Customer Reviews

The Naked and the Dead [VHS]

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

 

 

It's 1943 WWII on an island in the South Pacific where a division of American marines under the command of a martinet of a General (Raymond Massey) is attempting to drive off the Japanese from the island. The General clashes with a Lieutenant (Cliff Robertson) on how the enlisted men are treated and the platoon's sadistic Sergeant (Aldo Ray) shows signs of being psychotic. Based on the best selling novel by Norman Mailer (his first novel) and directed by the Hollywood veteran Raoul Walsh, the first part of the film focuses on the conflict between the officers and enlisted men and the second part of the film becomes more of a typical WWII film as a small platoon attempts to reach a Japanese held mountain top. Walsh doesn't flinch from the brutalities of war, Ray's character collects gold teeth from dead Japanese and withholds information from his own troop to fulfill his agenda despite the danger to his men while the cruel Massey treats enlisted men like vermin with only the humanistic Robertson to offer some semblance of sanity. The portrayal of women comes off poorly with Barbara Nichols as Ray's adulterous trampy wife and Lili St. Cyr, perhaps the most famous stripper in the fifties, playing, what else, a stripper. Bernard Herrmann did the brassy and brooding score. With Richard Jaeckel, Joey Bishop, William Campbell, James Best, Jerry Paris and Robert Gist.

The good news is that the Italian DVD is transferred in the scope format (about 2.35). The bad news is that the transfer is very soft looking. Close ups are okay but long shots are soft to the point that faces are almost almost unrecognizable.

It's a pretty good movie. I've seen it a few times and I still like it. I can't wait until it comes out on DVD. The general in the movie shows us just how arrogant some of our military leaders can be.

I purchased the region 2 of The Naked and the Dead and it is formatted in "letterbox" 2:35 x 1 not anamorphic widescreen 16 x 9. I was very disappointed because I really like this movie and the region 2 I purchased is barely better then the DVD-R I recorded from a TCM broadcast. This is such a good movie I hope a good quality DVD or better yet a BluRay version is finally released.

Great classic movie with Aldo Ray playing Sargent Croft.

Just wish I could get it in Blu Ray, or even DVD.

Very, very disappointed. I only wanted to get this DVD because my husband was in the movie. It didn't show the part that he was in and it didn't show the dedication to the unit that was in the movie. My husband said the original version had everything because the unit viewed the movie. Guess they had to take out something giving credit to an army unit.

never shipped dishonest company , but kept my money, till I contacted my credit card co. a shame that your company has dishonest vendors!

this is one of the worst war movies i have ever seen. how can you make a war movie that has little fights in it and not one person in the movie that you can like. this one felt like it went on forever. skip it.