Leofwine_draca I've noticed that many of the American WW2 movies dealing with the Filipino theatre of war feel very cheap and occasionally amateurish in nature. I don't know what it is about the subject matter that lends it to poor quality material but BACK TO BATAAN is no different. Perhaps it's a B-movie compared to the A-list features dealing with the European theatre of battle. This one is slightly different in that it wasn't actually filmed in the Philippines but rather in California, understandable as the war was still raging when this was shot in 1945.The film is a stock gung-ho war effort featuring the likable John Wayne. He's not at his best here - I preferred him in period fare - although it's quite unusual to see him unshaven. He plays a single US soldier who stays on the island when the rest of the American forces flee in the wake of a massive Japanese invasion force. Wayne's goal is to persuade the Filipino villagers to rise up and begin a guerrilla war. What follows is plenty of stock action and incident and the odd sight of Anthony Quinn playing a Filipino character. It's not bad, quite watchable in fact, but not one of the Duke's best.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . as "Capt. Andres Bonifacio," who leads his countrymen in a three-year battle to liberate their nation from the Imperialist Japanese Occupiers through a courageous campaign of guerrilla warfare. While high-ranking U.S. military officers were popularizing the Game of Golf in Australia, and their Yankee enlisted men and subordinate squad coordinators from the rank of lieutenant on down (including the twelve freed Real Life P.O.W.s shown marching to the song "California, Here We Come" during BACK TO BATAAN) starved in Prison Camps (if they had not been first shot in the head or clubbed to death like Baby Seals during the "Bataan Death March"), the Filipinos took Destiny by the horns and galloped to Freedom. One of my Great Grandmothers attended a Midwestern college located next to a World War II American P.O.W. facility, and she said the prisoners there ate like kings. BACK TO BATAAN shows that the nefarious Axis tricked us into having them Eat Our Lunch in the 1940s. With Today's freeways being clogged by convoys of Japanese, Italian, and German makes (such as Toyota, Chrysler, and Mercedes), it's obvious that the Axis is having the "Last Laugh" by STILL eating out lunch!

Spikeopath Is it churlish to complain about overt flag waving in war movies? Or to decry propaganda prose in the same? Back to Bataan is guilty as charged, yet such is the composition of Edward Dmytryk's film, and its focus on a part of the war we rarely have seen on film, it matters not.We are in 1942, and after the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese, U.S. Army Col. Joseph Madden (John Wayne) stays behind to lead the local guerrilla resistance against the Japanese army. With that synopsis it isn't hard to figure out what sort of pic we are going to get, yet to purely consider this as a macho beefcake movie is a little unfair.Sure it's bookended by blistering action, as Duke Wayne (very restrained turn actually) and Anthony Quinn cut a swathe through the RKO sound stages, but there's lots of intelligent human interactions here to mark it as being in the least knowing of the campaign.It often grasps for the sentimental branch, while the racist barbs and portrayal of the Japanese does sting at times. But this is exciting and thoughtful stuff, boosted no end by Dmytryk's sturdy direction and Nicholas Musuraca's monochrome photography (a film noir lovers dream pairing!). Better than routine war movie. 7/10

utgard14 Gripping WW2 movie about the US effort to organize a guerilla defense of the Philippines against the Japanese. One of the best war movies I've seen. Rousing action, strong cast, good direction. Even though it stars John Wayne, who's very good in this, it's really an ensemble piece. Anthony Quinn has one of his best roles from the '40s here. Beulah Bondi, Paul Fix, Vladimir Sokoloff, and Fely Franquelli are among the excellent actors in the supporting cast who offer sincere performances. There are a lot of touching moments and some surprisingly tender ones, too. Particularly for a movie thought of as simply a war actioner. It's a great deal more than that. Obviously fans of Duke and Quinn should see it but I think others will enjoy it as well.