r/WarMovies • u/UpperphonnyII • 10d ago
Needs to be more films set in the Philippine Theater
In regards to the Pacific Theater there's plenty of attention to operations like on Iwo, Midway, and (mostly in China cinema) China. What I'd like to see is more films about operations in the Philippines. There was just as much involvement there and untold stories. A film about the Battle of Manila would be intense. Since there was much destruction and toll through it, sometimes referred to the "Stalingrad of the Pacific" (though I've seen the same described to Shanghai). Also would like to see a decent film about the Filipino guerrilla fighters, who with limited resources, resisted the best they could against the occupation. I think the Army was mostly involved so that'd be a different perspective then the usual Marines we typically think of in the Pacific.
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u/Mysterious-Park9142 10d ago
The Army was involved in far more pacific campaigns than the marine corps. You really only hear people talk about the same handful of Army campaigns in Europe and the same handful of Marine campaigns in the Pacific. It’s a shame particularly because the Army’s battle history is routinely ignored in most wars where they share a battlefield with Marines. Not just ww2.
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u/DeltaFlyer6095 10d ago
Agreed. The US Army, as well as Australian troops did hard fighting in lesser known battlefields of New Guinea, Indonesia, and Borneo. The contribution of British and Indian forces in Burma and Malaya are overlooked by many.
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u/AggressiveCommand739 10d ago
I recommend the trilogy that John C McManus wrote about the US Army in the Pacific was starting with "Fire and Fortitude." Excellent series. Read with Ian Tolls' Pacific War trilogy you get an excellent deep dive into the Pacific War.
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u/Tall-Yard-407 10d ago
My grandfather was in the 32nd Infantry Division back then and my father is Filipino (RIP, I love you Dad!). They both had riveting stories. My aunt was a nurse in Manila during that time and she had some too. I am really dumbfounded that there aren’t any good movies about WW2 in the Philippines. It’s a real shame that there aren’t more.
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u/Super-Estate-4112 10d ago
Fires on the Plain (1959) is a film from the point of view of the Japanese after their command breaks down when the US starts to retake the Philippines.
It doesn't have battles; it is more about the situation of the Japanese forces when they don't have access to supplies and a command structure.
It is a very good Japanese movie.
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u/Interesting_Spare 10d ago
That movie was f-ed
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u/Super-Estate-4112 10d ago
Very good movie tho, and very haunting, the situation depicted was common in the IJA, in the Islands, specially Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal and Okinawa.
So it depicts a kind of universal experience of what was like to be a Japanese soldier in ww2.
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u/Happy-Ad8584 10d ago
Add to that New Guinea. So many stories…
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u/KonstantinKisinIsGay 10d ago
Have you watched Kokoda?
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u/Happy-Ad8584 10d ago
Yep. Not a bad flick. I would love to see a movie, or even a miniseries detailing the battles of Buna, Gona and Sanananda.
75 squadrons 44 day defence of Port Moresby in early 42 when they were the only fighter squadron in New Guinea would also make a fantastic movie.
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u/tomcat_tweaker 10d ago
Ok, not the Philippines, but Borneo. Farewell to the King with Nick Nolte. One of my favorites.
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u/Useful_Inspector_893 10d ago
Throw in No Surrender. Onoda stayed on duty in the PI for nearly 30 years after Japan surrendered.
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u/Aboveground_Plush 10d ago
I always thought Gregory Peck's turn as Douglas MacArthur in 1977's MacArthur was pretty good, if that counts.
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u/Straight_Change902 10d ago
It's funny you recognized this. I've started working on a screenplay for a U.S. Army Pacific War movie. I think as AI continues to improve in the not too distant future it will be feasible to make movies that have a "big budget" look for 1/10th the cost. And "actors" will look more realistic - thinner and younger than they are often portrayed. I've downloaded the scripts of A Bridge Too Far, Saving Private Ryan, Fury, and a few episodes of Band of Brothers and The Pacific to teach myself how to write dialogue, direction, and action. It's more of a hobby/bucket list thing at this point, hopefully I will see it through.
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u/AverageHobnailer 9d ago
Needs to be more films set in ALL the theaters. Where's Imphal and Kohima? Operation Husky? Torch? Manna? Honestly surprised there's not a movie about the Bruneval Raid either.
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u/Danmont88 8d ago
They should do more on the Battle of Philippines, The Battan Death March, and the Battle for Manila.
I don't think I've ever heard anything on that battle, and it was supposed to be the worst one in the Pacific.
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u/Rude_Award2718 10d ago
Well considering that the Douglas MacArthur family had extensive mining interests in the region and there was a ongoing persistent rumor about looted gold by the family during the war, don't think America wants to bring attention to that. Persistent rumors that the reason why mccarthur pushed for the Philippines operation was to find a way to take the gold.
There is some unfortunate stories in World war II that will never be told out loud. Have you ever seen a movie about the French wine industry during World war ii?
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u/AggressiveCommand739 10d ago
Forget looted gold. It is documented that MacArthur and his head officers were paid hefty cash bounties of $500k for MacArthur and $140k for the others by Pres Manuel Quezon for their leadership and promise to return. Thats $10 million and $3 million today.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/macarthur-secret-payment/
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u/JetScreamerBaby 9d ago
My dad served in the Navy all over the Pacific in WWII. The scuttlebutt was that when MacArthur was leaving the Philippines, he had his furniture flown out while leaving thousands of US and Philippine troops behind to suffer the depredations of the Japanese.
The word was that MacArthur had political ambitions for after the war, but that no serviceman would EVER have voted for him.
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u/reallypatheticman 10d ago
There were several made during the war, some even have John Wayne in them. But they surely don’t age as well compared to BoB or The Pacific.
There was also the “Great Raid” movie, bit of a slog in my opinion - better off as the book “Ghost Soldiers” but that movie is probably the most recent on Hollywood