Hell in the Pacific (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?

Director:

John Boorman

Writers:

Alexander Jacobs (screenplay), Eric Bercovici (screenplay)

Stars:

Lee Marvin, Toshirô Mifune

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lee Marvin	...	American Pilot
Toshirô Mifune	...	Captain Tsuruhiko Kuroda (as Toshiro Mifune)

Storyline

During World War II, a shot-down American pilot and a marooned Japanese navy captain find themselves stranded on the same small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. Following war logic, each time the crafty Japanese devises something useful, he guards it to deny its use to the Yank, who then steals it, its proceeds or the idea and/or ruins it. Yet each gets his chance to kill and/or capture the other, but neither pushes this to the end. After a while of this pointless pestering, they end up joining forces to build and man a raft...

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Plot Keywords:

japanese | island | pilot | raft | stranded | 

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Taglines:

Two wartime enemies with one chance for survival ... each other.

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Genres:

Adventure | War

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

18 December 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Infierno en el Pacífico

Filming Locations:

Airai, Babelthuap, Palau

Box Office

Budget:

$4,150,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Selmur Productions, Henry G. Saperstein Enterprises Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (35 mm mag-optical prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After the producers changed the original ending without consulting him, director John Boorman vowed to always retain creative control of his projects from then on.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

References Un Chien Andalou (1929)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Rare and forgotten Lee Marvin Picture

I only discovered Hell in the Pacific after searching for Lee Marvin films as I have become enamored with his work as of late. I thought this was going to be a war movie from start to finish, which I'm not always a big fan of. I am glad to say I was surprised and very pleased with this film.

This is a rare work of film that uses two actors, limited dialog(half of it in Japanese), and only one location. There have been many attempts at making movies about people stranded on islands, but this one pulls it off in a way no other has.

Thsi is a film about not only survival, but overcoming prejudice towards ones sworn enemy in a time of war. It is about moving past the fears of what you do not know, and using what you do know and the basic need to survive to pull through and band together.

I was more enthralled by this movie with almost no dialog, than I have been with movies that have won screenplay Oscars. To me, this is an example that if you have the right actors, the right story, and the right setting, dialog is not always necessary.