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:

island | stranded on an island | friendship between men | naval officer | world war two | 

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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

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shinobu Hashimoto was brought on to inject an authentic voice to the Japanese dialogue. However, his rewrite to the script made Toshirô Mifune's character a buffoon which in turn would have made the film a comedy. Mifune refused to play the character any other way than how Hashimoto wrote it. After a series of back-and-forth battles with his interpreter, director John Boorman convinced Mifune that the version of the script by Hashimoto was in error.

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Quotes

American Pilot: How come you guys don't believe in God?

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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 they start yelling and a bomb from the sky falls and blows everything apart.

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Connections

Referenced in Enemy Mine (1985)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Cast Away on Steroids

Isolation in extreme conditions allows for very telling studies of human beings, and potentially unpleasant philosophical conclusions. Marooning a character on an island will get you some dramatic results, and the only way to take it a step further is to maroon that character's worst possible enemy with him. That's what Hell in The Pacific proposes.

This is not Cast Away Meets WWII. For one thing, it has a much tighter focus, completely losing anything beyond the island's horizon. It is admirable in its bloody-minded focus, and, with only two actors to cast, it's hard to imagine how it could have been any more perfect that pitching wild-man extraordinaire Lee Marvin opposite Kurosawa favorite Toshiro Mifune. A genius idea, but one that could have failed with a more conventional approach.

We are introduced to both antagonists in a neutral way, free to prefer which ever one we choose, though that is hardly the point, and director John Boorman makes it both easy and at times hard to sympathise with either in equal measure. Both actors do a fine job, playing mostly emotional and physical roles with great restrain and intelligence.

Boorman's direction is perfect, rejecting excess stylization in favor of a subtle approach, aided by superb photography. You have got to see this at least once, simply because, for all its visceral thrills, it is quite profound without ever trying to be. Because it boasts top performances from two of the last century's greatest leading presences in action cinema. Because, though frustrating at first, the ending is, for once, the smartest one that could have been chosen. Humanity is on trial and the judges choose to be honest and pragmatic, thus delivering something that combines greatness and very thoughtful substance.

We need more films like this!