Die Hölle von Okinawa

Tonight I tried watching "Okinawa" and wow was I disappointed. While the film should have been an inspiring epic with a cast of thousands, it's a crappy, cheap little film with a cast of dozens! In other words, although the invasion of Okinawa took thousands and thousands of soldiers, the filmmakers thought they'd cleverly avoid this expense. So, they used LOTS of stock footage of the invasion and has a group of bad actors (or at least actors with really bad dialog) ham it up and pretend that a war is on....though they really do NOTHING! Scene after scene literally consist of folks talking about the war and describing what's happening!! They really do very little and the film looks almost like what a war film by Ed Wood would look like! Just terrible in every way and not worth your time or effort.

Yes, it was pretty bad. Overacting and cliched portrayals of how people were in that post-war period.

Surely not a credit to the career of Pat O'Brien, the star. The lack of makeup and patched scenes of the Japanese soldiers, the poor editing (seems like scenes were clipped in this surviving version), and the corny humor probably should lower my rating even more. But I got out some nostalgia pleasure recalling a simpler time when I was a small child.

And there was one other surprise.

It was a short clip when the sailors were watching a movie aboard the ship. A spectacular blonde dancer who is not credited was singing and strutting a slit dress on a stage and the guys were going crazy. I believe it was Marilyn Monroe, perhaps her first time on film. I wonder if anyone can confirm this.

World war two flick... made seven years later. Pat obrien is commander hale, preparing his crew and his ship to take okinawa. A sub-plot where the cook wants to shoot the guns at the japanese who moved into his family's house. Co-stars rick denning, cameron mitchell. Not a cast of youngster soldiers in this one. Keep an eye out for alvy moore! He was also the useless county agent in green acres! It's all pretty low budget. And much older guys than in most war time films. Exclusively set "on a destroyer", although even much of the action is narrated by the actors, not actually shown. Some actual wartime footage worked in. Not very suspenseful, and no action on land. And suddenly, it's over. A big mehhh..directed by leigh jason.

I was in the navy during the vietnam war. I was deployed to vietnam twice and served on several different navy ships. The characters in this movie would have fit right in with the rest of us.

My Father, LCDR Frank Bernard Quady, USN, was killed aboard the USS Bunker Hill by a double kamikaze attack. For my Father, I say this movie was so bad I quit about half an hour into it.

The guy who played the sailor with the cap pulled down ridiculously was absolutely disgusting. No sailor would wear his cap on like that except possibly at home cleaning out the gutters.

Note: This guy was the "star" of the film – the part that I watched. I couldn't force myself to watch any more.

I grew up in the '50s in Coronado, CA and this movie never played there, as far as I know. I never heard of this flick.

I'll have to rent it sometime and watch only the official U.S. Navy footage, fast forwarding past the stupid sailor, whoever he is or was.

I didn't see any U.S. Naval personnel listed as advisers. They surely would have nixed it.

One more thing about the stupid sailor. He was a disgrace to all sailors. Sailors are the heart of the Navy.