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Ambush Bay

Play trailer Poster for Ambush Bay Released Aug 31, 1966 1h 49m War Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 1 Reviews 38% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
In 1944, Sgt. Steve Corey (Hugh O'Brian) leads a group of U.S. Marines on a covert mission to an island in the Philippines that is occupied by Japanese forces. There, the soldiers learn that the enemy has planted a series of mines to destroy General MacArthur's incoming troops, who are preparing to storm the island. Before the Marines get a chance to relay the information, they suffer a deadly attack, leaving only the valiant Corey and Pfc. James Grenier (James Mitchum) to save the day.
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Ambush Bay

Critics Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Action-packed but thin WWII drama. Rated: C+ Jan 11, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Let's pack as much tedium into one movie as possible. Terrible casting helps, Hugh O'Brian's craggy faced, taciturn sergeant is awful and only just eclipsed in piled on cliches by Micky Rooney risibly portrayed battle hardened marine, but James Mitchum, possibly the worst actor ever to stumble in front of a camera makes everyone else on set look like Olivier. As for the Japanese characters, the ask must have been- just be as mean, diabolical and inept as you can manage. The plot line was turgidly cumbersome. Mercifully, Mitchum's last, laughable line ‘It all seems kinda crazy, who's to say?' did not take quite two hours to get to, but it sure felt a much longer film than its 1 hour and 50 minutes. I'm not familiar with director Ron Winston's other directorial efforts and I'm not in a hurry to become so. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review ashley h Ambush Bay is a good war film. It is about a group of Marines who tried to join a Filipino guerrillas on a Japanese held Philippines. This film is flawed and riddled with cliches. The acting was decent by Mickey Rooney and James Mitchum. The script was okay but could have been developed more. Ron Winston did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture but I have seen better war films. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member What a horrible war movie!James Mitchum's performance is one of the worst in movie history(he was really an actor?).Forget it! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member General Douglas MacArthur is about to return to the Philippines as he promised before the Japanese ran him off. A Marine commando force puts ashore to obtain valuable information from a source deep within enemy territory. As First Sgt. Steve Corey, Hugh O'Brien of "The Brass Legend" is tough-as-nails, and tyke-sized Mickey Rooney is no slouch as Gunnery Sgt. Ernest Wartell with his Thompson machine gun. The youngest member of their unit is Private First Class James Grenier (Jim Mitchum of "Moonrunners") who has never seen combat. They learn from their contact, Miyazaki (Tisa Chang of "Year of the Dragon") that the Japanese have laid an unusual minefield for the U.S. Navy. These mines are radio controlled and are anchored to the bottom of the bay. They are released and rise to the surface to blow up whatever they come into contact with. Grenier loses his radio with which he was entrusted. They have no way of contacting the U.S. Navy and MacArthur plans to land in 48 hours! Everybody dies except Grenier. Rooney has an amusing death scene. The Japanese approach him demanding information or they will kill him. He shows them a pair of hand grenades and calls them potatoes with the jackets on that he is willing to share with them. They retreat and he hurls the grenades at them. "Ambush Bay" is nothing special as far as behind-enemy-lines combat movies go. Essentially, this is a traditional war movie. The Americans are good guys, and the Japanese--who shoot women in cold blood--are the bad guys. Good performances, standard-issue heroics and lots of green scenery keep "Ambush Bay" from being too dreary. Incidentally, no sooner do our heroes immerse themselves in combat, their officer is attacked by a Japanese soldier and stabbed to death. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Good war film, very fine production. It always held my interest and the cast is good, especially Rooney and Mitchum. Good location filming. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member pretty good later stuff Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Ambush Bay

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Movie Info

Synopsis In 1944, Sgt. Steve Corey (Hugh O'Brian) leads a group of U.S. Marines on a covert mission to an island in the Philippines that is occupied by Japanese forces. There, the soldiers learn that the enemy has planted a series of mines to destroy General MacArthur's incoming troops, who are preparing to storm the island. Before the Marines get a chance to relay the information, they suffer a deadly attack, leaving only the valiant Corey and Pfc. James Grenier (James Mitchum) to save the day.
Director
Ron Winston
Producer
Hal Klein
Screenwriter
Marve Feinberg, Ib Melchior
Production Co
United Artists
Genre
War
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 31, 1966, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Runtime
1h 49m
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