This film is about a unit that fought hard and suffered horrific attrition rates while fighting in Burma during World War II. It specifically focuses on the grueling and exhausting struggle they made to complete the objective against all odds.
MERRILL'S MARAUDERS is a decent war film, though it's hardly one that stands above the genre. While it does receive high marks for not being overly sensational or adding unnecessary story elements, the film also seems a tad sterile and unsatisfying when all is said and done. Now perhaps I might not have felt this so strongly had the film not been directed by Sam Fuller--a guy very capable of making better war films (my personal favorite of his is STEEL HELMET--a very realistic and gritty Korean War film made on a minuscule budget). Fuller did well in not over-glamorizing the soldiers but because he didn't provide much in the way of character development, you really don't particularly care who wins or dies. This is really evident near the end when the general (Jeff Chandler) falls to the ground--does he have a fatal heart attack or is he okay? The film never even bothers to tell! And that is very telling about the soul of this film--very competent but not especially involving.
MERRILL'S MARAUDERS is a decent war film, though it's hardly one that stands above the genre. While it does receive high marks for not being overly sensational or adding unnecessary story elements, the film also seems a tad sterile and unsatisfying when all is said and done. Now perhaps I might not have felt this so strongly had the film not been directed by Sam Fuller--a guy very capable of making better war films (my personal favorite of his is STEEL HELMET--a very realistic and gritty Korean War film made on a minuscule budget). Fuller did well in not over-glamorizing the soldiers but because he didn't provide much in the way of character development, you really don't particularly care who wins or dies. This is really evident near the end when the general (Jeff Chandler) falls to the ground--does he have a fatal heart attack or is he okay? The film never even bothers to tell! And that is very telling about the soul of this film--very competent but not especially involving.