Duel dans le Pacifique

Original title: Hell in the Pacific

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

9.4K

YOUR RATING

Lee Marvin and Toshirô Mifune in Duel dans le Pacifique (1968)

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?

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Survival Adventure War

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 cooper... Read allDuring 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?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?

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

9.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations total

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Storyline

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Trivia
Both Lee Marvin and Toshirô Mifune actually served in the Pacific during World War II, of course on opposing sides. Marvin was a US Marine. He was wounded during the war and received the Purple Heart during the Battle of Saipan in 1944. Mifune served in the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service.

Goofs
Lee Marvin was 44 at the time of filming, as evident by his gray hair. Toshiro Mifune's character also calls him an "old man" several times. WWII US Navy pilots Thus, he looks much too old for an actual WWII US Navy pilot, who were mostly in their twenties or early thirties.

Quotes
American Pilot: Oh, for a second I thought you were a Jap.

Alternate versions
American version featured an alternative ending where the two get drunk and walk off in separate directions arguing at each other; in the British version (which was exactly the same as the Japanese version), they start yelling and a bomb from the sky falls and blows everything apart.

Connections
Featured in Hollywood Remembers Lee Marvin (2000)

Soundtracks
Down in the Cane Brake
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by Lee Marvin

User reviews81

Featured review

history culture survival

Not only is this film a fascinating account of survival against odds, its a reflection of cultural differences within a crucial historical timeframe. Its narrative may be flawed, a little too stylized, but it features two of the greatest faces of 60s cinema history: Marvin and Mifune. Looking back on the second world war, it seems ironic that the Japanese believed their culture was superior in warfare, and the Americans believed theirs was superior for peace. In the end it will turn out to be the other way around. This film touches on that subject, highlighting Marvins aggressive, loud, and brutal behavior, and Mifunes quieter, more methodical survival methods. But in their battle to survive, the two men become almost indistinguishable. The most touching scene in the film: Both men collapsed in their sinking raft, dejected, exhausted, dehydrated, totally at their mercy of nature, a symbolic scene for human life. The DVD i saw contained both endings, the original, never seen in TV prints, much more believable and satisfying.