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(More customer reviews)"I'm a marine! I'm gonna kill those b@st@rds, I'm gonna shoot them, I'm gonna bayonet them, I'm gonna break their arms...That's what we're here for, to kill. Everything else is just crap!" -Rip Torn's dialogue from "Beach Red".
I've waited years for this underated classic to be released on dvd, and I'm very pleased that MGM is releasing this as well as several other war classics for the first time. 1967's "Beach Red" was directed by Cornel Wilde, who enlisted the aid of the U.S. Marine Corps, the Defense Department, the American Legion, and even the Philippine army and navy to assist in making the $1.8 million dollar war film, which was based on Peter Bowman's 1945 novel. Filming was completed in just 41 days of shooting on the Philippine island of Luzon. Any actor playing a soldier was forced to wear 42 pounds of equipment on the beach at all times, and Cornel Wilde used almost no stock combat footage for his gritty battle scenes. In short, both the cast and crew were pushed to their limits!
"Beach Red" tells the story of U.S. marines landing on an anonymous Japanese-occupied Pacific island, and taking terrible losses while advancing from the beachhead. Cornel Wilde and Rip Torn are fantastic, and the battle scenes remain quite graphic even when compared with recent war movies. What sets this war movie apart from other war movies of the 50's and 60's is that this has very few ethnic or racial stereotypes, and it spends almost as much time showing the Japanese perspective as the American. Both Japanese and American soldiers are shown having vivid flashbacks in which they remember their wives and families.
When released theatrically, some critics condemned Cornel Wilde for showing such graphic carnage, even in a war movie. The Defense Department even asked to have the marines' assistance removed from the film's credits. But I feel it's one of the most powerful antiwar movies ever made (with an unforgettable ending), and it has aged very well. If you're a fan of war movies, do yourself a favor and add this treasure to your collection!
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