Search - Beach Red on DVD

One of the most powerful antiwar films ever made!

Dave | Tennessee United States | 04/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""I'm a marine! I'm gonna kill those b@st@rds, I'm gonna shoot them, I'm gonna bayonet them, I'm gonna break their arms...That's what we're here for, to kill. Everything else is just crap!" -Rip Torn's dialogue from "Beach Red".

I've waited years for this underated classic to be released on dvd, and I'm very pleased that MGM is releasing this as well as several other war classics for the first time. 1967's "Beach Red" was directed by Cornel Wilde, who enlisted the aid of the U.S. Marine Corps, the Defense Department, the American Legion, and even the Philippine army and navy to assist in making the $1.8 million dollar war film, which was based on Peter Bowman's 1945 novel. Filming was completed in just 41 days of shooting on the Philippine island of Luzon. Any actor playing a soldier was forced to wear 42 pounds of equipment on the beach at all times, and Cornel Wilde used almost no stock combat footage for his gritty battle scenes. In short, both the cast and crew were pushed to their limits!

"Beach Red" tells the story of U.S. marines landing on an anonymous Japanese-occupied Pacific island, and taking terrible losses while advancing from the beachhead. Cornel Wilde and Rip Torn are fantastic, and the battle scenes remain quite graphic even when compared with recent war movies. What sets this war movie apart from other war movies of the 50's and 60's is that this has very few ethnic or racial stereotypes, and it spends almost as much time showing the Japanese perspective as the American. Both Japanese and American soldiers are shown having vivid flashbacks in which they remember their wives and families.

When released theatrically, some critics condemned Cornel Wilde for showing such graphic carnage, even in a war movie. The Defense Department even asked to have the marines' assistance removed from the film's credits. But I feel it's one of the most powerful antiwar movies ever made (with an unforgettable ending), and it has aged very well. If you're a fan of war movies, do yourself a favor and add this treasure to your collection!"

Authentic War Drama

History Buff | New York, New York | 02/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw the theatrical release of the film Beach Red in 1967 with my father, who served as an infantryman in the Pacific in WWII. He thought Beach Red was the most authentic depiction of the combat he experienced (although he did not see The Thin Red Line, which he might have liked)."

Fair DVD of a Great Film

Benjamin E. Cressy | NH USA | 04/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I would assume that anyone looking at this DVD already knows the nature of the film. The plot is simple: Marines invade an island in the Pacific, and find it held by fanatical Japanese troops. It's an honest and unflinching look at jungle warfare.

MGM has finally released this classic on DVD, and the presentation is very good for the price you pay. The film was shot full-frame and this pan-and-scan transfer is available on one side. On the other is a false widescreen transfer. For theatrical release, the image was simply cropped (black bars are placed over the top and bottom of the image; nothing is added to the sides. You lose more with the letterbox than you gain). The image quality is pristine.


I heartily enjoy BEACH RED; I think it is one of the greatest war films ever produced. While the DVD extras are minimal, there is not much that can be done with a B-film from 1967, I suppose. Buy it today.


"

Good Intentions

gobirds2 | New England | 10/19/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I do not know what the current resurgence of interest in BEACH RED is all about. I see multiple copies of this DVD in just about every video store I visit. If director Terrence Malick's THE THIN RED LINE was inspired by BEACH RED, as has been alluded to, I would have to say that Malick's film (an adaptation of James Jones' novel of Guadalcanal during WWII) was cinematically superior in every respect. But I do not want to make a comparison between the two films because in all honesty it is unfair.

Specifically Cornel Wilde's BEACH RED lacks a true narrative flow and his style of direction seems akin to Sam Fuller's full raw emotion in-your-face approach. As an anti-war film BEACH RED seems to be successful. As a WWII film it lacks a feel for the actual decade of the 1940s, its setting. All the flashbacks to life back stateside look like mid-America circa 1965 right down to the clothing, hair styles and sets. The dialoge, all the small talk, of Cornel Wilde's men sound like they are right out of the sixties. When you look at a war film like Raoul Walsh's THE NAKED AND THE DEAD the authenticity seems to exude from that film. BEACH RED is a sincere effort but just seems lacking as a vehicle to get its anti-war sentiment across.
"