Rating: 
Summary: Not As Good As MIDWAY
Review: IN HARM'S WAY is a film about World War II naval action in the Pacific beginning with the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese. The movie contains a lot of battle scenes but it soon gets monotonous - especially when one realizes that model ships are used as props.John Wayne is the star and the supporting cast is strong. Patricia Neal and Kirk Douglas are standouts. In spite of the superior acting and the efforts of Otto Preminger as director, the film never quite achieves the same level of interest as MIDWAY which is definitely a better motion picture. IN HARM'S WAY received an Oscar nomination in 1965 for Best B & W Cinematography.
Rating:
Summary: World War II Human Drama in the South Pacific
Review: Human drama about a Navy admiral rescued from post-Pearl Harbor prosecution and assigned the mission to seize a strategic island chain from the Japanese Navy in the South Pacific. The US Navy Pacific Fleet in the opening years of the war is the backdrop for an all-star cast with John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Burgess Meredith, Henry Fonda, Patricia Neal, Patrick O'Neal and Dana Andrews, mixed in a human drama of romance, infidelity and hard obligations, culminating in a dramatic sea battle between battleships. The movie plays like a sequel to "From Here to Eternity" where the Army story is over and it's time to see what's happening in the Navy after Pearl Harbor. It's an entertaining feature with a decent story, though the Oahu location, special effects, and portions of the plot will strain war-movie aficionados' pet peeves. The DVD's imagery is very good and letter-boxed, though a few scenes appear washed probably due to some faded film stock. Extra features include several trailers and a production documentary.
Rating: 
Summary: Great cast!!! Excellent Movie!!
Review: This movie is far from being a typical jingoistic, flag-waving propoganda piece. It deals with several substantive issues (i.e. love, loss, rape, death, etc.) that are dveloping in people's lives at the same time as the war. Interestingly, I felt like a voyeur as I was watching the movie due to an intimate/personal filming perspective and excellent acting. Overall this movie for mature audiences that can accept steady character development with action being secondary. Big thumbs up!!
Rating:
Summary: Decisive Action Under Pressure
Review: "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not go
fast; for I intend to go in harm's way." - John Paul Jones
Early in the film, Rock Torrey [John Wayne] and his exec, Commander Eddington [Kirk Douglas] observe a new heavy cruiser sail from Pearl Harbor to join the fleet, and Wayne's next line contains the movie's title: "A fast ship going in harm's way!"
This film is about exactly that - fast ships and men going in harm's way!
"In Harm's Way" is about decisiveness when under pressure, about thinking fast on one's feet, with no regrets.
The scene in CINCPAC's private study right after CAPT Rock Torrey [Wayne] is promoted to Rear Admiral. CINCPAC [Henry Fonda] is rightfully impatient with Admiral Broderick [Dana Andrews], who is egotistical, but unwilling to decide to attack, much like Civil War Union General McClellan. CINCPAC recalls that Lincoln brought in a hard-nosed general named Grant who didn't care less about organization, he just pointed his battalions in the right direction, and he charged the enemy. The whole theme of the film is contained in CINCPAC's next line to Rock Torrey:
"You're gonna be my Grant!"
I also noticed that Director Otto Preminger briefly revisits his theme of an informant-plant as an in-house bad guy, a theme he covered more extensively with Peter Graves as the Nazi barracks spy in "Stalog 17".
The characters all have flaws, but each one rises to the occasion when the war calls on them to give their best. Rock Torrey does not waste a second driving straight into battle, no matter how impossible the odds! This is the classic stuff of Hollywood Magic and also of inspiration!
Buy this DVD! There is inspiration in this old film, and as with the good old Duke, the actors capture all the best things about taking brave risks and decisive action when in harm's way.
On any level you want, "In Harm's Way" delivers!
Rating:
Summary: The Best War Movie ever made!
Review: When I was in Viet nam, Navy in 1967, this is the only movie we had fro 38 days. We watched it every night for 38 days. I have since watched it over 100 times. If it were on TV tonight, I would watch every second.
Rating:
Summary: God save the Mac(s)!
Review: (Hint:HE does!) I'm kind of on a John Wayne movie spree these days. When I saw that Otto Preminger directed this film, I just had to see it, easily understood if you've read any of my other reviews. I didn't know this film would be about Pearl Harbor and the beginnings of the Pacific naval campaigns. The cast is spectacular, although I don't know some of the main actors' names other than Fonda, Douglas or O'Connor. Jill Haworth, I knew of from Preminger's Exodus. Poor girl, bad things always happen to her in Preminger's films. The last half was most suspenseful for me. The sea battles looked real to me, but I'm not military. I was most moved by Paula Prentiss' character as Bev McConnell, especially when, in the middle of her military work, receives from "Rock" (John Wayne) the news that her husband, Mac, is MIA. The story was based on a book of the same name by James Bassett; the movie realistically depicts the losses and courage of the men and women, at all levels, of our armed forces.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest John Wayne Movie Of All Time.
Review: This movie maybe more than any other JW movie shows how unappreciated the Big Man's acting truly was. How he had to wait until the 70's for an Academy Award, speaks volumes to exactly what is wrong with Hollywood and the Acadamy voting process. If you are are fan of JW or the WWII genre movies, you must buy this DVD. If I had to find anything wrong with the movie, it would be the directors use of model ships to simulate the battle scenes. With the cast in this movie, you would think that they could have pony'd up a little cash for some stock WWII Pacific naval footage. That being said, THIS MOVIE ROCKS! BUY IT NOW! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? BUYBUYBUY
Rating:
Summary: Great cast!!! Excellent Movie!!
Review: This movie is far from being a typical jingoistic, flag-waving propoganda piece. It deals with several substantive issues (i.e. love, loss, rape, death, etc.) that are dveloping in people's lives at the same time as the war. Interestingly, I felt like a voyeur as I was watching the movie due to an intimate/personal filming perspective and excellent acting. Overall this movie for mature audiences that can accept steady character development with action being secondary. Big thumbs up!!
Rating:
Summary: War in the Pacific
Review:
Director Otto Preminger made a good war movie, here. John Wayne plays the part of a captain who initially loses his ship, but comes back eventually as a commodore (1 star admiral). Kirk Douglas is his Exec, Cdr. Ettinger (eventually a captain), who has a bottled up violence in his character (well played). Patricia O'Neal plays a navy nurse (Lt.), Dana Andrews plays an egotisitcal admiral, and Henry Fonda plays CincPac.
The picture is well cast. Even a young Carroll O'Conner has a part, and Burgess Meredith plays an intelligence officer very well. Brandon De Wilde (a new name to me) plays Wayne's son, a spoiled college brat brought up by his mother, also well-played. I was impressed by the details in the movie, including the plane's designations (except for a reference to an AT6 "Texan," which they should have called by its navy designation, an SNJ, instead of the air corps desgnation), and the Japanese ship designations. The battleship Yamato, for example, was identified as having 18-inch guns, as indeed it did have--larger than the 16-inch rifles on America's battle-wagons. All together, it was a well-told story which held pretty much to reality, except for the fictional islands' names and the presence of so many females that close to the action. I enjoyed it, as I do most old Wayne movies. And Otto Preminger knew how to put them together. Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret.)
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books
Rating: 
Summary: Flatly and indifferently made WWII epic
Review: This is one of my all-time favorite movies. One that I watch over and over. I was also a bit surprised at the negative comments made about this movie. Given the time period in which it was filmed and the lack of technology as we have today, I felt it was excellently done. The storyline which involved the newlyweds (Paula Prentiss playing the wife) was a bit underplayed, but the emotions of a couple torn apart by the effects of war are the same for all couples, then and now. The star studded cast (including such then-newcomers as Larry Hagman, Carroll O'Connor, George Kennedy, etc.) were excellently portrayed even in bit-parts and the dialogue never once lagged or strayed. In my opinion, Kirk Douglas was and is so versatile at his craft that he can make any role believable. His acting was superb particularly in the rape scene. This movie is a classic and one which every household should have in its film library.
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