They Were Expendable

They Were Expendable
12K ratings
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Format:  DVD
item number:  C3VA
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DVD Details

  • Rated: Not Rated
  • Run Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
  • Video: Black & White
  • Encoding: Region 1 (USA & Canada)
  • Released: May 22, 2007
  • Originally Released: 1945
  • Label: Warner Home Video

Performers, Cast and Crew:

Starring &
Performer: , , , , , , &
Directed by
Edited by
Screenplay by
Composition by
Art Direction by &
Produced by
Director of Photography:

Entertainment Reviews:

Fresh90%

TOMATOMETER
Total Count: 10

Upright73%

AUDIENCE SCORE
User Ratings: 3,456
5 stars out of 5 -- Ford's experiences in combat documentary are clear, but what's surprising for modern viewers is its measured, even downbeat tone....This is a nuanced and at times fatalistic study of men at arms...
Uncut
May 1, 2006
The real star of the film is the gorgeous, luminous, mostly outdoor black-and-white cinematography. Full Review
Combustible Celluloid
Sep 18, 2008
3 stars out of 5 -- [A] very watchable monochrome WWII piece....[With] a strong supporting cast...
Ultimate DVD
Jul 1, 2006
Rating: 3.5/4 -- The film moves along curiously and cautiously, prideful of the crews of the PT boats but also aware that each victory was achieved at a great cost and that sacrifices would have to continue to be made as the war trudged along. Full Review
Creative Loafing
Jun 18, 2016
Rating: 9/10 -- They Were Expendable was the first time [Ford] would loose the weight of his experiences on a general audience. Full Review
The Retro Set
Dec 27, 2018
...[Robert Montgomery] gives the best performance of his career...
USA Today
Jun 16, 1992
Rating: B+ -- The most unfortunate thing about John Ford's excellent, elegiac war film, with a strong turn from John Wayne, was its release date, December 1945, since the war was over. Full Review
EmanuelLevy.Com
Jan 8, 2007

Product Description:

John Ford's poetic adaptation of William White's book about a PT boat squadron in the South Pacific during World War II may be the best feature film on the war in that theater and is considered by some scholars, including British director Lindsay Anderson, as Ford's greatest work. Just before the outbreak of the war, Lt. John Brickley (Robert Montgomery) is assigned to take his Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron to Manila Bay to defend against a possible Japanese attack in the Philippines. Once there, he finds that the top brass, amused by the idea that the small crafts can be of use in combat, relegates the PT boat to messenger duty. Angered by that reaction, Brickley and his crew must wait for the war to begin to show what they can do. When it does, they shoot down three Japanese planes during an attack on their base, but when the base is closed Brick's squadron is reassigned to Bataan, where they once again are ordered to run messages, and Brickley's fiery executive officer, Lt. Rusty Ryan (John Wayne), fed up with such meaningless duty, asks to be transferred to a destroyer. The embodiment of Milton's tag that "they also serve who stand and wait," Ford's elegiac film pays tribute to all who donned a uniform during the war, whatever their role. Montgomery, who shared in the film's direction, gives the best noncomic performance of his career as the evenhanded CO. But in a visually arresting film that could provide a formidable emotional impact even without the use of sound, it's the eloquent compositions of director of photography Joseph H. August that resonate most powerfully.

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Product Info

  • Sales Rank: 19,207
  • UPC: 012569798625
  • Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
  • International Shipping: 1 item

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