather cathartic, I have to admit. But for sheer unpleasantness for most of its running time, this is a movie to avoid.