My better half taking a class at a local community college, left me with “guy movie night.” Which usually means war or James Bond for me. So an old WWII film was the call for the night. Back to Bataan.I have to say that I enjoy the more modern telling of stories of WWII like Saving Private Ryan and even Patton as opposed to the over glorified “war is romantic” attitude. Although back in 1945 directly out of WWII, I am not sure America was ready to see the horrors of war. It was what the public wanted to see at the time, the glory of war and it’s heroes. That being said, I thought the film was pretty average and full of special effects blunders. For instance no bullets ever hit anything else, but another man. A machine gun shooting through a bush and not one leaf gets knocked off. Oh well, just a sign of the times.
This film stars John Wayne (Best Actor True Grit) and Anthony Quinn as a group of Philippine rebels try to repel invading Japan. The movie is worth a viewing for movie buffs and WWII aficionados, but if you are one that is picky about your movies, may want to skip it. This movie is what it is, a macho glorified heroic movie, made for the people of it’s time with Hollywood’s view of war.