The war's outcome was still much in doubt at the time of the movie's release, which accounts for the overriding air of grim confidence in our fighting men to turn things around. That's the movie's main message. At the same time, you can go down the list of popular clichés from WWII and find just about every one of them here— from the fresh-faced kid, to the hardened sergeant, to the amusing roughneck, along with various shades of meaningful banter and a "regular guy" priest. It's all very entertaining even if highly idealized. I'm sure it did what it was supposed to do-- provide rays of light during a dark period.
TCF was a big-budget studio and they don't disappoint. It's a very well-mounted production with an authentic Pacific-island look. If there's a process shot anywhere, I couldn't spot it. Even the difficult submarine barrage looks real. Combine that with a winning bunch of actors, and the result is a super-slick production that continues to impress. Note, however, how the combat sequences become less and less realistic as fighting across the island progresses. Those sequences culminate in a final victory sweep where shooting is done from the hip, out in the open, and "Japs" die by the hundreds before backing into the surf for a final round of annihilation. It's like a climax to a dramatic piece of music, and I expect audiences were thinking payback for Pearl Harbor.
The movie is very much a product of time and place. There are scattered stabs at combat realism; however, these are clearly secondary to the main morale-boosting function. I know some people object to anything smacking of propaganda in connection with patriotic themes. Nonetheless, all developed countries use forms of manipulation to rally their populations, including our own. The important point is that the rightness or wrongness of a war has to be decided apart from what is seen on the popular movie screen. Now, I think a convincing case can be made for the rightness of our war with Japan. In that sense, I can sit back and enjoy much of this movie, no matter how obvious the contrivances. But I try not to confuse the idealized images of a film like this with the real thing, no matter how well produced or how entertaining. To do that, I think, would demean the anguish of real battle. In my view, the manipulative nature of movies can provide illumination, but manipulation can never provide a source of legitimation or proof. Only reality can do that.
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