1968, dir. John Boorman*
First of all, how badass is that title? HELL IN THE PACIFIC. Sounds like this is going to be a pretty hardcore movie with all sorts of destruction and people getting their faces melted off, but in fact its rated G. But no matter, because the film is excellent. The plot is incredibly simple: In World War II, an American and a Japanese soldier both wash up on a deserted island in the Pacific. At first they try to kill each other, but eventually they join forces and its incredibly heartwarming. Is there anything better than watching grizzled old racists learn the value of acceptance? Nope, I can’t think of anything.
There are only two actors in the film and they are two of the coolest dudes of all time: Toshiro Mifune (from a bunch of the Kurosawa films), and Lee Marvin (from THE DIRTY DOZEN and pretty much every cool movie your dad likes). They look like this:
Have you ever seen two men so grizzled? Lee Marvin looks like Swamp Thing in that scene.
The best parts of the film are in the first act, when Marvin and Mifune are being total dicks to each other. Marvin pees on Mifune and smashes up his lobster traps, and then Mifune chases him into the jungle with a samurai sword he carved out of wood! There is also a hilarious scene where they fantasize about how they will kill each other, while weird saxophone jazz music plays. Why jazz music? Is that what you hear in your head when you commit murder?
Overall, it’s an exciting and well acted movie. I may be biased, as any movie where people crash on a tropical island and build a raft out of sticks really gets me going. A tale of adventure on the high seas!
*John Boorman also directed the classic DELIVERANCE. Between these two films, he is probably the greatest director of films in the “tough dudes struggling to survive in the wilderness”genre. However, he also directed ZARDOZ, which features this:
Um. Alright then.
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