Even playing the Marine Corps Anthem at top volume can't hide that this is an antiwar film, and a good one. The occasional soundtrack is the only thing gung ho about it.
Much of the film is on the pain of combat, the stress, fear, and horror on top of the high death toll. There are strong early performances from Widmark, Malden, Webb, Wagner, Palance, and others.
One surprising part of the film is the blunt admission of atrocities against the Japanese. An officer says early on they don't take Japanese prisoner, they execute them. And the film is filled with depictions of savage white American racism against the Japanese, one racist epithet after another, and does not glorify it.
Much of the film is on the pain of combat, the stress, fear, and horror on top of the high death toll. There are strong early performances from Widmark, Malden, Webb, Wagner, Palance, and others.
One surprising part of the film is the blunt admission of atrocities against the Japanese. An officer says early on they don't take Japanese prisoner, they execute them. And the film is filled with depictions of savage white American racism against the Japanese, one racist epithet after another, and does not glorify it.