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Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo [VHS]

Spencer Tracy (Actor), Van Johnson (Actor), Mervyn LeRoy (Director) Rated:

PG-13

Format: VHS Tape

511 customer reviews

CD-ROM
from $30.99

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo [VHS]

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Product details

Actors: Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Walker, Tim Murdock, Don DeFore
Directors: Mervyn LeRoy
Writers: Dalton Trumbo, Robert Considine, Ted W. Lawson
Producers: Sam Zimbalist
Format: Black & White, Original recording reissued, NTSC
Rated:
PG-13
Parents Strongly Cautioned
Number of tapes: 1
Studio: Warner Home Video
VHS Release Date: May 16, 2000
Run Time: 138 minutes
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (511 customer reviews)
ASIN: 0790747464
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,231 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There is no more ringing title among World War II movies than Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, and the mission it celebrates was unquestionably historic: a 400-mile bombing raid to carry the war to Japan itself mere months after that nation's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet the film is less memorable than many WWII pictures with less exalted factual basis. At the time, critic James Agee eloquently defined both its virtues and limitations as "a big-studio, big-scale film, free of artistic pretension ... transformed by its not very imaginative but very dogged sincerity into something forceful, simple, and thoroughly sympathetic in spite of all its big-studio, big-scale habits." That remains true today, but perhaps the movie--and its unimpeachably noble, admirably life-sized characters--wouldn't seem so stuck in the amber of a bygone era if Mervyn LeRoy and company had pumped a little "artistic pretension" into it.

Spencer Tracy--as James H. Doolittle, architect of the raid--rates the most towering screen credit, and he's superb. But his role's an extended cameo; the emotional core of the film is B-25 pilot Ted Lawson (Van Johnson) and his wife, Ellen (the glowing Phyllis Thaxter). Lawson's bestselling memoir (with Bob Considine) of his training for the secret mission, his group's launching from the aircraft carrier Hornet, and his crash landing and protracted ordeal in China--where he lost a leg--has been faithfully served. The film is long on homely detail and all-American decency (including a remarkably outspoken regret over the unavoidability of civilian casualties) but achieves its greatest impact in the raid itself. That sequence, in addition to boasting Oscar-winning special effects, is mostly shot in riveting silence. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

511

4.6 out of 5 stars

5 star		73%
4 star		19%
3 star		4%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Top Customer Reviews

40's style presentation from Ted Lawson's perspective

ByE. Bowleson June 4, 2017

Format: Amazon VideoVerified Purchase

The story of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo just 5 months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor is beyond anything fiction writers could create. The heroic mission - and success - changed the tone of the war by making Japanese people aware of their vulnerability to an attack and forcing Japan to need to pull back resources and defend the homeland.

This movie was released in 1944 - just two years after the event. It provides the perspective of Ted Lawson and was based on Lawson's book. As a result, the perspective is heavily oriented around Lawson (played by Van Johnson) and Lawson's wife. Much of the movie is focused on the relationship between Lawson and his wife - a light, sugar coated view typical of the 30's and 40's movies. The script and the acting is overly dramatic - but typical for the period. There is good coverage of training for the mission, the raid, and the way Lawson and his team made it back.

This movie is not about Doolittle. While Spencer Tracy has a role as Doolittle, it's an incidental character in the story of Lawson. Doolittle is the leader of the raid and was first off the aircraft carrier, but his involvement in the flight and later rescue was not covered in the movie. Col. Richard Cole - Doolittle's co-pilot and the sole living member of the raid - was not included in the movie at all.

Overall, the movie runs a little long at 2:18, but it's a good example of US war movies. The story of the Doolittle Raid is amazing, and would be well worth an updated movie that honors the raid and the participants.

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Powerful, Enlightening, Touching and Thought Provoking

ByJames A. Stehron April 18, 2015

Format: Amazon VideoVerified Purchase

Having visited the Naval Air Museum in Alameda today, I was compelled to see this movie, not only to complete that experience but also to compliment the talk given by a man who was charged with helping to find the real "2242" after it landed and was left in Russia. Again we are in treacherous times. The spirit conveyed by this film was our great strength in those days. We should always be reminded of that spirit and its value, as we will certainly need it again, when the sun comes to earth soon in the Middle East. We owe "The Greatest Generation" very much. Indeed they were exactly that. As a child of that generation, as a "Baby-Boomer," I hope I can garner the respect of the generation that follows me, that I have for the one I have followed.

I gave it only four stars because I was put off by the ultra-syrupy, love-dovie and other happy-boy over-acting in the early part of the film. It seemed just too much like an early Disney production in that respect. But as part of one's history lesson assignments, it's a must-see.

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"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo:" an excellent retelling of what happened on the Doolittle Raid in 1942.

ByMike PowersTOP 1000 REVIEWERon March 11, 2017

Format: Amazon VideoVerified Purchase

“Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” is the classic World War II film that tells the story of the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo that took place on April 18, 1942. Directed by Mervin LeRoy, it includes among its stars Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Phyllis Thaxter, Robert Mitchum, and Robert Walker. It is an outstanding example of how Hollywood filmmakers portrayed American forces as they fought in the Second World War.

Based on historical events and people, “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” tells its story from the perspective of Lieutenant Ted Lawson (Johnson), one of the actual pilots that participated in the Doolittle Raid. Lawson was the command pilot of “The Ruptured Duck,” one of the B-25 bombers that took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet on the morning of April 18, 1942, and bombed Tokyo in retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

“Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” does a very good job of showing what actually happened on the Doolittle Raid. A select group of Army Air Forces aircrews volunteers for the top-secret mission commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. He warns the crewmembers that the mission is likely to be one-way, very dangerous, and must not be discussed with anyone, including loved ones. The aircrews learn the destination of their mission only after they get underway. Lieutenant Lawson and the crew of “The Ruptured Duck” successfully bomb their targets and fly on toward a landing strip in China. What happens to Lawson and his crew after they complete their bombing run? Watch this excellent film and find out…

As with nearly all of the war movies produced during the 1940s, “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” is first and foremost an excellent piece of pro-American war propaganda. It shows American fighting forces at their very best – highly motivated and patriotic, fighting with courage and determination against a savage, ruthless, evil foe. The film’s acting is a bit uneven in places. Spencer Tracy is superb as usual, and Van Johnson, Robert Mitchum, and Robert Walker turn in mostly creditable performances. However, Johnson and Thaxter’s scenes together are so syrupy that I found them actually a bit cringe-worthy.

“Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” is an excellent film that I found very entertaining. I like it so much that I have added it to my personal film library. Highly recommended. (4½ Stars ^ 5)

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Doolittle's Raiders

ByTommy Mannon January 11, 2017

Format: DVDVerified Purchase

One of my favorite movies. The amazing story of the courageous airmen who made the first post-Pearl Harbor strike at Japan. We are able to see these men as ordinary guys thrust into extraordinary circumstances and bravely doing their jobs. Highly recommended.