Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Blistering performances.

Have just started watching AGAIN the well worn VHS tapes of Tenko. We first watched it in early 1980s on TV and became capitvated by the strength of these women.........you become wrapped up in the lives of each one of them. Unlike that concentration movie with the women's orchestra, think a Redgrave was in it..........that was "fluff" compared to this. Do so wish it would be copied on DVD that is compatible with USA TVs. We enjoy movies of WWI and WWII giving us some feeling for what people "over there" went thru. This series will draw you into it, believe me. Even friends who we have loaned the tapes to, that had no interest in the time frame.......returned the tapes with gratitude for the loan and highest praise for the series. And many of the wonderful actors are still at it today.....nice to follow their careers. If you never watch another concentration camp film, watch this one! yes, the British accent takes a bit of listening to catch on to, worth the effort!

I saw this series on the A&E channel when high quality films were the norm for this cable network. This series follows the lives of women captured in Malaysia during the Japanese invasion and the difficulty they endured. It is 10 episodes long but each is riveting and excellent source of the history of WWII in this arena. These were plum roles for each actress and I am sure the series affected each of them as well. This is not front line fighting but what happens to people surrounded by war and how they cope to survive and keep their spirit intact. Another excellent source of the plight of women captured in Malaysia during WWII is the film "A town like Alice" based on a novel by Nevil Shute. Bryan Brown was in this film and takes you from the Malaysia arena and hardships, to Australia in the years after the war. Excellent film and actors as well.

Tenko is the single most memorable series I have ever watched on television. Layered, engaging, challenging, compelling, it has stayed with me for years and I often think about the characters as real people...wondering how their lives continued, wondering what I would do in their company. In these times of war and prison camps, again, and as history is rewritten, forgotten, or ignored, I wish that Tenko would be replayed for a new generation to experience. The characters are unique and nuanced, the story lines complex and resolutions often unexpected yet always genuine. The actors seem to embody their roles. It is gripping and addicting. The followup documentary reuniting some of the survivors is an exquisitely touching finale, though wouldn't it be lovely to continue the series, chronicling the gap between then and now.

This and The Winds of War/War and Remembrance are outstanding examples of movies that get to the heart of the topic they portray. By all standards TENKO is actually superior due to the raw, less over produced, values.I watched the original series by happenchance, just flicking through the channels to see what was on (yes, a very male thing to do) when I came across this series. As a lover of anything to do with this time period I stuck around for a few minutes... a fateful few minutes, because I got stuck into what I now consider to be the best drama television has produced.I credit the superb cast, standouts all. Unlike most American movies, there are no major names so each actor stands equally in the spotlight and makes you believe the awful events are actually happening. I don't know that I could endure what these ladies went through, I would suspect not. I do have the epilogue movie, TENKO Reunion on tape (lousy copy), so at least I can revisit these characters when I want to, even if only through a lot of video noise.So why is this series not available on DVD or tape in North America? I can only think that someone somewhere is deciding, even as I write this, that it is high time that a release date is set. Wishful thinking? I hope not!