Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Borserie it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

vincentlynch-moonoi Problem # 1 has to do with budget. If they didn't tell you the air attack early on in the film was the bombing of Pearl Harbor, you'd hardly know it. Seemed very minor according to this film. But, of course, no special effects of note back then, so the attack on Pearl Harbor seems like a slight unpleasantness.Problem # 2: Now, I don't know how it was, but about 8 weeks after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor it seems as if everything in Honolulu was back to normal and the military was partying it up. Is that really the way it was? I doubt it, but again, I don't know. But then, there's not another bomb or even firecracker that goes off for well over an hour. Kinda sparse action for a war movie Problem # 3: Filmed in 1965 and still black and white. Again, must be budget. Filmed in Hawaii and region, it would have been a beautiful film in color.Problem # 4: It took me a long time to figure out this one. The film takes place in the 1940s, but it feels too much like the 1960s. Oh, they have all the right automobiles and such, but the music seems There are other elements of this movie that balance things out and make it a very good film. Chief among these is the cast: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Burgess Meredith, Tom Tryon, Dana Andrews, Franchot Tone, Carroll O'Connor, Henry Fonda, and many more, all with varying levels of roles, some rather short, but all key in some way.Of course, the main character here is John Wayne, who was beginning to look kinda old here. Wayne made one of my favorite films the same year -- "The Sons Of Katie Elder". Wayne here plays John Wayne. Which is fine.Kirk Douglas plays a personal ne'er do well, but a competent junior officer to John Wayne (who, BTW, is promoted to admiral during the film). I'm not sure you can be both, but Douglas is always Douglas.Patricia Neal does very nicely as John Wayne's love interest.Dana Andrews has a strong role as a not-so-effective vice-admiral. He's excellent! Burgess Meredith has a part that is different from his typical. Very good performance.So now it's time to get down to the nitty gritty, and this is it: I rarely like war movies. My father was in the military, and almost every time he would come home on leave, he would drag me to the theater to watch a war movie. I loved having time with him, but HATED war movies. Even though I love old movies, it is extremely rare for me to watch a war movie. BUT -- I enjoyed this movie despite its shortcomings. It's a long movie, and it fully held my attention.Recommended.

AaronCapenBanner Otto Preminger directed this WWII drama that takes place shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, where the Navy was desperately trying to regroup and come up with a proper counter-attack. John Wayne plays Captain Rockwell 'Rock' Torrey, who, despite a reprimand, is enlisted to lead the mission to take and hold Guadalcanal, and whom later would be promoted to Rear Admiral of the fleet. Kirk Douglas plays Commander Paul Eddington, who is also involved with the mission, though suffers from personal problems. Patricia Neal plays a Lt. who becomes involved with Torrey, and Brandon De Wilde plays his son, also in the service. Long but compelling film has good acting and characters, with effective battle scenes. Believably recreates its time and place in such a crucial period in U.S. history.

daviddaphneredding Even though it is 167 minutes long, how can anyone get jaded from watching this movie about the battle at sea only shortly after Pearl Harbor being attacked on 12/07/41? Shortly after the beginning of the movie is when that infamous yet unforgettable moment in history took place, and there is a sea battle toward the end of the movie. The movie is definitely star-studded with one of the most outstanding galaxy of stars ever amassed. John Wayne as Admiral Rockwell "Rocky" Torrey is the best Otto Preminger could have chosen for that role as a man dedicated to fighting passionately at sea. Kirk Douglas was a "perfect" pick for Commander Paul Eddington, a man you wanted to kill because of his mean, hostile spirit and, much more than this, because of some of the harmful things he did to others. The beautiful Paula Prentiss made a great acting accomplishment as Bev McConnell, and Tom Tryon seemed to click well with her as her husband Lieutenant William "Mac" McConnell. Patricia Neal was very appealing as the nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes. Brandon DeWilde was consummate as Ensign Jeremiah "Jere" Torrey. Slim Pickins, as CPO Culpepper was his same country-boy self, and the late very pretty English actress Jill Haworth was as adorable as adorable could be as Ensign Annalee Dorne. The movie was not simply a war drama, but there was just focus on the feelings and/or struggles of the characters. Maggie Haynes was so much in love with "Rocky" Torrey, and wondered if theirs would be a lasting relationship. Ensign Jere Torrey was the son of Admiral Torrey, but he was embittered with his father since Rocky had abandoned his family when Jere was only a year old. And too, there was a point when the relationship between Jere and Ensign Dorne was somewhat stormy. Bev McConnell was a maudlin worrier about her husband. Yes, there was introspection on feelings in this dramatic feat. The main thing I didn't like about this movie is that it was in black-and-white. The Pacific Ocean would have been more drawing in color, naturally. But overall, it was one of Preminger's best, a superb enactment of the book by the same name: the book was written by James Bassett. The music score by Jerry Goldsmith was somewhat haunting, but there was something about it I personally liked. Again, this story which focuses on people's individual struggles, as well as on war at sea, is not a bit boring. Paramount should be proud.

oldgringo2001 I actually read the novel, and the movie is much more faithful to it than most screen adoptions. I agree that the model work was quite poor, but extremely forgivable given the strong story-line and acting. It captures the feel of the naval war in the Pacific for the Americans quite well. Since quite a number of other reviewers have agreed with me, the rest of this review will concentrate on differences between the movie and what actually happened.Motor torpedo boats did sink a battleship once--in World War I. The PT boats of this war never sank anything larger than a destroyer, and few of those. Many had their torpedoes removed to fit small cannons, useful for sinking barges and floating drums. While new craft could reach 40 knots in calm water, engines tended to wear out quickly, and in combat conditions, the PT boats were generally slower than the ships they were trying to attack.There never was a daylight battle between any Japanese battleships and American cruisers. There were two night battles, one at Guadalcanal and one at Surigao Strait in the Philippines, and in the latter, the American cruisers were backed by six battleships, versus only two Japanese battleships and one cruiser.The mighty Yamato never fought anything more formidable than destroyers, and doesn't seem to have scored a single hit on an enemy vessel. Her sister Musashi never sighted an enemy vessel. Both were sunk by aircraft. Their poor performance might be explained by their spending most of the war at anchor. They were comfortable ships even for enlisted men, at least by the standards of the Japanese navy of the time. Yamato was often called "the Yamato Hotel" and the Musashi "the Palace."The U.S. Navy did very little mining during World War II. Laying mines to protect Guadalcanal would have been a wonderful idea, but then, as now, mines were unpopular weapons with the admirals. The final battle in the movie and the novel seems to be most similar to a night battle on November 13, 1942 between a US force of cruisers and destroyers and a Japanese task force built around two older battleships (each about half the size of Yamato). The US force suffered heavy casualties and two US Admirals were killed, but it crippled one of the battleships, leaving it vulnerable to US bombers the next day.