Made about a year after the events depicted, the film looks at the battle with the Japanese in the Solomon Islands through the eyes of a group of US marines.
A film of two distinct elements for me. There is the character study following the lives of a group of marines, some who are clearly not going to make it and which is handled well enough with balanced humour and drama plus the many battle scenes they engage in. These are impressively staged and crucially the film doesn't shy away from the Americans returning with equal brutality that which is dished out to them by the enemy at the beginning of the film. The film was clearly intended to send a message of patriotism and hope to the folks back home during the war and this is the other element which is a little less comfortable to sit through today. Piled high with no doubt realistically discriminatory language the film is extremely patriotic even jingoistic in its portrayal of apple pie loving, god fearing marines supported by sickly sweet narration and every popular American patriotic song every written. This element seems over engineered, presumably a requirement for American audiences and that spoiled it a little for me, although I fully appreciate that this was of its time.
One note - a young Richard Jaeckel appears to be mortally wounded at one point and then seems to fully recover by the next scene?
A film of two distinct elements for me. There is the character study following the lives of a group of marines, some who are clearly not going to make it and which is handled well enough with balanced humour and drama plus the many battle scenes they engage in. These are impressively staged and crucially the film doesn't shy away from the Americans returning with equal brutality that which is dished out to them by the enemy at the beginning of the film. The film was clearly intended to send a message of patriotism and hope to the folks back home during the war and this is the other element which is a little less comfortable to sit through today. Piled high with no doubt realistically discriminatory language the film is extremely patriotic even jingoistic in its portrayal of apple pie loving, god fearing marines supported by sickly sweet narration and every popular American patriotic song every written. This element seems over engineered, presumably a requirement for American audiences and that spoiled it a little for me, although I fully appreciate that this was of its time.
One note - a young Richard Jaeckel appears to be mortally wounded at one point and then seems to fully recover by the next scene?