 "World War II" | 2009-09-10 |
| - Reviewed By Savoy from Vermont |
| My father was a world war II combat veteran and this is the type of movie I was brought up on in the 50's. My father, the authentic fighter, considered them garbage. I thought they were great. I think every American under the age of 50 should watch this film to understand what the word "solidarity" means. |
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| "An Unusual War Movie" | 2009-07-13 |
| - Reviewed By Craig Connell from Lockport, NY USA |
For a war movie, this was a bit unusual in that almost the whole film took part in one place. You could almost make a play out of this. A group of men stay in one area trying to sabotage a bridge so the Japanese can't use it to transport supplies. Meanwhile, they have to fend off constant attacks by the enemy. Some are quite brutal.
At least half of the story is not action but melodramatic looks at the soldiers, particularly of the squad's sergeant leader Robert Taylor and Lloyd Nolan, one of his men who has an attitude problem: We also get some shorter profiles of combat men played by Robert Walker, Thomas Mitchell and Desi Arnez (yes, Lucy's husband).
The special effects are more than passable considering they weren't too advanced in the film industry compared to today's technology. However, credibility was a little thin as those Japanese soldiers died awfully fast in those combat scenes at the end. I swear I saw several of them drop over before anyone hit them!
Taylor was the best in this tough, no-nonsense war movie.
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 "FORGOTTON BUT GREAT WAR DRAMA---THEY JUST DON'T MAKE'M LIKE THAT ANYMORE !" | 2009-05-22 |
| - Reviewed By FRED C. DOBBS from USA |
| BATAAN is a GREAT war movie. My dad, a war-movie and war-book buff introduced me to it. It has captivated me ever since, never losing its edge with repeated viewing. This is not an epic or grandiose war movie. This is not SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Simply, BATAAN is great movie-making at its best, war movie or not, fictional or not. With minimal-to-no blood splatter, no body parts flying around and no huge showy explosions or conflagrations, we have a suspenseful, tension-racked story about the real-life heroes and martyrs of the Bataan peninsula in the Philipines circa 1942. Gotta laud all involved in the making of this one. The basic story involves a small group of soldiers who staunchly defend American interests and filipino soil against the Japanese, literally until the last man. What's wonderful about this underrated gem is that the enemy is predominantly unseen [at least until the end] and strikes when least expected. The most un-nerving type of enemy in ANY war [ask a WW2 vet or a guy just back from Iraq] is the "invisible" one: the sniper. These guys are holed up in a thick filipino jungle with snipers everywhere. The tension gradually builds as the enemy gets closer and the boys get picked off one after another [Kubrick must have been influenced for his awesome sniper scenario in FULL METAL JACKET, 1987]. The cast is great headed by a memorable and endearing performance by Robert Taylor as the leader of the US last-standers, a fine performance by the always kick-butt Lloyd Nolan, Oscar winner Thomas Mitchell [STAGECOACH, 1939], Robert Walker [STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, 1951], George Murphy, a young Desi Arnaz of I LOVE LUCY fame and even Barry Nelson [AIRPORT, 1970]. They battle not just the enemy but their own ambivalence, doubts, fears, their pasts, their age [from the tired, overworked veteran Mitchell to the jittery, inexperienced Walker] AND the jungle itself [i.e. malaria, poor visibility, lots of places to hide...etc]. There are some exciting and well-done one-on-one combat scenes---some of the best ever. Taylor is marvelous as the vulnerable but stalwart and courageous #1 in command who keeps the tenuous group focused and committed. The ending last-stand scene where Taylor blasts away on all cylinders behind the last working machine gun is evocative and symbolized the understood personal mandate never to surrender and go down firing when American lives are at stake. |
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| "Valor At Its Finest" | 2008-11-11 |
| - Reviewed By C. Rogers from Phoenix, Az. |
When I first saw this movie on TV as an eight year old kid, it did something to me - changed me forever. I saw what men can do when they are determined and resolute, no matter the cost. This film, along with the 300 Spartans, insured I would serve in the military when I grew up. And I did. That's how intense a film it is, and what a film can do to an impressionable child.
Others have written reviews covering all aspects of this movie, but what cinched it for me was the final scene with Sgt. Bill Dane standing in his own freshly dug grave, his rifle stuck inverted in the mound at the head of the grave with his name, rank, and serial number written on a scrap of paper; wounded, dirty, and exhausted behind a water-cooled M1917 30.06 belt-fed machine gun, his Thompson subgun in his hands and his response to the final Japanese assault screaming defiantly, "We're still here! We'll always be here!" as he empties his Thompson and then mans the M1917, traversing it back and forth at the advancing enemy, the camera zooming in on the muzzle flashes as the epilogue scrolls up the screen; "And so died the heroes of Bataan..."
Powerful stuff even in this age of CGI and cinematic technowizardry. |
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| "WAR IS HELL! This ultimate classic proves it..." | 2008-09-26 |
| - Reviewed By John from USA |
| "Bataan" is one of the best war films to come out of 1940's Hollywood. This film is gut-wrenching and intense. I've seen this film many times and still enjoy it, even to this day. This film is way better than most of todays war/action films. They just don't make 'em like this anymore. This is a pure classic, simply the best... |
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 "A big office film of its time, despite its studio jungles..." | 2006-12-18 |
| - Reviewed By Robert from Leon, Gto. Mexico |
Bataan is a province, central Luzon, Philippines, sheltering Manila Bay from the South China Sea... It is largely covered by jungle and is traversed north to south by steep mountains...
After the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in December 1941 and the fall of Manila (January 2, 1942), the defending Americans and Filipinos withdrew to Bataan, foiling Japanese efforts to split the forces of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur... His troops fought a fierce delaying action until April 9, 1942, and remnants, led by Lieut. Gen. Jonathan M.Wainwright, escaped to Corregidor Island, where they surrendered about a month later...
On January 9, 1945, U.S. Forces, under MacArthur, landed at Lingayen Gulf to the north and sealed off the Bataan Peninsula... Landings were then made at Mariveles Harbor in the south and on Corregidor Island, thus securing Manila Bay for the U.S. Navy...
"Bataan" is the fictional story of 13 men who stayed behind, holding a bridge, and fighting to the death a rear guard action to ensure the success of the Allied forces retreat from the Philippines...
The audience live with the soldiers their last heroic days: George Murphy, an Air Force Lieutenant secretly reliable; Lloyd Nolan, the smart Corporal with compassionate qualities; Thomas Mitchell, a career NCO; Deni Arnaz, a friendly Spanish soldier; Barry Nelson, the competent Matowski; Lee Bowman, the Captain who falls with a bullet; Robert Walker (in his screen debut) who almost breaks down from homesickness; Kenneth Spencer, the black soldier with an undisturbed force and simple dignity, and Robert Taylor, the tough heroic Sergeant alive in the face of the enemy, who sets up his machine gun and keeps it firing until the end...
All are representatives of the heroism existing in all Americans, symbol of the heroic resistance...
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