The book is better, the movie is too long, too mushy, too subjective and fictioniolize kind of like the movie "Pearl Harbor", it does not tell the whole story, for entertainment purposes, it would be OK but there is really more to the story. If you want to know more what really happenned read "Ghost Soldiers: The forgotten epic story of WWII most dramatic mission". There was no nurse in the real event based on the book, she was a madam running a bordello for the japanese but in reliaty the bordello was only a front to get information from the japanese and also provide the prisoners with news, and medications.