Customer Reviews

Away All Boats [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was a big fan of Chandler as a boy in the 1950's. My personal favorites of his from then and as an adult are Pillars of the Sky and Yankee Pasha. As always with older films, you have to put them in the context of the time in which they were made as far as style, realism, etc. Believe me, this guy was handsome to the ladies and a man's man to the guys....tons of on screen magnetism.

The main thing I want to add about both Chandler and this movie is my experience watching this film as a Navy officer aboard a ship of the very same type during the Viet Nam era. The title of the film refers to the fact that the ship (the Belinda, as I recall) was an amphibious cargo ship, one which carries marine vehicles, anchors off the coast, lowers boats ("away all boats") into the water and drops the vehicles into the boats for the trip to the beach with U.S Marines who drive them ashore and onward. In the officers' wardroom aboard the USS El Paso in the early '70's, we watched this movie multiple times and loved it as well done and realistic.

We did get some big chuckles out of the casting comparing actors like Richard Boone ("Have Gun Will Travel") playing, I think, the First Lieutenant, and Lex Barker (Tarzan) as the Executive Officer and comparing these guys to our own counterparts. We all thought the film was "Navy" all the way, however. I'm not sure if these amphibious cargo ships are still in operation, but they were used through the first Gulf War.

This movie is realistic and an accurate depiction of a U.S.Navy amphibious ship during wartime. Chandler is certainly the main man in the story but does not dominate to quite the same extent as in some of his other films. He is good in the role, however, and this is an authentic depiction of Navy life and a good story.

I'm also a Navy Vietnam-era veteran and I do love this film. I had recorded it years ago and now can't find the tape so I am sure I will be getting the DVD here. This movie was filmed, in part, aboard the Amphibious Transport ship USS SANDOVAL APA (LPA) 194. I was stationed on this ship in 1968-69 until we decommissioned her. Watching the landing exercises in this film brought back many memories as I was part of 2nd Division which was the boat division and we were "graded" on our readiness.
This has good acting and alot of adventure. The script was a bit hoaky at times but that can be overlooked. I highly recommend this film. Get it and Set Condition One-Alpha!

AWAY ALL BOATS is a heroic story of a veteran Navy Captain's love for his ship and crew. Jeff Chandler does a fine job as Jeb Hawk Captain of the troop assault ship the APA-22, known as the Belinda. Hawk is a former destroyer commander that takes command of a newly built ship and an almost totally new crew and starts right off teaching the "Navy Way" of doing things right. The movie is full of colorful characters each interacting to the exciting final sea battle ending. This movie is a great way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon.

AWAY ALL BOATS is a great WWII film set in the Pacific. Jeff Chandler gives one of his best performances ever as the Captain. He was the best choice for this role because it brought out his best qualities. He is a thinking man's Captain in the best tradition of the genre. There is also a lot of WWII jargon that has been lost from films for many years now. They don't make them this way now days. Our loss.

This movie is a stunner. As an ex navy officer it is startlingly realistic, particularly with regard to the ex merchant marine skipper (George Nader) and the way he was relegated to 2nd lieutenant in the navy, despite having more comprehensive ability than anyone else onboard.(I am ex merchant marine myself!)
The very, very great shame of this presentation is that it was shot in VistaVision and stereophonic sound. It would have looked SPECTACULAR on a big screen in it's original format.
What we get with this dvd is a very ordinary 4x3 (cropped) picture and monophonic sound!
This movie deserves the full blu-ray treatment, in it's original format.
One of the great war movies.

This is a story of a ship, its captain and crew, as they are melded into one. Chandler is great (I agree with other reviewers: we lost him way too young), but it is the story that is fascinating.

As the son of a WWII Chief Petty Officer, I was glad to see that the film captures the Chiefs as the "backbone of the Navy."

It is a must have for a WWII film library.

Good Times is selling a Chinese/Asian rip-off of a VHS tape. No wide screen, no digital upgrade.

The movie itself is excellent but don't waste your money on this thing.

Just released in Holland is the DVD of the Universal movie "Away All Boats" and allthough it is in fullscreen 133:1 the quality of the movie is very good and Technicolor in very good shape. It is a pity it is not in it's original VistaVision but the price is very low. It is region 2 but if that is no problem you won't regret buying it. It is available from Amazon Great Britain so if you want to buy it for a very reasonable price this is your chance.
Ad de Koning, Almere, Holland

Another great acting job from Jeff Chandler. As Capt. Jebediah Hawks of the amphibious transport assault ship, the "Belinda", Capt. Hawks teaches very young men how to prepare for war and to get the transport boats (which carry the soldiers to the shores of the beaches), out and away as quickly as possible. He also teaches his executive officer (in name only), how to grow into his position as exec and later gets his own command in Pearl Harbor. He then takes George Nader who was the boat commander but got injured and makes him the executive officer to train officers and other men to do what they need to do. George Nader does a good job also. If you like history and WWII, this is another ship and commander doing what they are suppose to do and you know how great our men in service our just by watching this movie. Great acting by Jeff Chandler and George Nader.

Away All Boats, starring Jeff Chandler is an exciting movie about Naval Warfare in the Pacific in WWII. The Belinda may not be the type of glamor ship Chandler's character wanted to command, but he made her and her crew into the pride of the Navy. There are realistic and humorous interchanges between crew members as well as personal struggles among several of the officers under Chandler's command that challenge them to grow in their capacity as Naval officers. There are great scenes utilizing the small Mike boats used to land Marines on amphibious island assaults as well as Japanese Kamikaze airplane attacks on the ship that nearly sink her. In the end, suffering several direct hits by Kamikazes exploding on her decks, it is the training and pride in their ship that bring officers and men together to save the ship from sinking. The men and officers of the Belinda provide a realistic picture of shipboard life in WWII. AN outstanding movie.Away All Boats