Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

JLRVancouver John Wayne headlines this tale of the USN Thunderfish as it takes on the Japanese Navy early in WW2. Admittedly, I thought the submarine's exploits were pretty much unbelievable until I read that many of them were based on actual incidents (not all involving the same submarine and crew of course). Despite that "Operation Pacific" is pretty weak. Much of the film was shot in studio and it shows, especially in the dockyard and underwater scenes. The best sequences (such as dive-bombing and torpedo runs at Leyte) are archival footage that are often not well matched to the newly filmed material. The 'on the beach' storyline is a tedious triangle between Wayne's character ('Lt Cmdr. Duke E. Gifford'), his ex-wife (a too young Patricia Neal) and "Lt. Bob Perry" the brother of Duke's buddy and "CO 'Pops' Perry" (played by Wayne perennial Ward Bond). Neither interesting nor believable, the love story requires lots of predictable coincidences in order to run its course and really slows the film down. The rest of the cast are OK, playing the stereotypical sailors found in these movies (the wiseacre, the loose cannon, etc) but their interactions with their commanding officers (including Wayne) never rang true to me. Some of the battle sequences are OK but the 'action footage', especially the obligatory depth-charging scenes, lacked the tension that makes for a really good submarine yarn (such as "Hell Below" or "Das Boot"). Good for die-hard fans of the Duke or the genre, otherwise, not a must-see.

grantss Lightly entertaining John Wayne submarine drama.The Pacific Theatre of WW2. Lt Commander Duke Gifford (played by John Wayne) is the Executive Officer of a US Navy submarine, the USS Thunderfish. The submarine fleet, incl the Thunderfish, is suffering from malfunctioning torpedoes. Meanwhile Commander Gifford is also trying to win back his ex-wife...A stereotypical John Wayne movie, i.e. overly gung ho and not that accurate, militarily. Some quite unrealistic battle scenes. The relationship side is mildly interesting but also overly melodramatic and complex. Not all bad though, as long as you don't think too much. The battle scenes are quite exciting and there are some insights into submarine life.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . actor John Wayne as "Duke" commands his ex-wife while appropriating a random, unrelated orphan newborn from the local hospital to close OPERATION PACIFIC. So while this ready-made Daddy is busy bringing down enemy destroyers, planes, subs, tankers, and aircraft carriers, Junior can look forward to about six days annually with dear old Pops. Speaking of "Pop," goes the weasel, if you can suffer a spoiler about OP's Captain Ahab moment. And talk about product DIS-placement. Near the middle of this flick, producer Warner Bros. asserts that their 1942 Jack Benny film titled GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE is so boring that it will doom any submarine below the surface of the seas on the weekly movie night. It's a wonder that OP's lead actress Patricia Neal didn't wind up with Prince Albert in a can by the end of 1951. First she got Michael Rennie from a saucer during THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, and then "the Duke" from a sardine tin here. Klaatu Barada Nikto, anyone?

editguy Talk about broad brush strokes -- there isn't an ounce of subtlety in this movie as far as the eye can see. But it's a classic post-WWII "sea picture", and it swaggers and struts just like The Duke himself. It's impossible to imagine anyone else starring in this picture.Wayne plays "Duke" Forrest, executive officer of the submarine Thunderfish, commanded by his mentor and friend "Pop", who you figure is wearing a Star Trek red shirt under his khakis by the second reel. Sure enough, Duke winds up captaining the "Thunder" while trying to patch things up with his Ex, the high-maintenance Patricia Neal. In one memorable scene she reads him the riot act about his behavior, while he stares at a point in space above her head, several miles away. You can almost hear him thinking, "Dames like this always got pot roast in the oven..."This film is a rather jarring counterpoint to realistic epics like "Das Boat" -- clearly OUR subs had it all -- climate control (no one sweats), plenty of space (enough for a boat-load of rescued Nuns with about 20 orphans -- each one more scrubbed and freckle-faced than the last), and enough interior lighting to make Martha Stewart jealous. The brave crew features the usual lily-white, WASP-y cross-section of America, featuring Junior ("my Great Grandpappy was on the Merrimack!"), Jonesy (a wisecracking Mike Dukakis lookalike) and Lieutenant Larry, who sounds like a Cary Grant knockoff. The Chief, who obviously served as a cabin boy on the Ark, is along to keep everyone in line.Having said all that, this is a wonderful film to break out on Memorial Day, to honor the brave sailors who went into harm's way in glorified sewer pipes with busted torpedoes, many to remain "on patrol" for eternity. Big, loud and jingoistic, this film nevertheless has its heart in the right place.