oscar-35 *Spoiler/plot- 1943, The story of Carlson's Makin Island US Marine Raiders.*Special Stars- Randolph Scott, Noah Berry, J. Carole Nash, young Robert Mitchum, Richard Lane *Theme- Hard training is no substitute for easy victories in the field.*Trivia/location/goofs- The first film appearance of a young, Robert Mitchum. Also look for 50's TV Wresting Show host, Richard 'Whoa..Nelly' Lane appearing in a non-comedic on camera role.*Emotion- An enjoyable jungle warfare film with a notable cast from leads to day players. Tells the story of the beginnings of an elite combat unit within the US Marines Corps.

sddavis63 In terms of the action there's really not a lot to differentiate this from most of the war movies made during the Second World War. It follows the exploits of a Marine battalion put together and sent off to attack a Japanese island. In the midst of it all there's the usual action you would expect from such a movie. As a typical war movie, there's nothing much in terms of battle sequences or anything else to set this apart from any other typical war movie.The only thing that really made me pay much attention to this was the ideological perspective. It's a definitely "leftish" movie. This battalion isn't put together from among the Marine's elite. It's a diverse group, and from the start very egalitarian - officers and NCO's wear no stripes or anything else to differentiate themselves from the men, and they share the same conditions. There are specific denunciations of "fascists," and the commanding officer (Randolph Scott) spoke of having fought in the Chinese Army against Japan (and although the Communists and Nationalists set aside their civil war in the face of the Japanese threat, one got the feeling that the colonel was more taken with the Communist side.) Even the colonel's closing speech - which featured only his head speaking directly into the camera in an appeal to the viewers, spoke of a "new social order" based on freedom. Very lefty- sounding stuff there!So, frankly, it's not a great movie, but it is an interesting ideological and social perspective, and it manages to hold together the themes of leftish ideology with American patriotism. Both are front and centre in this. (4/10)

MartinHafer When you watch GUNG HO!, you'll probably soon recognize how crappy the print is. I know it's been in the public domain and the copy recent shown on Turner Classic Movies was very dark and a bit fuzzy--and TCM usually shows the best print available.As for the film, despite having Randolph Scott and some familiar faces (Noah Beery, Jr., Robert Mitchum and others), it's an amazingly straight-forward and simple film. The usual clichés and side stories, while still present, are much fewer in number and far more emphasis is placed on the training and combat. Additionally, I was amazed at how brutal the film was, as the Raiders were taught to fight very dirty and there was an amazing amount of blood for a 40s era film. It was uncompromising and direct throughout the movie.The film itself is about a special unit within the Marines that were akin to the Army Rangers or a Special Forces unit. Apparently they were a real group and the film was made about their first mission in 1942--only a few months before this film was produced! Because it was so direct and simple, I really enjoyed the film. However, for lovers of Randolph Scott, while he's in GUNG HO!, his role is rather simple and quite unlike his later persona in Westerns.By the way, although the film was pretty good, it featured one of the dumber war clichés as one of the soldier pulls a grenade pin with his teeth--a great way to rip out or shatter your teeth.For more information about this raid (some of which is much more incredible than what is in the film), try http://www.usmarineraiders.org/makin.html.

Andy S The movie 'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders was made in 1943 with a view to go up the moral of American people at the duration of second world war. It shows with the better way that the cinema can constitute body of propaganda. The value of this film is only collection and no artistic. In a film of propaganda it is useless to judge direction and actors. Watch that movie if you are interested to learn how propaganda functions in the movies or if you are a big fun of Robert Mitchum who has a small role in the film. If you want to see a film for the second world war, they exist much better and objective. I rated it 4/10.