A vastly underrated movie this is with good acting and amazing special effects for its day. 7.3 is a disgrace it should be 7.9 at least. I suppose people just don't like it because it's too good... they just can't handle it.
PHIL: "Ned, I would love to stay here and talk with you... but I'm not going to."
I always thought so too! I also think in that the way the actors portray their characters is a testament to the "matter-of-fact" living that happened during those unsteady times in the islands with the advancing Japanese Army taking it bit by bit. No flashiness, no computer generated special effects - just a solid story line about people you care about and hope that they make it through this ordeal. Just one more good movie by John Ford.
shareI agree with you both. The book is also an excellent piece of work, but wholly unlike the movie. The book is much more factual and first hand, but the movie brings all the facts and characters to life. Oh, to return to movies like this!
sharesggar00 you put it the way I wished I could have put it. Well done. And, this is a brilliant movie.
shareThis film was made at the end of World War 2 when most fillms about war used obvious models and mini-explosions. The action sequences here were large scale and very dramatic. I agree it's grossly overlooked and quite brilliant in how it tells a story of some very brave men.
shareAgreed! 'They Were Expendable' is an excellent example of the patriotic films produced by Hollywood as part of the war effort. Duty and sacrifice by the few for the eventual good of the many were at the core of this film.
BTW, avoid the colorized version. Colorization detracts from the film.
Agreed! I have loved this movie since watching it as a child in the 50s.
It is a beautifully photographed film that I must have seen 100 times and never tire of viewing again, the same way I feel about Fords other film named Fort
Apache.
I have watched this with my teen-agers but there is nothing special in it for them,sad for me.
To all my fellow film viewers who love this old movie as much as I, Thank you very kindly for sharing your thoughts about it.
Jim Busbin
Stuttgart Germany
Beautifully stated. Indeed, a classic.
shareThis is one of the top 10 WWII movies, hands down. A little hokey in spots, by todays standard but, they don't come much more solid than this. The problem is, there are a whole class of bigots out there who refuse to watch B&W movies, because they are B&W.
share"They Were Expendable" is one of those films that I will watch EVERY time I have the chance. I hope I never get tired of it. Yes, there are a few corny moments, they can't be avoided in a John Ford movie; but as in all John Ford films, the corny moments do not detract... they are just part of his signature.
Naval Histoy magazine listed this as one of the best Navy flicks ever and I heartily agree! Watching it now and crying my eyes out! When they are clearing the dock of the dead and wounded while playing Eternal Father I get really moved. If there is any criticism it would be the romance between John Wayne and Donna Reed. Both were fine actors but it detracts from the focus of the movie. Guess John Ford was trying to cater some to the female audience.!
"Proud Aunt of a US Sailor"
I was lucky enough to see this in a cinema in 2005, I t is brilliant- the best film that eithetr John Ford or John Wayne made!
And that is saying something
A lot of people seemed "turned off" by the Wayne-Reed romance and/or teh dinner party scene. I cannot understand why.
To me, it shows (showed) that, even in difficult times, people still could be attracted to each other. And that sharing such times reminded others of loves left back home. I think one of the reasons the officers thanked Sandy so much was that she was a stand-in for their girls back in the States. Girls that, for all they knew, they'd never see again.
In other words, Sandy represented America and all that they loved about it to them.
TWE is in my Top % of WW II films. The combat sequences are not many, but that isn't the point. The film shows the quiet desperation of men and women who are alienated and trapped by the enemy, yet refuse to yield. It is a true classic.
This film is a timeless classic, with many, many, great moments in it.
A really great film, I'm surprised so little is said about. As usual with John Ford films, scenery and effects are always top-notch. The battle scenes in this are so realistic and epic. John Wayne and Robert Montgomery are great.
A film that makes you grateful on Memorial Day.
"I know you're in there, Fagerstrom!"-Conan O'Brien
The last shots of the doomed sailors walking down the beach as the last C-47 flies off over the ocean are quite possibly the most haunting images in film history. IMHO.
shareAbsolutely right, DD, about that last moving scene - the ragtag band of men on the beach with no real hope for any future, but only to do their best. I felt that emotion moments before, seeing the large group of men, left behind at the airfield, slowly begin to disperse into the trees. And seeing Russell Simpson as "Dad" waitng on his porch, calmly armed for the approaching enemy. This film is a true classic, especially worth watching on Memorial Day.
shareTWE is my all time favorite movie. The settings and acting are splendid. I have also read the book. It is a nice book and is quite available on EBay or Amazon for $4 or $5. It was a best seller in 1942. TWE got me interested in PT boats. I have done some more research and have purchased "PT109" both the book and the VHS movie. It is not commercially available in DVD. It is also good, but not up to TWE in quality. The WWII Museum in New Orleans has obtaiined a PT boat and they are restoring it. I look forward to seeing it.
I am glad to see that many people share my feelings.
Agreed. Good drama and very little corniness gave the atmosphere of just how bad things were. And the action was good, not continuous action for action's sake. It's said that war is boredom punctuated by moments of terror and this put that across.
shareIf it's any consolation, the film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Effects, Special Effects; and Best Sound, Recording.
I think that, in all respects, it's one of the top films about naval action during WWII.
Very impressed by my first viewing of this film. It's hard to think of a single criticism.
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