He ain't hairy, he's my brother.
Finally watched Hell in the Pacific (1968) the other day, the grunt-fest WWII story of two servicemen of opposing countries marooned on a Pacific atoll, one a Japanese naval captain (Toshiro Mifune), the other an American pilot (Lee Marvin), directed by John Boorman. Notwithstanding Pauline Kael's dismissive review of it, I liked it; then again, I have a morbid fascination with survival tales, particularly if they're post-apocalyptic (zombies welcomed, but not essential) or of the man alone variety. (Yes, I even like Robinson Crusoe on Mars. Shut up.)
I've also developed a fanboy crush on Lee Marvin worthy of Michael Madsen's Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs. (Want to see Lee Marvin play a thug who's more chickenshit than Liberty Valence in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence? Check out Fritz Lang's 1953 noir thriller The Big Heat. It also features, briefly, Marlon Brando's big sis!) Seeing him go toe-to-toe with Toshiro Mifune is a real treat. I preferred the alternate ending included on the DVD; it's lower key and makes the film's point more effectively than the one in the theatrical release. Lalo Schifrin fans, be warned: his score here is the dullest that I've heard.
However, I couldn't help but be struck by certain similarities between Hell in the Pacific and my favorite Japanese monster movie (daikaiju eiga), the sort-of sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World, War of the Gargantuas (1966; Japanese title: Furankenshutain no kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira), and not just because the movies share a couple of producers (Henry G. Saperstein and Reuben Berkovitch, the latter of whom is credited with having written the story for both movies): not only are the movies' main themes similar (how man's -- or gargantua's -- essential brotherhood is rarely realized thanks to national/tribal conflicts and one's idiosyncrasies), but the two leads even look alike.
First, Marvin and Mifune from Hell in the Pacific:
Next, Gaila (the green gargantua; the water-dwelling one) and Sanda (the brown gargantua; the mountain-and-forest-dwelling one):
Eerie, isn't it? It was easy for me to see Lee Marvin as Sanda and Toshiro Mifune as Gaila, although, to be fair, Mifune's character was never as disagreeable as Gaila's (i.e., he never saw humans as foodstuff, unlike Gaila).
Wonder if I'll discern any similarities between Cat Ballou and Godzilla vs. Megalon..?
I've also developed a fanboy crush on Lee Marvin worthy of Michael Madsen's Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs. (Want to see Lee Marvin play a thug who's more chickenshit than Liberty Valence in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence? Check out Fritz Lang's 1953 noir thriller The Big Heat. It also features, briefly, Marlon Brando's big sis!) Seeing him go toe-to-toe with Toshiro Mifune is a real treat. I preferred the alternate ending included on the DVD; it's lower key and makes the film's point more effectively than the one in the theatrical release. Lalo Schifrin fans, be warned: his score here is the dullest that I've heard.
However, I couldn't help but be struck by certain similarities between Hell in the Pacific and my favorite Japanese monster movie (daikaiju eiga), the sort-of sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World, War of the Gargantuas (1966; Japanese title: Furankenshutain no kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira), and not just because the movies share a couple of producers (Henry G. Saperstein and Reuben Berkovitch, the latter of whom is credited with having written the story for both movies): not only are the movies' main themes similar (how man's -- or gargantua's -- essential brotherhood is rarely realized thanks to national/tribal conflicts and one's idiosyncrasies), but the two leads even look alike.
First, Marvin and Mifune from Hell in the Pacific:
Next, Gaila (the green gargantua; the water-dwelling one) and Sanda (the brown gargantua; the mountain-and-forest-dwelling one):
Eerie, isn't it? It was easy for me to see Lee Marvin as Sanda and Toshiro Mifune as Gaila, although, to be fair, Mifune's character was never as disagreeable as Gaila's (i.e., he never saw humans as foodstuff, unlike Gaila).
Wonder if I'll discern any similarities between Cat Ballou and Godzilla vs. Megalon..?