Beach Red (1967)

As a US marine unit fight against the defenders of a Japanese held island, both sides are haunted by their own thoughts and memories.

Director:

Cornel Wilde

Writers:

Clint Johnston (screenplay), Don Peters (screenplay) (as Donald A. Peters)

Stars:

Cornel Wilde, Rip Torn, Burr DeBenning

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cornel Wilde	...	Capt. MacDonald / Narrator
Rip Torn	...	Sergeant Honeywell
Burr DeBenning	...	Egan
Patrick Wolfe	...	Cliff
Jean Wallace	...	Julie
Jaime Sánchez	...	Colombo (as Jaime Sanchez)
Dale Ishimoto	...	Captain Tanaka
Genki Koyama	...	Colonel Sugiyama
Gene Blakely	...	Goldberg (Combat Cameraman)
Michael Parsons	...	Sergeant Lindstrom
Norman Pak	...	Nakano
Dewey Stringer	...	Mouse
Fred Galang	...	Lieutenant Domingo
Hiroshi Kiyama	...	Mishio
Michio Hazama	...	Captain Kondo

Storyline

American Marines storm ashore on a Japanese-held island and push inland while their enemy plans a counterattack, in this look at warfare. Fighting men on both sides are haunted by memories of home and the horrifying, sickening images they experience in combat.

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Plot Keywords:

island | marine | combat | thumb shot off | film camera | 

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Taglines:

It's Him Or You Baby!

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

26 April 1968 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Playa roja

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Theodora Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The opening landing sequence in the Steven Spielberg World War II movie Saving Private Ryan (1998) are quite similar to those in this film, especially the scenes where an American soldier has his arm blown off and staggers around until he finds it and picks it up. Upon this film's release that scene caused a firestorm of controversy regarding on-screen violence, but by the time "Ryan" came out, its sequence showing that same incident caused little if any comment.

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Goofs

The Japanese have changed their uniforms to that of the Marines in order trick the Americans. When they are being strafed and bombed by American aircraft, there is a shot of 40 Japanese being shot. When they fall you can see that the extras in the back ground are wearing blue jeans and sneakers.

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Connections

Referenced in Conker: Live and Reloaded (2005)

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Soundtracks

Title Song
Sung by Jean Wallace
Written by Cornel Wilde (as Elbey Vid)

User Reviews

Just saw it-fascinatingly good and strange

Wow, I thought I saw all the war movies. This a unique captivating war film with several unusual techniques. It has voiceovers by soldiers in the middle of combat and flashbacks to past scenes and still photos of loved ones at home. For instance, one soldier learns the password for the day is "darling" and reminices(sp) about his wife calling him that. All this occurs in-between and during brutal battle scenes some of which are hand to hand combat with bayonets. The Japanese soldiers are also shown with loved ones and to be human as well. The American flashbacks seem odd since the family members are dressed and groomed in 1950-60s fashion during this WWII movie but gave the movie kind of a universal quality. There is also some mild nudity and delicate sexual references in the flashbacks that some will detect. Watch when one of the soldiers builds a "woman" in the dirt and kisses her or Wilde's wife Julie panting in bed. One disappointment is that we never learn the fate of Columbo, whose thumb gets shot off, and the bleeding soldier he reluctantly carries on his back. Listen to the amazing detail on the litany of natural insect and plant dangers in this island jungle. The Japanese speak Japanese in this movie without subtitles yet we can understand what they are taking about. I could go on with more. Better then Saving Private Ryan for sure and it looked like much material was taken from this film for that one. 8/10