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      Bataan

      Released Jun 3, 1943 1h 55m War List
      Reviews 67% Audience Score 1,000+ Ratings During Japan's invasion of the Philippines in 1942, Capt. Henry Lassiter (Lee Bowman), Sgt. Bill Dane (Robert Taylor) and a diverse group of American soldiers are ordered to destroy and hold a strategic bridge in order to delay the Japanese forces and allow Gen. MacArthur time to secure Bataan. When the Japanese soldiers begin to rebuild the bridge and advance, the group struggles with not only hunger, sickness and gunfire, but also the knowledge that there is likely no relief on the way. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered Jun 04 Buy Now

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      Critics Reviews

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      Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Since it was basically a tale of defeat, the nervous producers emphasized heroism, but later, under criticism of fabricating the facts with mechanically packed incidents, MGM was forced to acknowledge "some melodramatic flaws and technical mistakes." Rated: B- Oct 30, 2006 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews An exciting flagwaving big box office Alamo-esque suicide mission World War II film. Rated: B Jun 2, 2006 Full Review Steve Crum Kansas City Kansan MGM and the War Department teamed for this flag waving combat drama that influenced a number of future war movies. Rated: B+ Oct 25, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Trent M Overall a solid war movie, for the period. Some silliness and cheesy effects are easily overlooked by good a storyline and action. A great tribute to the men who died there. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/05/23 Full Review Audience Member A classic WWII movie made only a year after the Bataan battle. While a war story not a documentary, it has very good action scenes and also stories of why each of us fight. Definitely worth a watch. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review kevin w "Yes, but what will you do when you're all alone, and there is no help coming?" Sort of an Alamo tale only pared down to a few archetypal characters, and sort of a boyhood backyard adventure play. Where it happens isn't even important, and only necessary for color. A platoon is cut off and surrounded with no way of escape and so it's "fight to the last man" against an unseen enemy who can kill from a distance. Along the way, we get bits of personality traits thrown like crumbs at us so that we get a feel for the polyglot of identities, pick and choose your favorites. This version, and there are many, is okay, and exceptional for it's use of MGM backlot locations and generous use of fog machines. Filmed during wartime the first 5 minutes set the grim tone as an aerial attack is murderous to soldiers and civilians alike. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie was pure propaganda drivel. Except that there was actually a 31st Infantry Regiment, there was basically no basis of reality in the film at all. No bridge was counterattacked by 31st Infantry, especially with a worn-out bi-plane parked in the jungle. The Japanese did not mount an attack for ten minutes of shootout, then retire to the jungle like whooping Indians on an unsuccessful rush to the fort. While the presentation of white, black, Filipino, army and navy personnel seems cinema's first attempt at "diversity," they were for morale purposes, not for presenting the facts. Anyone interested in the factual events preceding and during the three month Battle of Bataan would be better served reading any of a dozen military accounts, most relevant, perhaps, "Bataan Our Last Ditch," Lt. Col. John Whitman. No other movie has ever been made about this fight. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie is a little long, but the outstandingly intense battle scene at the end of the movie is without a doubt the best among all of the wartime films that I have seen. The fate of the of the characters in this movie is very accurate to the situation of the men that fought in Bataan; no hope for getting off the island alive. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member One of, if not "the" best of the unabashed Red Blooded American morale boosting/propaganda movies of WW2.. It's amazing what they could do on a sound stage! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis During Japan's invasion of the Philippines in 1942, Capt. Henry Lassiter (Lee Bowman), Sgt. Bill Dane (Robert Taylor) and a diverse group of American soldiers are ordered to destroy and hold a strategic bridge in order to delay the Japanese forces and allow Gen. MacArthur time to secure Bataan. When the Japanese soldiers begin to rebuild the bridge and advance, the group struggles with not only hunger, sickness and gunfire, but also the knowledge that there is likely no relief on the way.
      Director
      Tay Garnett
      Production Co
      Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
      Genre
      War
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Jun 3, 1943, Limited
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Aug 11, 2008
      Runtime
      1h 55m
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