Blu-ray Review They Were Expendable Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Richard Gallagher]

richard-gallagher has published a new article.

They Were Expendable Blu-ray Review

John Ford's They Were Expendable is one of the best and most realistic World War II films of that era. The realism can be attributed in part to...
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[Flashgear]

Great review of this spectacular, important and immortal film, Richard...I have nothing to add beyond your own eloquent and enthusiastic praise for this Great film, other than to say THEY WERE EXPENDABLE is one of my absolute favourite WW2 films actually produced while the war was still raging...imho, only THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO comes close to matching this achievement...

I still get angry thinking about the suffering of the "Battling Bastards of Bataan, no momma, no poppa, no uncle Sam"...in hopeless and desperate combat against an overwhelming enemy invasion...fighting with incredible bravery and sacrifice...being repeatedly told, and having the reasonable expectation, that reinforcements were on the way from America...not knowing, of course, that the decision had already been made to abandon them during the Arcadia conference between FDR and Churchill at the White House in December '41 - January '42...they were, indeed, expendable...holding out for nearly 5 months until forced to surrender to a brutal and merciless victor...

This film really conveys that despair and abandonment, and the honor of their valour and sacrifice too...so very glad that this fine film has finally received the home video treatment it deserves...

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Well said, Randall. And let's not forget the Bataan Death March which followed the fall of Corregidor.

I was stationed at Subic Bay for 18 months in the late sixties so I'm familiar with most of the real locations depicted in the film.

 

[Flashgear]

Richard, considering the authentic naval pedigree behind the film of John Ford, Robert Montgomery, Frank Wead et al, I'm glad that we have your perspective as a USN serviceman to review They Were Expendable for us here at HTF...the film has always touched a nerve with me, besides just being an epic and important film...one of my uncles was taken prisoner at Hong Kong and worked as slave labor in Japan, he survived the war at less than 100 lbs...anyone who has read Donald Knox's "Death March", an oral history collection by POW survivors of Bataan will realize the terrible fate that awaited our men and Phillipine allies...that last scene of the line of men walking away into the distance chokes me up...I agree with you that the only thing wrong with the film was the theatrical release date coming about 3 months after war's end...no doubt audiences were perhaps war weary and not particularily receptive to a film about noble defeat and a downbeat ending...ironically, while the film was in pre-production and Florida filming (Feb. '45) the US Army Rangers, USN and Alamo scouts had just accomplished the famous Cabanatuan raid and the Los Banos raid was about to be mounted in a brilliant and courageous effort to free POW and captive civilians...

 

[jim_falconer]

For years John Ford dismissed this film as a personal failure. His friends and colleagues insisted he was wrong, and tried to persuade him to reconsider his views. Finally in the mid 1960s, he rewatched it, and afterwards said "well I guess I was wrong...I did a damn fine job on that picture".

 

[Alan Tully]

A huge improvement over the old flat, soft & dated SD transfer. One of the top catalogue releases of the year for me, along with She Wore A Ribbon (even 'though the year is only halfway through).

 

[Randy Korstick]

I sure wish Amazon would ship my copy of this or any of my orders from the past 2 weeks for that matter.