The Stilwell Road (1945) User Reviews

military doc on building of "stilwell road"

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 6 February 2018]

A war time documentary that lays out the plan for building and maintaining the roadway to supply the troops from India to Burma. As usual, the photo quality is pretty shady, but the sound is excellent. The road is named for General Joseph Stilwell (1883 - 1946), who had made the incursion to actually build and maintain the road, with the "co-operation" of CBI.... China, Burma, India. Apparently, the other countries continued to give their own orders to their own troops, frequently ignoring Stilwells' orders, according to reports.

Also good descriptions of several individuals who went above and beyond in their various missions. It's long, but okay. A bunch of these military shorts are now on "moonlight movies" channel.

Horrific task surmounted by unsubduable will.

[rsoonsa · 10/10 · 13 April 2003]

An excellent tribute to the 63000 men who constructed the 478 mile road from Ledo, Assam, into East Burma, this documentary depicts many of the extraordinary achievements of military engineering required for the passage's completion, a 26 month ordeal completed in 1945 by bordering massive gorges, overstriding raging rapids and invading some of the world's most impenetrable jungles, with a cost of many lives and 150 million dollars. "We got run out of Burma, and it is humiliating as Hell", early in the film states "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, Commander of troops in the CBI (China-Burma-India) Theatre, and the veteran warrior, serving as Chiang Kai-shek's chief of staff returned with a vengeance at the head of his doughty troops, aided later appreciably by personnel from Australia, New Zealand and India under the leadership of British General Ord Wingate, whom we see just prior to his final, fatal flight. Incisively edited, and briskly narrated by Ronald Reagan, the 51 minute work reveals the ongoing testing endured by the construction crews (28000 engineers), in addition to support personnel such as medical staff, maintenance workers for the heavy machinery, et alia, and is replete with combat footage recording the manner in which the original Ledo Road was expanded into the Stilwell Road (renamed in 1945 by Chiang Kai-shek) despite vigourous Japanese opposition, enabling crucial supplies to move from India to China.

Narrator: Captain Ronald Reagan

[oscar-35 · 20 September 2012]

Spoiler/plot- 1945, A documentary film of the work and challenges of getting supplies and soldiers to stop the Japanese expansion into the Indian sub-continent.

*Special Stars- Narrator: Captain Ronald Reagan

*Theme- Pressure points of supply can be crucial in war.

*Trivia/location/goofs- Some actual newsreel footage was included in this film.

*Emotion- An enjoyable documentary showing the viewer the global situation and why this part of India was so important to build a winning strategy to win WW2.