Review by Private Quentin Tarantino Fan
Rating:
Don’t be fooled by marketing. When war movie collections are concerned, many “classics” type of war movies (especially combat oriented ones) that end up on these marketable products do not hold up over time and are utterly poor, and while I understand these marketable gifts are supposedly good christmas ideas for war movie buffs, the movies in them just do not inspire value. TCM’s collection of Battlefront Asia falls into this category. I know it hurts, but there’s nothing but junky, out dated war movies in this pretty worthless War Film Collection, greatly surpassed by many war movies made after it. This set doesn’t exactly warrant one flat star, but the movies offered are utterly unconvincing, terribly outdated, corny, laughable, and, as a bonus, you get the biggest flaming Vietnam piece of ________ The Green Berets.

Here is a description of why each film is a waste of time, as well as alternatives for those few who haven’t heard of there virtues. Considering my alternate lists, some of the war movies may sound like ones you have heard plenty of times before. Having said that take my word for it, the movies are more well known among fans of the genre for a reason: THEY ARE TONS BETTER. We know what we are talking about. Get over the graphic violence, it’s necessary.

BATAAN-5/10

THe strongest film in the set, Bataan is still an outdated and corny combat war flick with flat acting and no interesting plot whatsoever. While it was graphic for it’s time, it’s shock doesn’t carry off and you’re left with a mostly bloodless, flat, and stilted war movie, though it’s combat scenes are better than some of the other movies from it’s time. The actors here play mostly boring GI’s with no real personalities, and the only thing the movie has is some neat explosions. Severly outdated yawn fest.

BACK TO BATAAN-4/10

Wayne (poor Wayne) stars in this even less memorable (that’s a stretch) and more boring “sequel” to Bataan. It’s basically the same movie minus the somewhat decent combat scenes (when stacked up with the other movies of that time), with some hilarious racial stereotypes. Mostly just a terribly clunky and pedestrian disposable 40′s war movie. Waste of time.

Instead of these two Bataan films, John Ford’s classic They Were Expendable is a much better movie from the period. Clint Eastwood released two films about the battle Letters from Iwo Jima / Flags of Our Fathers (Five-Disc Commemorative Edition), and are both extremely memorable. Also much better is The Pacific (HBO Miniseries), which may be a miniseries, but is EONS better than these highly forgettable bland pieces of nothings.

THE GREEN BERETS-1/10

Easily the most widely reviled Vietnam war movie, and for extremely good reason. John Wayne’s incredibly cliched and BORING jingonistic piece of ________ was an entirely false, fantastic, and insulting piece of propaganda on Wayne’s part. Not only does it grate politically, it’s an utterly terribly made and sappy piece of filmmaking, not to mention the scene where, after being insulted from left to right in this overlong piece of trash, the sun sets in the East. The Veterans hate this movie for good reason, and the backlash from critics (including reknown critics like Ebert and Leonard Maltin) and war film fans, there’s no reason to watch this godawful piece of __________. This doesn’t honor the veterans, it’s insults them, and the concept of war in general. TERRIBLE. I HATE this movie, so that should tell you something.

For the idiots who think this movie is a great film to honor Nam soldiers, Randall Wallace’s extremely underrated and excellent We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition) is accurate (approved by the people who were ACTUALLY THERE), riveting, powerful, and essential. The suberb film treats the other side extremely fair, and the film, while honorable, is not pro-war in any way. It was just Wallace’s desire to get it right. John Irvin’s Hamburger Hill (20th Anniversary Edition) is another fine Nam film that’s been applauded for its accurate. And while Oliver Stone’s Platoon – 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition (Widescreen) sometimes gets questioned for its personal agendas of it’s own, it’s a classic war film for a reason. With a great starting place like this, there’s no reason to even think about picking up this piece of _______.

DESTINATION: TOKYO-4/10

One of the earliest submarine films ever made is also one of the funniest, with corny special effects, incredibly stupid acting, and some of the most annoying pro-war rhetoric I’ve seen. Utterly, utterly lame. It does’t pass a mindless entertainment either (despite what other people say), since it’s so outdated, and better films have come out at that. If you want the ultimate submarine film, Wolfgang Peterson’s gritty and harrowing masterpiece Das Boot – The Director’s Cut is the movie for you. Riveting, harrowing, intense, and bleak, it’s, as one IMDB reviewer put it, the ONLY movie that all submarines take seriously. It’s on the German side, so flag waving mouth breathers beware. There’s also much more heart pounding and entertaining (if not too serious) sub films like U-571 (Collector’s Edition) (which is also incredibly stupid but it’s a lot of fun), HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (blame amazon for not letting me put more than 10 product links) and Crimson Tide. Robert Wise’s Run Silent, Run Deep was produced with extensive help from US submariners, and is a much better old fashioned WW2 sub film.

Each movie features special features, but since they are about movies that pretty much stink, you’ll find no use for them here. The Gary Grant gallery is worthless, and the war film short is even less interesting than the film themselves. I like the trailers as they are mostly fun corny fun, the trailers here can easily be found online. Overall, the special features are more interesting than the films themselves, but considering that the movies are mediocre at best, that really doesn’t inspire confidence.

Just skip this collection. It even has a somewhat outrageous price given how low quality the films are, and while its not as bad as, say COMBAT CLASSICS 50 PACK, it’s still a very poor set with absolutely nothing of value to it’s genre. If you are looking for a gift for somebody, take a little risk and purchase more intense, but ultimately more rewarding war movies, one’s that may be uncomfortable but the payoff is profound and rewarding. If you want a much better value, try TCM GREATEST CLASSIC FILMS COLLECTION: World War II – Battlefront Europe, which has three great war movies and one good one. Don’t be fooled. Sometimes, it’s best to just watch something you’ve already seen before because it still can provide more value every time you watch it. Take that advice and don’t waste your time with junk like this.

Review by David Rea
Rating:
The Green Berets takes place during the Vietnam War, not WWII.

Apparently not much thought when into these “classic” collections.