COMBAT CAMERA: THE PACIFIC (director/writer: Budd Boetticher; Runtime: 150; MPAA Rating: NR; VCI Entertainment; 2001)
“It’s a good film for military history buffs.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Before journalists were embedded with the troops and their reports shown on TV, the movies offered propaganda black and white newsreels on the war effort so that movie audiences could keep track of the war in the way radio, magazines and newspapers could not. This film serves as an historical record for footage of the Second World War, as it offers a compilation of original and uncensored newsreels from Movietone News, Universal Newsreel, and the U.S. Navy. Budd Boetticher (“Arruza”/”7 Men From Now”/”Ride Lonesome”)puts it all together so that it includes such vintage films as “Midway and Coral Sea Battles,” Iwo Jima” and “Japan’s Surrender.”
It’s a good film for military history buffs, for those who praise the risk-taking photo-journalists for placing themselves in harm’s way so the public can have an idea of what war is like and those with nostalgia for the ‘good ole days.’
This specialty military film is a reminder that films can be used to both inform and entertain, and their value to the war effort in keeping up morale cannot be underestimated.
REVIEWED ON 3/11/2012 GRADE: B-
Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”
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