moonspinner55 Fans of Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune failed to come out for this financially-unsuccessful but not uninteresting two-person island adventure story from director John Boorman. Filming in the scenic islands of Palau, Boorman dispenses with the preliminaries and gets right down to business. Two men during World War II are marooned on an island in the Pacific: Marvin, an American pilot, is pitted against Mifune, a Japanese naval captain. Neither of them speaks the other man's language. They torture each other for almost an hour before striking some kind of truce, the result being a raft made out of bamboo that carries them out passed the reef into open water. Screenwriters Alexander Jacobs and Eric Bercovici, working from producer Reuben Bercovitch's story, were not able to supply their actors with much verbal interaction, and yet Marvin and Mifune are entirely capable of creating sound characterizations by just their expressions and their actions (they do superlative work). Boorman doesn't get too heavy or contemplative (a plus with only two people on the screen), however he loses his assured footing in the final reel. The picture doesn't just go off the track, it literally explodes. No one who worked on this film could have been satisfied with the clumsy conclusion (reportedly, Boorman was shut out of the decision making by the producers). Still, the film's better moments of drama and humor and survival stay in the memory, and Conrad Hall's cinematography is wonderful. ** from ****

gavin6942 During World War II, an American pilot and a marooned Japanese navy captain are deserted on a small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. There, they must cease their hostility and cooperate if they want to survive, but will they? Apparently this film was a flop when it first came out and lost the company a good deal of money. That is understandable. In many ways, the film is unconventional, and frankly American audiences prefer convention. Things like dialogue, for example, which this film has very little of.It is also not surprising that as the years go on, respect for the film goes up. Because even if it lacks commercial appeal, it is a darn fine movie and quite artistic. I am not sure how well Toshiro Mifune was known in the States at this point, but having him in the picture is a big deal. (Again, this might be one of those retrospect things, now that we generally consider Kurosawa one of the best directors.)

Robert J. Maxwell It's a brave and impudent movie -- just two great stars, Marvin and Mifune, one Japanese and the other an American pilot. The score is by the inventive and sonorous Lalo Schifrin, the photography by the seasoned craftsman, Conrad Hall. There's mutual harassment at first, sometimes comically expressed, as when Marvin pees on Mifune below. Ultimately, the two men realize they must cooperate to survive, but they're overwhelmed by the larger picture of the war around them.It's curious piece of movie making. Two enemies isolated on a rainforest-covered lava lump sticking out of an indifferent ocean. I enjoyed it the first time I saw it, chiefly because I wanted to see where it was going. The second time around is a sluggish trek through some highly stylized material.If you haven't seen it, you'll probably enjoy it. There is a contrast of some magnitude in the personalities of Mifune and Marvin. Mifune is angry, all business, proud. Marvin is an importuning elf, slipping here and there through the shrubbery, begging for water and spitefully destroying Mifune's primitive fish net.

Spikeopath Hell in the Pacific is directed by John Boorman and stars Lee Marvin and Toshirō Mifune. It's written by Reuben Bercovitch, Alexander Jacobs & Eric Bercovici and the music is by Lalo Schifrin. During World War II, two men, one American and one Japanese, are marooned on an uninhabited Pacific island. In order for them to survive they must find away to co-exist and maybe, just maybe, forget the War and find a way off the island.Intriguing premise and two watchable stars not withstanding, Hell In The Pacific is not a particularly great film. Decent? Yes! But the novelty value of a two actor piece, with sparse dialogue, soon wears thin. The central idea of two racially different characters forced to come together, is hardly a new one. It's been done considerably better before this film with the likes of The Defiant Ones in 1958. But Boorman's movie does not lack for invention or trying to veer from the norm. Neither character speaks the other's language, so with no dubbing or subtitles, the viewers are forced to be part of the unique situation; sharing in the frustrations of two people unable to communicate verbally. That both Mifune & Marvin are fine actors physically and with their faces, also benefits the piece and the viewers. With both men ex-servicemen of their respective countries also a notable plus point.The film was entirely shot in the Rock Islands of Palau in the north Pacific Ocean, near the Philippines in the Philippine Sea. Visually it is a treat with the blues and greens offering up a beauty that battles the harsh like atmosphere for supremacy. It's impact being that of throwing up a heaven and hell comparison. Yet this pleasing aspect of the film is almost ruined by Schifrin's score. In a piece awash with loneliness, suspicion and borderline hatred, we really don't need evocative and perky, we want threatening and sedate. Which brings us to Boorman's direction, which is choppy and unsure what tones work best within the story. It's no surprise to find that the producers wanted to fire him off the project; his bacon saved by Mifune's insistence that Boorman stayed on. There is also some consternation with the ending(s) of the film, where both available endings have actually caused disapproval in equal measure. In truth neither ending fully rewards the viewer for having spent over 100 minutes with these two men. But for the record I personally like the "abrupt" one better.Its intentions are honourable, and for trying something different it deserves a pat on the back. But too many itches exist within; and thus the film is scratchy and never able to achieve allegorical greatness. 6/10