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Guadalcanal Diary (1943)
Rate:
2
Viewed:
2/25
2/25:
Guadalcanal Diary will have to be treated as a propaganda film.
Almost everything shown isn't what happened. The Guadalcanal campaign, which ran from August 7, 1942, and
February 9, 1943, was among the most brutal of WWII with tens of thousands of casualties on both sides due to
fierce fighting put up by the Japanese, especially during nights, that often bordered on suicidal. Hundreds
of ships and aircrafts were destroyed as well.
After the Japanese gave up due to not being able to match America's industry and manpower, they were pretty
much on the defense in the Pacific until the end of the war. There's no mention of how bad the whole place
smelled and the dysentery and malaria inflicted on the soldiers who also had to put up with crocodiles,
tropical heat, and continuous rain. Today, there are some live bombs left around the Solomon Islands, and
people have been killed by stepping on them inadvertently.
Instead, people talk and talk in Guadalcanal Diary despite the semi-strong cast consisting of Anthony
Quinn, Richard Conte, Lloyd Nolan, William Bendix, Preston Foster, Lionel Stander, and Richard Jaeckel who looks
quite young and was 16 years old. My viewing experience is made worse by the annoying narration. There are barely
any fighting and some unbelievable moments like Anthony Quinn successfully escaping the Japanese to swim at the
beach and Lloyd Nolan standing up in open view to carry Richard Jaeckel. William Bendix keeps ruining the
seriousness by providing lame humor. That's why Platoon worked by striking a
perfect balance between dialogue and the realities of infantry combat.
All in all, Guadalcanal Diary is too talky and watered down to be taken seriously.