The Raiders of Leyte Gulf

In actual fact this film was not released ... it escaped !!!

If you have never viewed this cinematic disaster you have been spared seeing one of the very worst film efforts to ever be turned out.

There is no proper way to accurately describe just how awful this film really is but suffice it to say that over 20 minutes of the 80 minutes of the total running time is much of the same footage, just with the negative flopped over, so that battle action running down a hill rushing off to the right at first then later appears again as battle action running down the same hill but rushing off to the left this time.

Seldom seen on TV it is really a total mystery as to how this actually now appears on the open in video form.

Would not think they have sold too many of this ridiculous effort.

Rating - 0 -

THE RAIDERS OF LEYTE GULF is YET another black and white WW2 flick shot in the Philippines in the early 1960s by exploitation director Eddie Romero. Most of the films in this sub-genre are undistinguished and difficult to enjoy, but RAIDERS is bad even by Romero's standards, a singularly uninspiring and exceedingly dull attempt at a war story.

The basic storyline sees an American soldier captured and tortured by the Japanese while a crack squad of troops are sent to rescue him. What this all leads to is a series of running battles which soon merge into one another. Said battles are directed matter-of-factly by Romero and, while they're occasionally impressive thanks to the number of extras and explosions, the director's lack of creativity saps them of excitement.

The film lacks the presence of a big-name American star and even the Filipino regulars are disappointing without the presence of more established faces (Vic Diaz, Fernando Poe Jr.). Characterisation is nil and while there are attempts to humanise at least one of the Japanese soldiers it all leads to nothing, Romero sacrificing depth in favour of yet more indistinguishable gun battles.

This B&W action film joins the handful of others shot in Phillipines during the early 60's by local producers.

Low budget, with cast of hundreds, and truckloads of blank ammunition, the shootouts are noisy, wild and as chaotic as the direction (or lack thereof) and final editing. Compared with the amateurish battle/action scenes shot in 1968 by Edward Dmytryk in 'Anzio'(with Robert Mitchum and a hugely larger budget) they aren't that bad.

What is of particular interest in this work (and the other films of the period) is the incidental and unintentional documentary value showing how the region, ancient buildings and villages looked in the 1960's. Not much changed from the 1940's.

This film begins and ends with footage of General MacArthur wading ashore, thus allowing the makers to splash his picture across the poster.

The drabness of the film itself, the tinny sound, strident music and use of unfamiliar Filipino locations, actually works in the film's favour, giving it a distinctive mood of austerity.