Douglas on The Big Screen

Many historical American icons have movies about them: Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Mark Twain, etc.

Now, it’s Douglas MacArthur’s turn to feature in a major film.

Emperor, features Tommy Lee Jones as MacArthur himself and directed by Peter Webber, director of Hannibal Rising.

The film portrays the extensive hardships overcome by MacArthur in the midst of the most vital moment of Americas involvement in World War II. Such involvement includes managing and leading the U.S. military  through numerous Pacific Islands against Japanese allies, leading up to the bombing of Hiroshima as history reports.

Photo by www.post-gazette.com

The title is ironic, considering that Japanese military leaders are called Emperors, a similar statue of a five star general in the U.S. military. But, MacArthur could be validated as an emperor (of normal context, not a Japanese one) due to his severe and intuitive leadership skills as history portrays.

This lead role for Tommy Lee Jones is no biggie for him because he is fresh off his role as Thaddeus Stevens in the movie Lincoln.

Early ratings of Emperor are less than great and some comments report that the focus is too narrow, however, the movie should still be appreciated by any MacArthur fan and students who sees it.

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