man behind

Men Behind The Sun
$19.95
Made with the approval of the Chinese Central Committee, Mou Tun Fei's 1988...er..."classic" is really nothing more than a Chinese propaganda/exploitation flick dressed up as an historical document on Japanese atrocities carried out at the Unit 731 experimental warfare research facility in the Chinese puppet state of Manchuko during WWII.

However, there absolutely nothing on offer here that is of factual substance, other than the fact that Unit 731 existed and was concerned with finding a viable way to use bacterial/chemical warfare as a means to pursue a Japanese victory in the Second World War.

As much of the first hand documentary evidence has long since disappeared, it therefore stands to reason that what really happened at Unit 731 will always remain a matter of conjecture. That it was a place of experimentation and atrocity, is something few will disagree with, but the actual facts of Unit 731 will be found in the written word, not in this film and as such people interested in further understanding the facility and the people who were there will have to seek out the few books on the subject that exist.

Mou's film has enjoyed a lot of respect in some quarters and it's truly incredible that quite a few people really think that they are watching some sort of factual account, even though the frankly absurd torture on screen is evidence of a horror/exploitation angle rather than a historical document. The utter pointlessness of the "experiments" presented should have been a clue to everyone that what they were looking at was more akin to `Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS' or `Love Camp 7', than to something of more historical worth. The notorious frostbite experiments are indicative of this. In that scene a woman is left in the extreme cold so her arms become badly frostbitten and then she is brought inside the facility and told to dip her arms in heated water. When she withdraws them, the "Japanese" researcher then strips the flesh from her bones leaving her with two skeletal arms. This famous and shocking scene is great for exploitation cinema lovers (of which I am one), but is absolutely useless as a document on real frostbite tests. This "experiment" in `Man Behind the Sun' would serve absolutely no scientific purpose whatsoever. Another frostbite test has a man's arms frozen and then his fingers are smashed with a hammer, again in an utterly pointless (but highly shocking) "experiment" scene. Other pointlessness includes a live vivisection on a young boy and throwing a cat to starving rats. The former has been touted by the director as a real vivisection (which clearly it's not & I believe Mou has dropped that particular hype) and the latter has been said to have been a real cat attacked and eaten by real rats. While the animals are real, there has been some dispute to whether the scene has been faked. Either way, it actually remains the most disturbing scene in the movie. But again, while this serves the purpose of a horror/gore movie, it does nothing else. In fact, such silliness subtracts from the film's supposed stated goal, a document on Unit 731.

By the way, the rats themselves were later really set on fire for one of the movies final scenes in a truly appalling and un-necessarily cruel stunt.

The opening tag line of the film. "Friendship is friendship. History is history." suggests a more serious execution of a serious matter. But, the end product fails miserably in that respect. Even the actual nature of the film (exploitation cinema) fails ultimately, because the film is just not gritty or gory enough. There are also long, long periods of boredom sprinkled throughout and the characters never once match up to real people. The overdubbed (Asian) soundtrack is bothersome as well, mainly due to its cheap nature and the print quality is rubbish.

`Man Behind the Sun' certainly is an interesting film in parts, but not for the reasons espoused by its makers. It does have some inventive atrocity (for those who wish to seek out such material) and well done special effects. But, as a factual document, it's worthless.

No Man Left Behind: How to Build and Sustain a Thriving, Disciple-Making Ministry for Every Man in Your Church
$19.99
This is a great book to help anyone struggling to get men involved with ministry at their church. I have spent the last year trying to rebuild a Men's Ministry that had collapsed and found myself trying everything under the sun and not getting any results. I was about to give up when I found this book. I started reading it and found myself laughing and ready to make some changes. Myself and my ministry team have started reading this book together and it has given us hope. We are looking forward to what God has planned for our future thanks to this book. If your Men's Ministry is struggling this is the book that can help change that for you.

Gorgonz 77010 Gorgonz Ear Warmer Pro Trade Mens Black Universal [Misc.]
$6.99
Just to confirm other reviews, these ARE warm, and you CAN hear with them on..
They fold up to pocket size. Be aware, however, that these do not stretch out very far.
If you have a large head, they will not fit you.

Swatch Ge227 Behind Me Mens Watch
$55.00
Multicolor plastic case Multicolor dial Multicolor plastic folio strap Swiss made ETA movement 30 meters water resistant 2 year warranty