They Were Expendable

They Were Expendable was a film revolving around the PT boat captains in the infancy of the Pacific theater in WWII. It starred John Wayne and was directed by John Ford. I liked this film, and I liked that it centered around the Pacific theater in the parts of the war before the Americans were winning. This gave the narrative a twinge of desperation as portrayed through John Wayne's character.

I see why Dr. Hendricks was saying that contemporary directors like Lucas and Spielberg were inspired by John Fords direction and epic style. In fact a part of They Were Expendable looks exactly like the "Trench Run" sequence in Lucas' Star Wars: A New Hope. The little PT boats lined up in attacking formation against the enormous Japanese destroyers was very reminiscent of the end of Star Wars where the X-Wings are attempting to blow up the Death Star. It was like, exactly the same. except in Space.

The idea of masculinity was important in this film. John Wayne and the other men in his squadron were always out to prove their worth in the film through kills, etc. In the begginning, when the Colonel would not let them do anything significant, John Wayne and company were completely immasculated and felt worthless. In the end, however, John Wayne's personal battle for significance was won as he got to be one of two leading men of PT Squadron in Australia.

One thing that was suprising--albeit, probably more realisitic--was the lack of emotion in the soldiers. I was expecting that when the base commander announced that Pearl Harbor had been bombed, everyone would completely freak out. But they didn't, it was more somber. This persisted through the rest of the film. No one was over-the-top patriotic as contemporary films portray in regards to the soliders of WWII. I think this is a more accurate representation of solider sentiment during the war. I think films made today like Saving Private Ryan, attempt to glorify and revere those in war. Because this film was made such a little time after the war, I think this is probably the most realisitic WW2 film I've seen.

Thats all iv'e got.