Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

Excruciatingly boring, sappy war drama, dripping with cheap sentimentality. The ten minute battle scene is well shot and suspenseful, but it can hardly make up for the rest of this miserable film. Weighing in at a whopping 138 minutes, it's quite a chore to get through, and when the credits rolled I literally pumped my fist in the air.

Solid war drama using Spencer Tracy as the spiritual guide for Van Johnson and the rest of the young crew. The dram often came across very standard when it comes to war movies, and this definitely could have needed more quality action to make it feel like more of a classic war movie. But there was a lot of quality moments in there. Tries it's best to show the dreadful war in a positive light, staying away from the actual battles as much as possible and focusing on the humans involved.

88.000

82.625

Outstanding war drama packs a hefty punch, thanks to exciting combat footage and a terrific cast (headed by a wonderfully heroic Johnson, a touching Thaxter and typically solid support work by 'guest star' Tracy). Documentary realism of briefing sessions mesh perfectly with beautifully realised slice of life moments with the soldiers and their families; the final third set amongst Chinese colony becomes exceptionally gripping (despite a few non-PC gaffes). Crisp direction by LeRoy another asset.

This was a very good movie but not if you expect full-throttle action.