Ambush Bay (1966)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Lack of good storyline.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

RELEASED IN 1966 and directed by Ron Winston, "Ambush Bay" stars Hugh O'Brian, James Mitchum and Mickey Rooney as Marines on a covert mission on a Japanese-held island in the Philippines where they must hook up with local Filipino guerrillas in preparation for MacArthur's invasion.The first 45 minutes or so are typical jungle warfare from the perspective of 60's filmmakers, not bad, but kinda meh. However, things perk up with the Teahouse sequence and the introduction of Miyazaki, played by the beautiful Tisa Chang, which adds human interest to the proceedings with O'Brian effective as the laconic hero. There are some war movie clichés, but the action's muscular and the movie emphasizes self-sacrifice for the greater cause with some fairly potent melancholic pieces.Another reviewer puzzlingly criticized the film as a cheap remake of "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) when the storyline isn't anything like that heralded film. They both take place in the jungle and involve Allies fighting Japanese, that's it. The score has similarities, so what?THE MOVIE RUNS 109 minutes and was shot in Luzon & Metro Manila, Philippines. WRITERS: Marve Feinberg & Ib Melchior.GRADE: B-

I saw this movie when it came out.Sure it's flawed and riddled with clichés, but there's really only one reason to watch it and that's Mickey Rooney and his flippant comments when he gets wounded and confronted by the Japanese.Baked potatoes and you can eat them with the jackets on.That entire scene stuck in my mind all these years and I am re-watching the movie while I type this.The music is quite good.But if you're looking for a war movie that's accurate or reflects reality, this one isn't it.James Mitchum's character reminds me of one of those guys who questions everything and contributes nothing.By the end of the movie, you're rooting for him to get killed just so he'll shut up.Kind of like some liberals out there.

The criteria presented regarding this movie is correct, except for the comment on the US M4 Sherman. In all wars, including the Second World War, forces from all sides wind up capturing enemy equipment. M3A1 Stuart light tanks of US manufacture were caputred by the Japanese in the Philippines (in Bataan) during 1941 and subsequently pressed into their service. The tank depicted in the movie could have been captured during the Guadalcanal campaign as the island kept continuously changing hands, shipped to the Phillipines and assigned to serve whatever division occupied those islands. Simple as that. There are records that show a few Sherman tanks were INDEED captured during the entire Pacific War.

This terrible old war movie was "owned" by a local Tv station and they showed it at least once a month when I was a kid(before cable, only three stations to choose from!) I noticed how the same three Japanese soldiers kept getting killed throughout the entire movie! We were very lucky to ever win this war, since those "dead" Japanese would keep coming back to life! This could almost qualify this as a "Zombie" movie!