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

1 nomination.

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:

friendship between men | world war two | japanese | island | stranded on an island | 

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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

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

Near the end of the movie, when Kuroda flips through the pages of the magazine, he repeats himself. In the close up he comes across the page filled with eyes, and then in the wider shot he again comes across that page.

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Quotes

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

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Naughty! (1974)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Enemy Mine in the Pacific

In World War II, a shot-down American pilot (Lee Marvin) and the marooned Japanese Captain Tsuruhiko Kuroda (Toshiro Mifune) are stranded in a small island in the Pacific. When they find the presence of each other, the American tries to steal the water provision of the Japanese that protects it, initiating their personal war. After a period fighting each other, they decide to join forces and build a bamboo raft to seek a larger island.

"Hell in the Pacific" is a good movie about how struggle to survive supersedes any other feelings even in times of war. The Japanese and the American soldiers find how pointless is their fight and resolve their situation joining forces and learning to accept and respect their culture differences despite the language barrier and warfare. Surprisingly they also become friends but the abrupt conclusion is too stupid and meaningless, apparently imposed by the studio. The alternate ending is also terrible but better then the original one. In 1985, Wolfgang Petersen used the same idea in a futuristic environment in "Enemy Mine". My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Inferno no Pacífico" ("Hell in the Pacific")

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

18 December 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hell in the Pacific

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

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1