89 Days of Oscar Nominees – #52 – Wake Island (1942)

In my attempt to have a more prolific repertoire of Oscar Nominated Films, I have taken it upon myself to watch 89 new Best Picture Nominees that I’ve never seen before between 1 Dec 2016 and The 89th Annual Oscars on 26 Feb 2017.

Here is my 52nd review of the 89 chosen Films…

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“Boys, the honeymoon’s over. From now on you’re marines. ” – Pvt. Randall

Number of Times Seen – 1 (18 Jan 2017)

Brief Synopsis – Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese fleet tries to capture a strategic island held by the Americans in the Pacific, but they didn’t count on the Marines and pilots holding the island to be able to repel their advances.

My Take on it –  If one were to look back at the best war movies ever made, this film probably wouldn’t be on many people’s list (if any), but they do a wonderful job of depicting the hell of war in this film.

The fact that this film came out not long after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and depicted one of the first big battles of the war for the US, this film became quite popular at the time due solely to feelings of patriotism.

The characters themselves are all pretty typical soldier caricatures, but at the same time, they feel very down to Earth which helps us empathize with them and their situation.

This film depicts the savage brutality of the Japanese and some of the scenes are quite shocking to watch if taken out of context of the fact that this film was used to boost morale for Americans and hatred for the enemy.

Interesting film to watch, but I doubt I would ever normally consider it Best Picture material, but given the context and when this film was made, I can completely understand how it managed to be nominated among the 10 nominees that year.

Bottom Line – Really enjoyed the way this was done because it showed so much patriotism.  The characters are all typical soldier caricatures but they still manage to effectively get our sympathy.  The brutality of the Japanese enemy is shown here quite blatantly and I can understand how this film could get nominated for Best Picture namely due to its depiction of the horrors of war. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Widely shown to serving soldiers at the time to help boost morale. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy

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