Every War movie has its own bone-chilling moments.
Purple Sunset has the following points:
- Good God, the atrocities the Japanese did to one wounded prisoner:
- First, they place him in a sack in which he cannot break free.
- Next, they proceed to douse the sack with fuel while they burn him alive all while the man screams in pain and agony.
- Once the man was still alive from the burning, they tie some hand grenades on the sack before throwing it to the river. As it explodes (thus taking the prisoner with it), the Japanese soldiers laugh maniacally like hyenas.
- Seeing the T-34 tank formation and the La-7 above, the Japanese soldiers' worst fears have been confirmed that the USSR has declared war against them, and they are absolutely outgnned.
- Being cornered by a tiger in the middle of a forest is indeed terrifying.
- Yang's Nightmare Sequence has Akiyoko grabbing the gun and killing Yang and Nadja just as she is saved from drowning in a bog. This scene shows how hard it is to trust the enemy during wartime.
- The Japanese undying loyalty towards the Emperor which results in suicide attacks and horrific suicide attempts during Japan's unconditional surrender still disturbs many of whom survived under Japanese occupation. The mass suicide attempt in the climax is especially terrible, with drunken Japanese soldiers laughing as they kill each other, and their officer having to grab a rifle and load it to shoot a child - who sees nothing wrong with this - when his sidearm runs dry after executing so many Japanese on their consent.
- Yang's problems aren't over since after World War II, the Chinese Civil War would have resumed and the mainland will eventually fall to communism in 1949. That means he would live to see or experience the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.