Hell in the Pacific
by John Boorman
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DVD details
Actor: Lee Marvin, Toshirô MifuneDirector: John Boorman
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Conrad L. Hall
Editor: Thomas Stanford
Producer: Henry G. Saperstein
Producer: Reuben Bercovitch
Writer: Reuben Bercovitch
Producer: Selig J. Seligman
Writer: Alexander Jacobs
Writer: Eric Bercovici
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
Published: 2004-05-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-05-25
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Hell in the Pacific
DVD Review: 40 Years Later, still an awesome movie from legendary director John Boorman.
Summary: 4 Stars
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'.
Description of Hell in the Pacific
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?Bestsellers in DVD
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