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Wake Island | Year: 1942 Directed: - John Farrow Actors/Actresses: - Brian Donlevy - Robert Preston In The Days Following Pearl Harbor Wake Island details the battle for the island in the days immediately following Pearl Harbor. Wake Island was a small, flat piece of nothing in the middle of the Pacific that had strategic importance. When Japanese bombers began attacking, there wasn't much the American Marines stationed there could do, although the battle they put up in the face of hopeless odds was remarkable. Needless to say, the emphasis is on the action here, as it should be, and it is efficiently and effectively played out. There's a number of familiar character actors that give the movie a comfortable feel. The film is competently made, and history lovers and war buffs will no doubt find it entertaining enough. Excellent treatment of a difficult subject. . . Wake Island is one of the most unusual American war films ever released, in that it deals with a military defeat. The defense of the tiny island outpost at the beginning of World War II makes an impressive story of fighting men facing impossible odds. The film has many strengths. Among them are surprising historical accuracy, a cast filled with excellent character actors, actual combat footage, and understated direction which allows the events depicted to take their inexorable course toward disaster without the distraction of melodramatic dialogue or forced heroics. This film gives the viewer an excellent feel for the emotions and fatalistic determination of fighting men who know their situation is hopeless. The defenders of Wake were cut off from almost the very beginning of hostilities. They were immediately aware that neither reinforcement nor evacuation were possible. The employment of the gallows humor and resignation of the troops to their fate is handled realistically. It shows the Marines trying to hang onto their courage and their sanity, rather than depicting them as macho comic book characters facing certain death or capture without fear. Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of this movie is the objective way in which it shows the ability of the garrison to keep fighting under such circumstances. Wake Island was filmed and released in 1942 and is, obviously, a propaganda film. It was intended to give the American public a sense of pride and hope in the face of one defeat following another. The film accomplishes that purpose without resorting to many standard gimmicks employed in other similar ventures, specifically overt flag-waving, lionization of the American troops and stereotyped villification of the Japanese invaders. The acting is solid, the action sequences are excellent, and the result is a very effective production. If you are used to always seeing war films that end in American victories, give Wake Island a look. It's a sobering look at a side of warfare that we in the United States all too often feel immune to. This film is highly recommended. where is closed captioned? why not you put on closed captioned and i would buy some of them if that have all of them closed captioned. that would be nice. Buy Wake Island at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Wake Island Search with the Priority Search Engine on Wake Island This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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