Leofwine_draca DESTINATION GOBI is another desert-based WW2 movie, directed by Robert Wise - no stranger to the genre having made THE DESERT RATS - and featuring the ubiquitous Richard Widmark heading an otherwise undistinguished cast. This one's a little different, telling the true story of navy men running a weather research station in Mongolia, who find themselves under attack by the Japanese and who team up with Mongol forces to fight them.I enjoy war films like this which are a little different from the norm, exploring theatres of war usually avoided in the popular books and films on the subject. DESTINATION GOBI isn't a great movie but it does keep you watching just to find out what happens. Widmark is a reliable lynch pin on which to hang the movie although the supporting cast disappoint, particularly the US actors pretending to be Mongolian which never works. There isn't a wealth of action here, but that which does occur is authentic (the plane attack is very well portrayed) and the suspense keeps you going until the end.

gordonl56 DESTINATION GOBI – 1953 Richard Widmark scored in a whole series of excellent film noir and westerns during the first 15 or so years of his career. His war films though are a mixed bag with most being average at best. (1950's Halls of Montezuma being the best of the bunch) It is late 1944 and the war in the Pacific is drawing nearer to Japan. The US Navy sets up several weather stations in the Gobi Desert. These are to supply weather information so the Navy can plan their attacks etc.A small group of ratings with one officer, Russell Collins, and a Chief Petty Officer, Widmark, set up one of these stations. Months go by and the men send in daily radio reports and wait for the weekly supply air-drop. The place is blazing hot by day and freezing cold by night. The men are bored silly.A group of Mongol nomads arrive and set up camp. The nomads are led by Murvyn Vye. Relations between the Navy men and the Mongols are good for the most part. The Navy decides to form the Mongol horsemen into a protection detail. They fly in 60 old US Cavalry saddles for the Mongols.Everyone seems happy with the deal till several Japanese aircraft pay a less than friendly visit. Several Mongols are killed along with the Navy officer, Collins. The station radio gear is shot to pieces and the Navy men are left alone when the Mongols all bug out.Now in charge, Widmark decides to lead the men to the sea 800 miles away. The rest of the film follows their run-ins with various Mongol groups including Vye's bunch again. They end up at the coast and are gobbled up by the local Japanese garrison. Vye and his Mongols come to the rescue and break the Navy men out.The whole group, Navy and Mongols alike, swipe a Chinese junk and set sail for Okinawa. There are a couple more close calls with death as they overcome a Japanese patrol craft and are nearly sunk by U.S. Navy aircraft.The rest of the cast includes, Earl Holliman, Martin Milner, Darryl Hickman, Max Showalter and Don Taylor. Richard Loo also puts in one of his patented bits as a Japanese officer.The story is apparently based on a real event. How much of the film story is real, or not, I'm not sure. Instead of playing the story straight, they keep throwing in comic bits which really do not work. Having said that, five time Oscar nominated, and four time winner, director Robert Wise, does a nice job moving the film along. Four time Oscar nominated, two time winner, cinematographer, Charles G Clarke supplies some nice camera-work.At 90 minutes it moves along fast enough to be entertaining.

MartinHafer The plot of this movie seemed to make little sense, so I did a bit of research on the web and it appears to actually be based on real events from WWII--some of the strangest events you could imagine. Richard Widmark stars as a leader of a group of US Navy personnel stationed in Mongolia--YES, Mongolia! It seems they are a very isolated weather station but why the Navy was sent there is beyond me! In case they are attacked by the Japanese, they enlist the help of local herdsmen by providing them with nice new saddles--YES, saddles. As I said, it's all very hard to imagine but based on real events.Unfortunately for our small but intrepid group, their base IS attacked by the Japanese Air Force and their equipment ruined. As they are in the middle of no where and the American commanders must assume they are dead, they seem to have no choice to to make their way east--though the coast is over 800 miles from their base.While this is certainly not a great film, it's a great one for someone who loves WWII history--as it certainly doesn't get any more unusual than this. Plus, the film is enjoyable, well-acted and likable. Truly an odd movie but reasonably well made with its mostly American-Indian supporting cast.

michaelter Can't believe this one is from 1953, it feels like it was done last year.The vistas and the panoramas of the desert are stunning and the cultural representation of Chinese and Mongols is authentic without any Hollywood tricks, which is amazing not only for 1953 but for 2002 as well.