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Guadalcanal DiaryRating:
Release Date: 21 May, 2002 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $12.99 You SAVE: $1.99! Cast: Complete Cast (13 total) |
Guadalcanal Diary Reviews
Really authentic dramaziation of the pacific war
The only thing that prevented me from giving this movie a 5 star
was the occasional schmalsty, goffy comments made in jest during
the film. But I beleive this was common in pictures made during
the war in the 40's.
The Island of Death
Anthony Quinn (Pvt. Jesus "Soose" Alvarez), Preston Foster (Father Donnelly), William Bendix (Cpl. Aloysius "Taxi" Potts), Minor Watson (Col. Wallace Grayson), Lionel Stander (Sgt. Butch), Lloyd Nolan (Sgt. Hook Malone), and Richard Jaeckel (Pvt. Johnny "Chicken" Anderson) star in this fine movie about America's first amphibious assult of World war II. This movie was made just shortly after the actual capture of Guadalcanal in February of 1943.
The movie begins with the journey of the First Marine Divison across the Pacific Ocean aboard transport ships. The Marines' time was spent either lying on deck, playing cards, or shooting the bull. The journey was long and monotinous, but the Marines were finally informed of their destination and readied themselves for battle. Upon landing, the Marines set up a perimeter and set out to engage the enemy. Some of the fiercest fighting of the war occurred on Guadalcanal. Both sides were undersupplied and suffered from lack of food. However, while the Americans were hungry, the Japanese starved. Thus, the island became known to the Japanese as "the island of death".
After six months of brutal fighting, the Americans finally captured the island. The Japanese managed to remove their remaining troops under the cover of darkness using destroyers.
This movie does a very good job of describing the action which occurred during the battle from the initial landings in August until the Army relieved them in December. The performances by the cast are very good, and I especially thought that the narration added some valuable insight to the movie. Also, I was impressed by the historical accuracy of the movie. Each of the early encounters with the Japanese is described, including the battle of Teneru River to the horrible shelling of Henderson Field by the Japanese Navy. Based on the book by correspondent Richard Tregaskis, "Guadalcanal Diary" does a fine job of telling the story of the First Marine Divison and their struggles during the early days of the Guadalcanal campaign. This movie differs greatly from today's war movies such as "Saving Private Ryan". There is no blood and guts death scenes in this movie, as well as no political correctness. Routinely throughout this movie, the Americans refer to the Japanese as "monkeys" and "gooks". These terms may not be popular, but that's exactly what the Marines called them in 1942-43.
I give this movie my highest recommendation. The characters are realistic and believable, the action is very good, and the historical correctness is excellent. Watch this movie and see how two enemies fought over a strategically important island in the South Pacific for six long, brutal months in the early days of World War II.
More Customer Reviews (15 total)
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