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Point number one is that this film is rated too highly by patriotic US reviewers. If watching for its entertainment value, you may be disappointed. Having said that, it's no hardship to watch. First of all, Jeffrey Hunter is serious eye candy - hard to take your eyes off. Quality-wise, the first part of the film rolls along quite satisfactorily. The early army stuff is not so good. As other reviewers note, there is a bizarre "women and booze" section in the middle of the film which seems to be developing a female character (the sulky redhead)to be of some significance, only for her to be dismissed as a one night stand. I fancy that studio executives said on seeing rushes "this film lacks popular appeal - bring in some female nudity". The argument might be that it brings some balance to the depiction of combat heroes, but the result is, it is poorly integrated and goes on way too long. Frankly I found the David Janssen character so unattractive in this section I didn't mind when he later got topped by the Japanese. This was a serious loss of empathy since the Jeffrey Hunter character is supposed to be seriously upset by the loss of his friend. There's plenty of tension in the Saipan scenes, and some pathos. But at times the American marines saunter about Saipan with bland relaxed expressions, which I suspect may not have been the case with actual combat. The finale is good. The film misses out on the opportunity to finish up with a factual summary, which I for one would have appreciated.
score /10
verna-a 27 September 2011
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2495061/ |
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4-3-2021 00:07:08