TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

davidcarniglia This is kind of a 'split decision' for me: the second part of the movie is much better than what comes before. In fact, it might've been better to tell the lead-up to the fateful patrol in flashbacks. What we get in the Hearn vs. Croft vs. the Japanese vs. the terrain plot strands is a taut, captivating plunge into hell and back.It's interesting that at the time that Hearn is injured, Croft has the men almost completely in his corner; but the tables turn quickly. The men detailed to take Hearn back to the beach grow to respect him; whereas Croft's men completely lose respect for him. In a way, Croft is a sort of low-life version of the general. Both men think they're always right, dominate those around them, and use the war to enhance their egos.Both are shown to be essentially weak men. Hearn seems hapless, and almost everything goes wrong for him; but he perseveres, coming out of his experience stronger, and more self-assured. In short, his character changes, unlike the robotic general and sadistic sergeant. There's quite a bit of chatter about the absurdity of war: the unexpected success of the patrol shows how chance plays such a significant role. Oddly enough, the very messiness of the patrol confuses the enemy into making a critical mistake; and encourages the colonel to mount the decisive attack. By being absent, the general was shown up by a subordinate. And Croft, giving in to his reckless impulses, was eliminated. I'm aware that Mailer's story was altered significantly for the movie, which makes me want to re-read the novel. The movie stands on its own nonetheless.Strictly as a war movie, The Naked and the Dead is very successful. The battle scenes are tense, exciting, and realistic. Ok, we have post-war tanks in several scenes, and the Japanese show up with our period-correct Shermans, but most war movies make-do like this. I'll probably skip through the first part when I watch it again, but the second part is not to be missed.

edwagreen Norman Mailer's classic novel receives weak treatment in this film.First, we see a bar in Honolulu where the cops raid the joint frequented by GI's in 1943. Then, we see newspaper clips of defeats suffered by our guys in the Pacific. Then, we get a movie. Where exactly in the Pacific is the action going on?The weak writing still allows for 2 solid performances by Aldo Ray, as a vicious sergeant, who enjoys pumping bullets into his Japanese captors and Raymond Massey, as an army head who feels that he gets the best out of his men by being tough and cruel as well.In flashback sequence, we see Ray married to Barbara Nichols, the dumb blond who knew occasionally how to turn in a good dramatic performance. Her acting here is amateurish at best. In fact, she sounds as she did on the old Ed Sullivan Show when she told the Romans that she begged Julie (Caesar) not to go to the forum. Not here, unfortunately! Flashbacks also bring us back to Robertson's civilian life where all he did was to cavort around lots of women.Cliff Robertson is Massey's assistant, who soon falls out of favor with the latter when they disagree on Massey's philosophy. Robertson, who smokes heavily in the film, gets shot for his efforts and becomes very preachy at the final scene of this film.There is plenty of anti-semitism to go around in this movie as well. Jerry Paris, as Goldstein, is coerced to his death by a fall over a mountain by being called a lousy J--. Joey Bishop has to fight an anti-semitic soldier as well. One funny scene is where Bishop throws away a sandwich when he finds out that it's made up of ham!

Gangsteroctopus And maybe if I had, I might like the movie less. (I read "The Thin Red Line" before I saw that movie and was, as I expected, disappointed despite the fact that that is a very fine film.) As it is, I like this film a lot. For one thing, it's got one of Bernard Hermann's best but least-known scores; I wish it were available on CD. The cast features an amazing array of '50s lead and supporting actors. L.Q. Jones is especially enjoyable as an amiable hillbilly (a role he specialized in) and Aldo Ray gives one of his finest performances as the hate-filled Sgt. Croft. Cliff Robertson is a little milque-toasty, but that's more because the role is underwritten. Raymond Massey is appropriately arrogant and high-handed as the general in charge of the campaign. If you can catch this film on TV, Turner Classic Movies is the place to see it because they letterbox it in its original 'scope aspect ratio, crucial to appreciating this film in all its widescreen glory. Trivia note: this was a favorite film of German auteur Rainier Werner Fassbinder.

Evilmike I saw this movie on a local PBS station about the same time I was writing a Term Paper on the novel. I have already read the novel several times, but I still thought that the movie perspective might be helpful. Needless to say I was wrong. The movie turns a book about the futility of the individual's role in war into a boiler plate feel good war movie w/ a happy ending. One of the most important parts of the novel, where Hearn is betrayed despite his best efforts to be a "good" leader, is scrapped. Hearn not only survives, but the movie goes on the kill the ass hole, Sgt Croft. In the book we see a group of individuals who all want to singlehandedly make a difference and who all end up failing because modern war has grown beyond the control of the individual. In the movie we see a division of good guys and bad guys where where good guys win and the bad guys get what's coming. Finally I would like to point out that this movie is a waste of time or unpleasant to watch. If its going to be on TV by all means watch it, but if you've read the book brace yourself to be VERY disappointed.