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Hell in the Pacific
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Price: $2.42
Price subject to change!
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Binding: DVD
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
EAN: 9780792860501
Format: Color
ISBN: 0792860500
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2004-05-25
Running Time: 103
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1968-12-18
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Customer reviews of Hell in the Pacific
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: Clash of Enemies
Comment: Two enemies are trapped on a island together! There are only two actors in this film but it is one of my top films for Japan WW2. By using the subtitles you will understand the Japanese dialogue. This movie keeps you glued to the screen until the last moment. The ending is sudden and I didn't think it fit until I watched it again. There is also a Alternate Ending on the DVD.
Customer Rating:
Summary: 40 Years Later, still an awesome movie from legendary director John Boorman.
Comment: I greatly enjoyed 'Hell in the Pacific' and it was more than I expected. I watched this movie the other night and got a lot out of it.
It's a very involving story set during WWII about an American pilot (the great Lee Marvin) and his Japanese counterpart (the equally great Toshiro Mifune) at odds with each other after they are both unknowingly stranded on the same small, uninhabited island in the vast South Pacific Ocean. They fight and quarrel for a good first half of the movie, but ------ realizing that they are both going to have to rely on the other to get out of their situation or to even survive ------ they gradually form an uneasy alliance.
I thoroughly appreciated John Boorman's obvious commitment to realism on this movie. As the film opens up, it just jumps into the story right away, beginning immediately with the image of Toshiro Mifune sitting alone near the beach and Lee Marvin in the jungle, likely just recently dropped in by parachute. The movie wastes no time with set-up or any explanation as to how they both got there. We don't know and don't need to. The editing is done at a smooth, flowing, non-hurried pace which gives the movie a definite real-time feel to it. The scenery and cinematography of the authentic Palau locations is simply stunning and I'm rather amazed by how good this movie looks for its age. The picture quality and clarity of this film is jaw-dropping for a 40 year-old movie.
The performances from the sole two actors in the entire film are passionate, inspired and thoroughly believable. The setting and plot is almost enough to make one forget for a moment that the two are sworn wartime enemies and we almost immediately empathize with both characters.
There are no subtitles. It puts us more inside the two's struggle since neither can understand what the other is saying. Even though those of us who don't speak Japanese can't understand what Toshiro Mifune's character is saying, we know EXACTLY what he is feeling and thinking through actions, body language, and forcefulness of expression. Watch for the scene when Toshiro Mifune's character catches a real, giant clam and proceeds to crack it open to get to the real, soft mollusk inside just for the sake of a meal. After they are finally able to put aside their differences for the sake of their mutual survival, they collaborate to build a rather impressive wooden and bamboo raft to escape the confines of the island.
My only grievance with this movie was its ending. I will not spoil it, but I will say that I did feel it was inconclusive and didn't provide me with adequate closure for the two characters' ultimate fates. Even the alternate ending still left me feeling a bit unfulfilled but I will leave it up to each individual viewer to decide for themself. The ending just didn't quite work for me and was the only element that prevented me from giving this film the full five stars.
Overall though, this is still an excellent and vastly underrated 1968 gem from one of the best directors of all time, John Boorman. A unique cinematic experience in the fact that it features two prolific, unparalled actors each playing anonymous characters who are the only two in the entire movie in such a huge, isolated setting. A fasinating encapsulation of a very human story set against the backdrop of the WWII-era campaign in the Pacific.
17 years later in 1985, this film would be reimagined with a science-fiction twist as 'Enemy Mine'.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Powerful study & psychological drama but only two stars. Great for most.
Comment: I find Boorman's direction to be fantastic. As others note two military officers from opposite sides recognize each other. Mifune especially seeks with all his cunning to kill Marvin while the latter struggles very hard just to fill his canteen with drinking water. The tensions, very strong at the beginning slowly dissipate as both realize taking out each
other might be very difficult but via cooperation--even despite the language barriers--two heads can equal the results of three. Mifune shows
his tenderness first. But both play outstanding roles. While trying to develop the peace, Marvin reads a military manual that mandates troops always to kill the enemy. Their keen attention to the nonverbals, even as both seem not to be observing is a case study for those intererested
in interpersonal communication. Marvin brings in new vitality once he
recognizes there is bamboo on the island. Yielding to each other in
a collaborative manner, the raft is built and launched. Then I got the impression they had to fight high waves without food on the ocean for perhaps four days. Both are exhausted. Discovering the new island is a
dream, that neither perhaps thought would occur. They forage through
the deserted military hospital, each finding things of special interest and then dressed neatly as military professionals toast each other
countlessly with a big bottle of booze. I wasn't ready for the end but
tried to foresee possibilities. For those who can take a movie with very
limited dialogue, scores of nonverbals and two superb actors, this movie
is a must. Those who enjoy more group drama or romantic entertainment would be bored. I am glad to have found this movie in my collection. The VHS version plays very well.
Customer Rating:
Summary: another side of a great filmaker
Comment: this is the JOHN BOORMAN i love . the director of "DELIVERANCE" and "THE EMERALD FOREST" in addition to this excellent and haunting film . in his twin outstanding lead actors , a very thoughtful screenplay and breathtaking photography and direction , it all comes together for me . i withhold the fifth star as i am conflicted about the ending . that was john's artistic choice though . i don't do alternate endings .
Customer Rating:
Summary: How to make a movie 101
Comment: Anyone who wants to make a film would be served well to watch this movie, repeatedly. Boorman achieves what few filmmakers ever dare: an almost nonverbal story about rivals who learn, somewhat reluctantly, that the humanity they share cannot be abandoned. Yes, it's a product of the 70's, and the visual style embraces that, but the acting is superb. These were two of the best actors of their generation, and the collaboration must have been an actor's dream for both. No more spoilers. If you're a fan of Boorman, Mifune or Marvin, enjoy.
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Editorial Reviews:
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From the director of Excalibur and Deliverance comes this "gripping" (Leonard Maltin)adventure about two wartime enemies trapped alone on a desert island. Academy AwardÂ(r) winner* Lee Marvin (The Dirty Dozen) and Toshiro Mifune (The Seven Samurai) deliver "striking and well-etched performances" (LA Herald-Examiner) in this searing psychological drama that packs "plenty of action and excitement" (Motion Picture Herald)! From the instant they meet, a marooned American soldier (Marvin) and his Japanese counterpart (Mifune) have the same objective: killing each other. But it soon becomes apparent that the only way they will survive isby forging an uneasy truce and cooperating with each other. Can they rise above the hatred that divides them long enough to stay alive?
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