None But The Brave

None But the Brave

Description

A crippled C-47 transport crash-lands on a remote Pacific island. For the Marines aboard, World War II becomes smaller but no less deadly. The atoll is held by a Japanese platoon, also cut off from its command. Debuting director Frank Sinatra stars in this suspenseful war saga, joined by Clint Walker, Tony Bill and Olympic champion Rafer Johnson. After initial bullet-laced confrontations, the Japanese leader (Tatsuya Mihashi) offers to swap water for the aid of Pharmacist Mate Maloney (Sinatra), whom hes mistaken for a doctor. When Maloney amputates the leg of a Japanese soldier and saves his life, peace results. But can it last? There are two sides to every war. None but the Brave skillfully shows the heroism of both.

Amazon.com

Frank Sinatra had a strong movie career for years, but he only directed one film: None but the Brave, a 1965 anti-war picture that turns out to be much more interesting and compelling than its reputation would suggest. On a remote Pacific island, a plane carrying U.S. Marines crash-lands, setting up a tense stand-off with the overlooked Japanese contingent already there. The two sides mirror each other, and eventually a nervous truce takes place. There are many unexpected choices here, including Sinatras casting of himself as merely part of the ensemble, a weary pharmacists mate who--in the films most riveting sequence--must perform an amputation. The movies narrated by the Japanese commander (Tatsuya Mihashi), and the Japanese actually speak their own language (well, except for the narration) instead of accented Hollywood English. Sinatras good in it, and so is TV star Clint Walker, a big he-man with a quite approach. (Tommy Sands, then Sinatras son-in-law, gives a broad but amusing performance as a nerdy by-the-book officer.) The film bears the influence of Bridge on the River Kwai with a little Mister Roberts thrown in, but it has a bitterness about war that goes all the way through to the forceful final title, a reflection of Sinatras liberal views at the time. Clint Eastwood got a lot of credit for making two films that showed WWII from the American and the Japanese sides, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, but in a way Sinatra had already done it, and in one movie. Its not a major film, but an honorable effort, and it predates the rash of anti-war counterculture movies by a few years. --Robert Horton
Rate Points :4.0
Binding :DVD
Brand :Warner Brothers
Label :Warner Home Video
Manufacturer :Warner Home Video
MPN :1000012249
ProductGroup :DVD
Studio :Warner Home Video
Publisher :Warner Home Video
UPC :085393336028
EAN :0085393336028
Price :$12.98USD
Lowest Price :$4.15USD
Customer ReviewsSorry, I Dont Understand Japanese!
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :0
Im not sure if it was shown this way in the theater, but how could you listen to so much Japanese talk with no subtitles? Horrible! Sure, you can turn on the DVD subtitles, but that works for English as well. Bummer! As far as being a war movie, pretty much lame. The GIs act as the enemey did in my review of Beach Red. Here you are with an unknown enemy around you, and these guys sit around and play cards and get haircuts! Four stars for the ending and the anti-war message.

Good Movie...Annoying Subtitles.
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :0
None But The Brave is a fun & entertaining movie, and im so happy it was finally released to DVD. But whats the deal with the subtitles? If you choose to turn them off, you cant see what the Japanese are saying, and my Japanese is pretty rusty to say the least. If you turn the subtitles on however, you can see what the Japanese are saying, but then are forced to read what the Americans are saying as well. Its basically an all-or-nothing deal, and its somewhat distracting to the movie itself. I own the VHS version of this movie, and theres only subtitles when the Japanese are speaking, which is the way it should be on DVD too. I suppose I can keep switching the subtitles off/on between the American and Japanese scenes? But why should I have to?

NO SUBTITLES
Rating Point :3 Helpful Point :0
Great little film BUT there are no subtitles for the Japanese parts of the film. HMMMMMMMM

None But the Brave
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :0
This is one of Sinatras better vehicles. Some have criticized him as an actor but he proves himself to be more than capable in this movie. Sinatra was a multi-talented man, movies being his second vocation. The biggest problem with Sinatra, the actor, was he had a tendency to be lazy. He never liked to do more than two takes for any scene he was in. His claim was that a scene would loose its freshness if more than two takes were done, that may be so but it led to some sloppiness.

None But the Brave would be the fifth & final movie he would receive a producer credit, its also the only movie he directed. Sinatra portrays Maloney, a corpsman. His role isnt the overshadowing role one would think he would cast himself into, after all, he was the producer & director. The screen time of the Japanese actor, Tatsuya Mihashi, is the actual starring role. Hes the narrator of the movie &, in many ways, its told from the Japanese perspective. Clint Walker portrays Capt. Bourke, the pilot of the plane that crash lands on the island. His role is as large as Sinatras. Tommy Sands portrays the marine 2nd lieutenant whos on his first command. His portrayal is at times comical because hes so green & gung ho. Its a pretty good performance.

The movie revolves between the two military groups who are at war with one another, both stranded with no means to communicate to their respective commands. Its an intelligently done movie, showing both sides of their humanity. What makes this movie different, especially for its time, is the way the Japanese are portrayed. Theyre presented as humans also, not just a mindless enemy. The Japanese officer proposes a peace so that both groups can survive. An uneasy peace ensues thats constantly in jeopardy of being destroyed. Both sides agree to the truce until a rescue team shows up, doesnt matter which side. The humanity of the film is touching especially when Maloney goes to the Japanese camp to amputate the leg of a Japanese soldier that has gangrene. Theres a moment when both sides have to pull together as a team when a monsoon hits the island. All this, of course, is setting up the inevitable conflict between the Americans & Japanese in the final scene. Its sad to see this happen when the two groups have done so much to overcome their differences. But the other thing is they are soldiers who are loyal to their countries, bound to duty & defense of their homelands. The ending is cliched but true: "No one ever wins".

War?
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :0
Sinatra took a different look at WW2...a small war on an island from both points of view. Well ahead of his time on the theme this is a great look at motivation, freindship, duty, and honor. The acting is excellent. The action and drama scenes are well done. The ending is just perfect. A keeper for any collection. Only problem I had was the subtitles did not come on.

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