Emperor

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Emperor

PG-13

2013

1h 46m

History

Drama

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Popcornmeter

31%

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88 Reviews

46%

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5,000+ Ratings

Following the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Gen. Bonner Fellers must determine whether Emperor Hirohito should be hanged as a war criminal.

Critics Consensus

Despite a typically strong performance from Tommy Lee Jones, Emperor does little with its fascinating historical palate, and is instead bogged down in a cliched romantic subplot.

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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

09/06/2017

2/5

The history is sketchy, the central questions unresolved, the romance is tepid and [Matthew] Fox is a weak, uninteresting lead.

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

10/11/2013

3/5

Emperor will do well enough. But if you want a more nuanced take on the same events, check out Alexander Sokurov's extraordinary The Sun

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

10/06/2013

2/5

Hokey monologues about the finger of historical blame are interspersed with perfume-ad flashbacks to idyllic days of love; you half expect Andrew Lloyd Webber to descend from on high to provide a few touching show tunes.

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Katie Smith-Wong

Flick Feast

11/21/2019

1/5

Emperor is ultimately let down by the uninspiring plot and mostly weak performances.

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

08/08/2019

While this sounds like a deliriously ripe scenario for intrigue and melodrama, Webber's film contains neither, instead deciding to saddle it with a deadening war time romance.

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Amon Warmann

CineVue

03/05/2019

2/5

The solid performances fail to elevate the tedious storytelling.

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laura g

@Laura1718 Oct 12

They added an entire fictional romance . Made Fellers look stupid or incompetent. There was no need for the romance. It would have been better to stick with the investigation of those who committed war crimes and the Emperor's role in the war.

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Andy M

@Andy123267 08/18/2024

Interesting topic for a film. If you have a special interest in WW2, Japanese history or Historical movies in general then it's worth a watch. However don't expect to be on the edge of your seat or even to be all that entertained. The film has a B story line about General Fellas' pre war relationship with a Japanese national, very boring and ultimately didn't seem to enhance the film in anyway, it almost seemed like they added it in to pad the movie out. Ultimately it's wasn't a bad film. Just a bit dull.

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Bulgantamir B

@RT36664197 08/06/2024

I liked the main idea of the movie

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Бавуу Э

@RT26109709 08/05/2024

Following the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Gen. Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) must determine whether Emperor Hirohito should be hanged as a war criminal.

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Bahad j

@RT27093708 08/05/2024

I felt like the characters in this movie could feel the happiness and difficulties that they faced in real life.

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Bryce R

@RT44555329 07/21/2024

If you love history than this movie is for you!

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Peter Webber

Director

Matthew Fox

Bonner Fellers

Tommy Lee Jones

Gen. MacArthur

Eriko Hatsune

Aya Shimada

Nishida Toshiyuki

Gen. Kajima

Masayoshi Haneda

Takahashi

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Synopsis

Following the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Gen. Bonner Fellers must determine whether Emperor Hirohito should be hanged as a war criminal.

Director: Peter Webber
Producer: Gary Foster, Russ Krasnoff, Yôko Narahashi, Eugene Nomura
Screenwriter: Vera Blasi, David Klass
Distributor: Lionsgate Films, Roadside Attractions
Production Co: Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Smoking (Historical)|Brief Strong Language|Violent Content)
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 8, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 15, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.3M
Runtime: 1h 46m

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