Gung Ho!

Rating:
Summary: Gung-Ho is nothing amazing...but it is worth viewing!
Review: Gung-Ho!, a war film that takes place 7 weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack and details the volunteers that form the new 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, is a merely decent film with a merely decent DVD. While worth viewing, it is hardly even approaching the peak of it's genre (held, in my opinion, by films such as The Thin Red Line, Apocalypse Now, and The Bridge on the River Kwai: better movies with better DVDs) and isn't worth a purchase. However, those other films come as highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A good movie very much of its time - But which copy to buy?
Review: I agree with Hawthorne, FL ... he's right on the money. The 4-star rating is for the movie not for the DVD quality.

My problem with the reviews of this film is that Amazon has listed all the reviews underneath all the copies of this film. I have to assume it has fallen into public domain because there are many releases under various cheapo labels. I'd like to see the reviews appear against the specific versions/copies of the film so we can get a better idea of which ones have the better prints. We know from other public domain titles that some of these are going to be OK and others will be a chore to watch. The reviewer from Hingham, MA says his print is so dark as to be almost unusable. I wonder which one he was talking about? It's a shame that these fast buck artists are muddying the water by putting out DVDs that are in worse shape than most VHS tape versions.

How about it Amazon? Is there some way you can let us know which ones to go with if we want to see the best prints? I'm not buying this one because there's a chance it's money wasted. If you can point me towards a decent print I'll gladly give you my business.

Rating:
Summary: The Raiders were trained to operate as a guerrilla outfit
Review: I'll agree with some of the reviews about the movie being a little cornball.

Col. Carlson was sent to China by our government as an observer. He was not a Communist as implied. The Chinese term "Gung Ho" is still used by people in our military today. Remember, China and Russia were allies of ours in World War II. My high school coach was an observer with the Russian Army and he was no Communist.

President Roosevelt's son James was executive officer of Carlson's Raiders and a good Marine. The Raiders were no more blood thirsty than any other Marine with a rifle in combat in WWII.

I would have liked to seen more of the training the Raiders went through.

Rating:
Summary: Bad but Interesting
Review: I'm a high school history and American studies teacher, and I sometimes show this film to my classes as an example of Hollywood's role in WW II. As a piece of cinema, it's pretty bad, filled with a lot of jingoism, ethnic stereotypes, and cornball humor. Compared to our modern portrayals of combat e.g. Saving Pvt. Ryan or Band of Brothers, the battle scenes are laughable--and I do often hear laughs in my classes, often at the wrong times.

As an artifact demonstrating what the United States thought of its war effort in 1943, however, Gung Ho is interesting. Like so many other Hollywood war films, it follows a multicultural unit of American soldiers through their training and into their first combat. The characters' names tell the story: Sgt. McBride the tough Irishman, Lt. Christopoulos the self-made Greek immmigrant, Frankie Montana, the Italian from Brooklyn who has a chip on his shoulder, the fighting half-brothers O' Ryan and Richter, who both love the same girl. The unit commander is the resourceful Col. Thorwald (German/Scandinavian), played by Randoph Scott, who molds them into a single fighting battalion, in much the way that the WWII United States was molded into a unified nation of immigrants to meet the international threat of fascist totalitarianism. Thorwald's motto is "Gung Ho," Chinese for "work together harmoniously." On a number of occasions he makes extended speeches into the camera to emphasize how important it is for the soldiers/audience to follow the motto, win the war, and establish a just and lasting peace.

Several other aspects of the film make it interesting, notably the presence of future stars in early roles. The most obvious is Robt. Mitchum in a small part, but you can also spot Noah Beery, Jr. (later of The Rockford Files and numerous other shows) and Rod Cameron (TV westerns of the 50s). Plus old-time Hollywood character actors like J. Carroll Naish and Louis Jean Heydt. Another interesting aspect is the (very muted) left-wing influence. Thorwald is apparently based on Col. Carlson of the Marine Raiders and perhaps Gen. Stillwell of the army, and is an admirer of the revolutionary Chinese communist army of Maozedong (although neither of the words "communist" nor "Maozedong" is mentioned in the film). He adopts his tactics and philosophy from Mao! Although I don't know Carlson's background, I suspect this facet of the film is based on his actual experience and training philosophy, and I do know that Stillwell traveled with the Chinese Red army during the 1930s and ended up admiring it. (See also the novel Once An Eagle by Anton Myrer, which covers some of the same ground.)

So: Gung Ho is a bad film with some interesting background/sociology connected with it. Better WW II films which employ some of the same ideas include Guadalcanal Diary and 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, which I also use sometimes in class.

Rating:
Summary: Bad but Interesting
Review: I'm a high school history and American studies teacher, and I sometimes show this film to my classes as an example of Hollywood's role in WW II. As a piece of cinema, it's pretty bad, filled with a lot of jingoism, ethnic stereotypes, and cornball humor. Compared to our modern portrayals of combat e.g. Saving Pvt. Ryan or Band of Brothers, the battle scenes are laughable--and I do often hear laughs in my classes, often at the wrong times.

As an artifact demonstrating what the United States thought of its war effort in 1943, however, Gung Ho is interesting. Like so many other Hollywood war films, it follows a multicultural unit of American soldiers through their training and into their first combat. The characters' names tell the story: Sgt. McBride the tough Irishman, Lt. Christopoulos the self-made Greek immmigrant, Frankie Montana, the Italian from Brooklyn who has a chip on his shoulder, the fighting half-brothers O' Ryan and Richter, who both love the same girl. The unit commander is the resourceful Col. Thorwald (German/Scandinavian), played by Randoph Scott, who molds them into a single fighting battalion, in much the way that the WWII United States was molded into a unified nation of immigrants to meet the international threat of fascist totalitarianism. Thorwald's motto is "Gung Ho," Chinese for "work together harmoniously." On a number of occasions he makes extended speeches into the camera to emphasize how important it is for the soldiers/audience to follow the motto, win the war, and establish a just and lasting peace.

Several other aspects of the film make it interesting, notably the presence of future stars in early roles. The most obvious is Robt. Mitchum in a small part, but you can also spot Noah Beery, Jr. (later of The Rockford Files and numerous other shows) and Rod Cameron (TV westerns of the 50s). Plus old-time Hollywood character actors like J. Carroll Naish and Louis Jean Heydt. Another interesting aspect is the (very muted) left-wing influence. Thorwald is apparently based on Col. Carlson of the Marine Raiders and perhaps Gen. Stillwell of the army, and is an admirer of the revolutionary Chinese communist army of Maozedong (although neither of the words "communist" nor "Maozedong" is mentioned in the film). He adopts his tactics and philosophy from Mao! Although I don't know Carlson's background, I suspect this facet of the film is based on his actual experience and training philosophy, and I do know that Stillwell traveled with the Chinese Red army during the 1930s and ended up admiring it. (See also the novel Once An Eagle by Anton Myrer, which covers some of the same ground.)

So: Gung Ho is a bad film with some interesting background/sociology connected with it. Better WW II films which employ some of the same ideas include Guadalcanal Diary and 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, which I also use sometimes in class.

Rating:
Summary: Well Known Slogan, Little Known History
Review: In 1943 the outcome of WWII was still uncertain. Movies showcasing victories were embraced by the public. This was one of the most unusual. "Gung Ho" (Chinese for 'work together') tells the story of the Marine Raiders who gained a reputation as a deadly, even bloodthirsty, fighting force. Randolph Scott portrays Evans F. Carlson (his, and the names of other real life Raiders are changed here) one of the most unorthodox commanders in American military history. Carlson fought with the Chinese Communist 8th Route Army against the Japanese before America entered the war. He gave his Marines a communist-style political indoctrination combined with unconventional warfare tactics training. This unusually frank film begins with a Marine announcing they are recruiting killers. They get Brooklyn street fighters, hillbillys who have settled family feuds the hard way, social outcasts, and even an ordanined minister. They also get American Communists who declare, "I fought in Spain, I fought in Greece, this fight is all the same, fascism!" In training, Randolph Scott sets the tone by saying "More than officers and men we're going to be comrades!" and instructs the Marines to cast all racial and religious prejudice out of their mind and that while they fight for equality they're going to live it. Further, "bars and insignia are left in the barracks." Their training includes asking a surgeon were best to stick a man with a knife and learning to spit in the eye of the enemy in hand to hand combat. The fact that the real Carlson died in 1946 shortly after the war with his hero reputation still fresh in minds is probably the only thing that saved this film from the Cold War trash bin. Highly Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The Raiders were trained to operate as a guerrilla outfit
Review: Some movies really don't age well.

GUNG HO! is a creaky old warhorse. It tells the story of the Second Marine Raider Battalion from its formation shortly after the Pearl Harbor to its first mission, a raid on Makin Island. The battalion is a volunteer outfit, so the first question the movie asks of its young stars is "Why do you want to kill Japs?" The Kentucky hick and the Brooklyn toughie and the ordained minister all pretty much say the same thing - because I don't like them.

The film follows the recruits through training and graduation to deployment and finally battle, with a short detour for a sloppy little romantic subplot. GUNG HO!, released in 1943, is based on actual events. The Marines' successful raid was big news back in those bleak days.
This is more a curiosity, a study of the value of propaganda on public morale, than a historically accurate document. Some of its inconsistencies are pretty jarring, though. For instance, Colonel Thorwald (Randolph Scott), the commander of the battalion, gives an inspirational speech at the beginning of training. He exhorts his men to "Cast out all prejudices, racial and religious," and learn to act as a, well, band of brothers. The men may have taken it to heart, but you can't help but notice there are NO people of color, save for a Filipino volunteer, in the unit. The only African-American in the whole movie is a cook on the transport submarine. It probably wasn't noticed when the movie was released, but it does seem a little ironic now.
Col. Thorwald delivers a few more "Some of us are going to die for democracy and freedom and equality" speeches, which are set in stark contrast with the behavior of the Japanese defenders. Fighter pilots laugh as they strafe ground troops. A badly wounded GI, begging for water, is brutally bayoneted by a Japanese soldier.
If you like standard issue war movies, I guess you'll like GUNG HO! Be warned, though. On the cover of the dvd case it looks like Robert Mitchum is pictured next to Randolph Scott, and it seems like they're co-starring. Mitchum has a relatively minor role in this one, much smaller than those played by the likes of Alan Curtis and Noah Beery, Jr.
And the dvd appears to have been transfers from a handy print. There are splotches and splashes and scratches throughout the whole thing. A bargain bin purchase at best.

Rating:
Summary: Gung Ho!
Review: Some movies really don't age well.

GUNG HO! is a creaky old warhorse. It tells the story of the Second Marine Raider Battalion from its formation shortly after the Pearl Harbor to its first mission, a raid on Makin Island. The battalion is a volunteer outfit, so the first question the movie asks of its young stars is "Why do you want to kill Japs?" The Kentucky hick and the Brooklyn toughie and the ordained minister all pretty much say the same thing - because I don't like them.

The film follows the recruits through training and graduation to deployment and finally battle, with a short detour for a sloppy little romantic subplot. GUNG HO!, released in 1943, is based on actual events. The Marines' successful raid was big news back in those bleak days.
This is more a curiosity, a study of the value of propaganda on public morale, than a historically accurate document. Some of its inconsistencies are pretty jarring, though. For instance, Colonel Thorwald (Randolph Scott), the commander of the battalion, gives an inspirational speech at the beginning of training. He exhorts his men to "Cast out all prejudices, racial and religious," and learn to act as a, well, band of brothers. The men may have taken it to heart, but you can't help but notice there are NO people of color, save for a Filipino volunteer, in the unit. The only African-American in the whole movie is a cook on the transport submarine. It probably wasn't noticed when the movie was released, but it does seem a little ironic now.
Col. Thorwald delivers a few more "Some of us are going to die for democracy and freedom and equality" speeches, which are set in stark contrast with the behavior of the Japanese defenders. Fighter pilots laugh as they strafe ground troops. A badly wounded GI, begging for water, is brutally bayoneted by a Japanese soldier.
If you like standard issue war movies, I guess you'll like GUNG HO! Be warned, though. On the cover of the dvd case it looks like Robert Mitchum is pictured next to Randolph Scott, and it seems like they're co-starring. Mitchum has a relatively minor role in this one, much smaller than those played by the likes of Alan Curtis and Noah Beery, Jr.
And the dvd appears to have been transfers from a handy print. There are splotches and splashes and scratches throughout the whole thing. A bargain bin purchase at best.

Rating:
Summary: Not gung ho about Gung Ho
Review: This is an action adventure film made during the propaganda era of WWII. Loosely based on fact, the Americans are cheerful and brave, the Japanese stupid and cowardly. Look for a young Robert Mitchum as Piggie. My problem is that the copy I received was so dark as to be unusable. Good example of the genre but this edition leaves much to be desired.

Rating:
Summary: Interresting War Propaganda Film.
Review: This is first and foremost a WWII Era War Prop movie. It was made when the war in the Pacific was going bad for America and the U.S. wanted to boost morale back home. Therefore expect the Americans to be Brave, Intellegent, etc. One of the interresting things to note is the positive focus on China. If you are interrested in History it is worth reviewing but this is not Pearl Harbor. Enjoyable film but not one of the must owns.

Eroc