LeonLouisRicci As if on cue, when the New Decade and the Year 1960 Clicked Over, Hollywood Suddenly, almost Subconsciously started to Defy the "Hays Code". "Hell to Eternity" was Not an Ordinary "War" Movie. The Neo-Realistic Films started to Emerge in Genre after Genre.In this Gritty Phil Karlson Film there are Sequences of Raw Sex and Ultra-Violence (squibs). Up Close and Personal Battle Scenes that were Visceral and "In Your Face". Even a bit of Off-Color Language can be Heard now and then.Add to that, previously only Sam Fuller seemed to Showcase and Care about Minorities Involved in War-Time Settings. But here, the Director makes it the Center Point of the Film. Some Hedging and Changes were made to the "Real Life" Story of Guy Gabaldon (Jeffrey Hunter), but the Core Message Remains.The Movie is too Long, with some Scenes Extended beyond Tolerable, mainly the Marines Drinking and Sexing, but there are others. The whole First Half of the Film is a Setup and Pre-War Family Bonding, that was Needed but it goes on Way too Long. There are other Small Missteps like No Subtitles in the Long Japanese General's Speech to His Men.It's Not a Perfect or Great Film, but Overall, it is Karlson's Edgy Direction of a Story Worth Telling that makes this a Remarkable and Memorable Movie.Part of its Reputation is because in 1960 it was an Anticipatory Style that Prefigured the Decade and Beyond and there just wasn't anything like it at the Time. It Stood Out and Got Noticed by Fans of War Movies and those with a Social Conscience.

DKosty123 When I saw a review of this one saying this is an "important true story" I could not believe my eyes. Anyone who has read historic accounts of Saipan would be aware there was no mass surrender of any Japanese Army on Saipan, which makes the entire battle sequence of this movie false. This is by far the best example of historic revision ever put to the American Public as even the tanks shown are not correct. Here is the real ending of Saipan - "In the end, almost the entire garrison of Japanese troops on the island — at least 30,000 — died. For the Americans, the victory was the most costly to date in the Pacific War: out of 71,000 who landed, 2,949 were killed and 10,464 wounded. Future Hollywood actor Lee Marvin was among the many Americans wounded. He was serving with "I" Company, 24th Marine Regiment, when he was shot in the buttocks by Japanese machine gun fire during the assault on Mount Tapochau. He was awarded the Purple Heart and was given a medical discharge with the rank of Private First Class in 1945."The only piece of truth in the battle part is that there were a large number of Japanese civilians on the Island and yes a bunch of them did commit suicide. Allied Artists did do an incredible job making the battle sequences look real, but this script on what happened on the island is just plain false. So the second half of the film is a flim-flam.As for the first half, I enjoy the acting by a very talented cast. Jeffrey Hunter, David Jansen, George Takai are all great and get plenty of solid support. The film starts with the kids being young and in a school yard fight. Then it brings the appeal of an American boy who is an orphan to live into a Japanese household in the 1930's. By the time the war starts, he has grown up with his new parents.The story as told does not exactly state whether the boy (Guy Gabaldon) is legally adopted by the family or not and I think back in that era that perhaps they would not have had to do that? It does pull in the viewer with Guy's relationship with his new family after his mom dies (we never meet his mom on screen as she is in the hospital ill when we first meet Guy).George Takei is 23 years young and this is his 9th role of a fine career in support as George Une. He is an older brother to Guy. The script can be admired for creating what would have been an extremely rare family situation for the 1930's, and early 1940's but it is quite easy to take apart.This is a film that addresses the issue of the internment camps and the race relations during this time period. It does not do it properly. The brief scene of the camp here gives little indication of how conditions really were in the real camps. It appears because of film length (over 2 hours) and limited budget (Allied Artists) that any real addressing of this could not be done. In a way, the worst scene in the film is the party where we have Americans and Japanese mingling in a social setting. Some of the uncomfortable issues of this are brought up but the reality of the party itself is not really addressed very well. Then the film lurches suddenly from the party into the island battle.Screen Legend Sessue Hayakawa plays Gen. Matsui late in the film who Guy convinces to surrender his whole army though in dramatic form com mitts suicide after telling his troops to surrender. . The role here obviously a short dramatic one which he does well, but the way it is scripted does not give him the opportunity to show case his talent anywhere near what he did in Bridge Over The River Kwai 3 years earlier. This film is a showcase for Hunter's considerable talent. Unfortunately, the script is so fictional and the errors throughout the film so messed up that anyone with knowledge of the real events or even those who might pick up an accurate history book, should know this film just comes off as Hollywoodized. I do wish that race relations were this advanced in the era the film uses. The reality is that they were not, this is a wishful thinking script that does a major tragedy to a very talented cast. My rating here is because of the script. It is very much worth watching for the talent of the cast. It is so easy to love mama-San and wish this was a true story.

Theo Robertson This is a war bio-pic about Guy Gabaldon of the USMC . It's a strange film featuring two distinct halves . One of Gabaldon newly arrived in the Marine Corps and the second half concentrating on the battle of Saipan . When I say strange what I mean is that it's heavily clichéd but for someone reason it manages to hide the clichés very well The first half features those loud American who constantly feature in these type of movies . They're drinkers , gamblers , womanisers and heaven help anyone who has no concept of the alpha male . What makes this part of the film interesting is that there's a nightclub scene that has rampant sexuality featuring a female character and Gabaldon played by Jeffrey Hunter which must have seemed somewhat explicit at the time The second half features the bloody battle of Saipan and one interesting thing about the landings is that Japanese characters speak to Japanese characters in Japanese without the benefit of subtitles . Compare this to films at the time had Germans speaking to one another in English and characters speaking in their native tongue must have appeared unusual back in the day . The battle scenes are relatively graphic though little children turning reminded me of THE GREEN BERETS The problem with this movie is that for something that is marketed as a war film it takes a long time to reach its destination of the battlefield and with the exception of the nightclub scene the film is very talkative with little in the way of incident which stops it from becoming a great film . As it stands it's okay though it helps if you watch it of the era of when it was made

emc22 I have been trying to buy this movie but the prices are out of reach. I was on Okinawa in 1960 when this movie was filmed. Our battalion was the first to occupy the brand new barracks at Camp Schwabb. A lot of us marines were chosen to be in the Japanese army because of our looks or physical stature. yes I played the part of a Japanese soldier and during the bonsai attack I was killed. I must say I died very dramatically. I had the pleasure of meeting Jeffery Hunter, David Janssen, and Vic Damone. I think the movie was pretty good even though some important parts were omitted. I have read several articles on the life of Guy Gabaldon and he looked nothing like Jeffery Hunter. Have a nice day.