***SPOILERS***After Pearl Harbor with the Japanese Navy & Army sweeping across the South Pacific it's decided by the higher ups in the US military to start meaning business in putting an end or stop to their conquests and it's at Guadlcanal where that's to happen. As it turned out the battle of Cuadalcanal turned out to be a lot tougher for the US Marines & Navy then what was at first expected. Then as a saver it was decided to raid the island of Makin to relieve the pressure and give the US Marines a little breathing space. That's where Col. Throwald, Raldolph Scott, and his 600 raider came into the picture. It was their job to take over the island kill all the Japs defending it and then, after the job was done, blow the place sky high leaving nothing for the Jap reinforcement to use after retaking it. A tall order for the tall six foot four Col. Thorwald and his raiders but after six months of intense training not an impossible one.
One of the better WWII propaganda movies that makes the war as realistic as any Hollywood studio could without the ridicules and at times phony heroics that their so used to doing. The raiders do create a bridgehead on Makin Island but the resistance by the Japanese troops makes their stay a hot one. Slowly but surly the raiders take over half of the island suffering heavy casualties but soon run out of gas ammunition and men when faced with a major Japanese counter-attack. It's then that the witty Col. Throward comes up with this unique plan to have the Japanses themselves, in coming to help the Jap forces on the island, do the job for him. With of all things the good old Stars & Stripes painted on the roof of the captured Japanese headquarters building.
Great battle scenes with most of the cast, the US Marine Raiders, not making it to the final end of the picture. And the Japanese, played for the most part by what looked like Hispanics, getting their just deserts with not one as far as I could tell surviving. As for the Japs pilots attack on the raiders on Makin Island they now have a lot to explain to their superiors including the infuriated Emperor why in fact they stupidly help the allied not Japanses cause in the fighting. As for the raiders themselves their sacrifices, over 30 dead, was not in vain it gave the US Marines and later Army reinforcement the time they needed to not only hold off but defeat the Jap banzai charges on Guadalcanal but have the US Navy regroup and strike at the heart of the Japanese Imperial fleet. That's before it could continue it's offensive not only past the Hawaiian Island but the Unitaed States mainland as well.
One of the better WWII propaganda movies that makes the war as realistic as any Hollywood studio could without the ridicules and at times phony heroics that their so used to doing. The raiders do create a bridgehead on Makin Island but the resistance by the Japanese troops makes their stay a hot one. Slowly but surly the raiders take over half of the island suffering heavy casualties but soon run out of gas ammunition and men when faced with a major Japanese counter-attack. It's then that the witty Col. Throward comes up with this unique plan to have the Japanses themselves, in coming to help the Jap forces on the island, do the job for him. With of all things the good old Stars & Stripes painted on the roof of the captured Japanese headquarters building.
Great battle scenes with most of the cast, the US Marine Raiders, not making it to the final end of the picture. And the Japanese, played for the most part by what looked like Hispanics, getting their just deserts with not one as far as I could tell surviving. As for the Japs pilots attack on the raiders on Makin Island they now have a lot to explain to their superiors including the infuriated Emperor why in fact they stupidly help the allied not Japanses cause in the fighting. As for the raiders themselves their sacrifices, over 30 dead, was not in vain it gave the US Marines and later Army reinforcement the time they needed to not only hold off but defeat the Jap banzai charges on Guadalcanal but have the US Navy regroup and strike at the heart of the Japanese Imperial fleet. That's before it could continue it's offensive not only past the Hawaiian Island but the Unitaed States mainland as well.