They Were Expendable

I love a war film but seemingly unlike most, I found this one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Stilted, wooden and lacking drama, pretty much the embodiment of any John Wayne performance but can be extended to the whole production. This was interminably dull and contrived, static acting. The actual war scenes were ludicrous and so unconvincing that you’d think a seven year old had dreamed them up. This is not good at all. Watched on DVD.

Probably one of the best films made about a war while the war was still in progress, They Were Expendable contains sole truly astounding sequences for its time.

A great John Ford movie about real human experiences and the varied reactions normal people have in trying times. If you like the current hollywood movies that are more like video games than reality you won't like this movie.

Robert Montgomery steals this movie from John Wayne. Understated and quietly heroic, the film eschews the usual Hollywood hype for a detailing of what the early days of the war were actually like: confusing, grim, disappointing, real. Marvelously suspenseful and, as usual, beautifully photographed by John Ford. A heart-tugger.

I think it is one of the best war movies ever made. The subject matter is interesting; the new PT boats at the beginning of WWII, the fall of the Philippines, the removal of MacArthur to safety; all solid historical references. But what makes it so great is the impending doom, the doom of war that sits over the whole thing, the doom that being in a war in general carries, but that is dramatically, painfully highlighted here as individuals are left behind in the Philippines, 'because there's no more room in the boat.' This movie came out in late 45 after the end of the war so there'd be no doubt in the audiences mind what was waiting for those left behind; dying in battle, the post surrender Bataan Death March and, if you survived those two, four years of wasting away and dying under brutal Japanese prison conditions. The characters in the movie don't know just how bad it's going to be, but they know it's going to bad; the US forces are not going to be back for a long long time and they, here and now, ARE, going to be defeated; they are outgunned, running low on everything... And Donna Reed sitting at the center of it, as she too is left behind; everyone knows the history of what usually happens to captured women, and here is John Wayne, JOHN WAYNE, unable to do anything about it; and he's getting rescued! Talk about emasculating.! And to that Sturm und Drang add the beautiful settings, great cinematography from John Ford (this would be great in color), and excellent cast selection and it is a true winner. But what stays with me is the doom. The terrible, horrible, doom in the minds of all as the expendable are group by group abandoned.

Ford did a good job of showing how a small military unit functioned in a difficult situation.

I thought it was going to be better than it was. Vignettes are excellent, but then it switches and your scratching your head did part of the movie get cut out. Then that scene is great but your not sure how it relates.

Good. Should have been a little shorter

A great movie that really captures the mood of the war - the boredom, the fear, the excitement, the loneliness, the camaraderie.

War seen from the perspective of PT boat fleet. I suppose this is what it was really alike. You meet people, you make friends with them and then your fleet is moved and you loose all contact with them and wonder what became of them. People die around you, and it all just seems quite useless and unimportant and you'd really like to be part of something important. But in the end you are just a small piece in a big picture and nobody really cares what happens to you or your fleet personally because you are only number in the list of people killed in battle. Doesn't make a very good movie as such, but definitely makes a point what war is really about compared to all those heroic action movies.