Destination Tokyo
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Movie Reviews of Destination Tokyo
Movie Review: Excellent submarine warfare period piece
Summary: 4 Stars
This film was actually made during World War Two, and for this reason it has a special fascination. Thank God that Japan and the United States are now fast friends, but this picture reminds us in stark terms that it was not always thus. This film refers to the Japanese in a derogatory fashion and uses terms that Americans pretty much never use now and rightly not. But during and for a time after the war these terms were in common usage in reference to an enemy who was both reviled for his savagery and respected for his competence. This film absolutely reflects these attitudes. Even so, at one point in the film after an American sailor is stabbed literally in the back by a Japanese pilot he was trying to save, a crewman observes that the sailor died so that the next generation of American kids, and Japanese kids too, would have more roller skates and toys instead of weapons.
Cary Grant, as the submarine skipper, turns in his usual fine performance as basically the perfect Captain. The rest of the cast is Hollywood's idea of a typical American submarine crew. In fact, the film is somewhat of a recruiting film, and plainly was aimed at bucking up the spirits and morale of the home front.
But for all that, this film features a very decent storyline, and entertains the viewer. I prefer this one to "Run Silent, Run Deep" but my all time favorite remains "The Enemy Below."
A very good viewing experience. Recommended.
Movie Review: One of the better sub movies
Summary: 4 Stars
Please note I saw this on TV so I can't comment on the quality of the video transfer.
There's something about sub movies, and I've tried to see all the ones I could ever since I saw Run Silent, Run Deep as a boy. This is one of the better ones. There's a good bit of dated propaganda in it, but that was expected during the war. The story is varied enough so that quite a lot transpires before the sub even makes it to Tokyo harbor to complete its mission. The scenes showing how the sub gets in a out of the sub nets to the harbor are well done, although you can tell these are model subs in large pools much of the time. Still, some of these "model" subs were forty or so feet long and looked very realistic--I know--I've seen one of them up close on several occasions.
Cary Grant, playing against type here as a military officer, does a creditable job in his role. John Garfield (The Postman Always Rings Twice) is also good as the lovelorn romeo who probably needed more saltpeter in his food. :-) The sub movies I've seen over years are Run Silent, Run Deep, with Cary Grant and Burt Lancaster, The Enemy Below, with Robert Mitchum and Kurt Jurgens, Torpedo Alley with Glen Ford, Das Boot, and this one. I'd rate it in the middle of the sub pack here, not as good as the great Run Silent, Run Deep, but a solid four stars.
Movie Review: You might be surprised.
Summary: 4 Stars
A WWII sub film made during the war? Probably a jingoistic, even racist, bit of ma-and-apple-pie propaganda with woefully dated special effects. That much is true of Destination Tokyo, to be sure. From that angle, it's still an interesting bit of WWII-meets-Hollywood history, and its plot even ties into the famous Dolittle raid. (The film never calls the raid by that name, but it uses the actual footage of the bombers leaving the carrier Hornet, so it's all clear enough what the inspiration is if you know WWII history.)Destinaton Tokyo is also a strong enough film in its own right as long as you can accept/stomach its propaganda aims. The action sequences are pretty exciting by the day's standards, and the nicely acted slice-of-life bits with the colorful crew are formulaic but quite entertaining nonetheless. They're often funny too, thanks to John Garfield's perpetually horny braggart character.
Movie Review: Good Film Even if a Little Dated
Summary: 4 Stars
Cary Grant was highly underrated as an actor in his dramatic and especially comedic roles. In his role as a WW2 submarine commander, he does not disappoint. The film works very well with his able and steady hand at the periscope. Their mission is to infiltrate Tokyo Harbor to get important meteorological information. Their journey has the travails suffered by sub crews - air attacks, medical emergencies and other near misses.
Remember: This is a war film made to encourage Americans in a still desperate fight against Japanese fascism. The scales have not yet tilted in America and democracy's favor. So yes, there are jabs at the Japanese as the enemy but that makes this film not just realistic but an authentic piece of recorded history for the temperament of these times.
Movie Review: Cary Grant? The skipper of an American sub? No way.
Summary: 4 Stars
Way. Unlike a lot of pretty movie stars, Grant had talent & could play anything believeably. Proof here. He is Capt. Cassidy of the USS Copperfin. It can be forgiven its jingoistic, propaganda tone (hey, there's a war going on!) because it is a very good movie. It was done in the Warner Bros. trademark style: efficient with no wasted effort. It has the added virtue of being done mid-war, 1943, like its competiton from Century Fox, Crash Dive. It is slightly better without that silly Tyrone Power romance nonsense. It has the stock character actors most notably Alan Hale as Cookie. I love that guy! Also just like a Warner Bros. film, it was shot in glorious black & white which is the way I prefered it, thank-you. Great war-time stuff.