Just perfect...

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This war Robinsonade is a quirky poem and a psychological essay, not of an unusual or twisted psychology, on the contrary, a raw one, the two actors were carefully chosen as types of ordinary guys, Mifune and Marvin, both awesome, with Mifune being the superior actor; it reminded me of Russian war movies, the Expressionism exchanged for '60s _avant-gardism and fanciness, where the playfulness, coldness and irony enhance the beauty and the absurd, the two styles resemble in some heartfelt sympathy, yet Boorman reveals a hopelessness and sense of dread and of the absurd. Think of it as of a poem, also because of its masterful unity.Two soldiers torture each other, then cook, then set up a raft and, toilers of the sea, leave the island, towards a larger world unable, unprepared to contain their comradeship, which was uncertain and shaky to begin with, and, born on a wild shore, breaks in the ruins of societal life. They rediscover comfort in a ruined military base on another island: cigars, a magazine, sake. But they drink too much. The drink, the magazine are enough to dispel their newfound, unlikely and strategic unity. They rejoice in the things they find, but foolishly, vainly.The '60s were eager for this naked psychology.They don't know each other's name. Sometimes, their relationship has the abrupt and dizzy quality, with sudden changes and outbursts, found in the '60s and '70s cinema inspired by the stage. Which on stage can look convincing and maybe lifelike, but in a movie looks abrupt, silly and almost contrived.The island, their 1st island, which they leave, is in itself Paradise, and the director is very aware of this pristine beauty.

It is an interesting movie that I have seen 3 or 4 times. The first time, I was enthralled. The second, entertained. The third, wondering what I would do better if I was on the island and the after that, you sort of wonder why two people in bad straights would make things worse. Between the two of them, they could eat, drink and have decent shelter. Think: Robinson Crusoe and how he turned lemons into lemonade. Actors held their own so that worked well. The ending was rushed and someone should have taken a nap, then had a good swim and then had a good BBQ...In other words...some time out to discover a decent ending to a decent movie. Tom Hanks did something similar with Castaway as well which is this movie but only with one guy. One more thing. Try to get you mind around how cruel the war was on both sides which helps you to understand why they were at heavy odds against each other in the beginning. Eat and drink during this move and you will really relate to the pleasures they were denied first hand.

Lee Marvin & Toshiro Mifune play a downed World War II pilot and a Navy Commander who are stranded on a Pacific island during the war. Both men of course distrust and hate each other, trying desperately to survive and thwart the enemy. As time passes, they find that, if they plan to survive, they will have to come to some sort of a truce. They both have times when they captured the other, but did not kill, which teaches them to begin to get along.Interesting, well acted and directed(John Boorman) film is highly allegorical, that is both men represent two superpowers who can either learn to get along, or kill each other. The ending will either come as a bitter irony, or a misstep, though I lean toward irony; either way, it is memorable.

This movie had the potential of becoming the quintessential anti-war movie, yet it was ruined by its laughable execution. And yes I mean the ending or should I say the endings. Where do I begin, performance wise Toshiro Mifune and Lee Marvin did their job great, I have no major complaints, they both managed to get across the desperation and the suffering their characters endured. Now for the direction of this movie all I can say is WOW just WOW, how in the name of God can you screw up this amazing premise so bad? Seeing the movie it is clear that the director himself wasn't sure about the path he should take, this is obvious in the ending part when they either get blasted, either part ways or the American get's decapitated by two Japanese soldiers and then Mifune takes a sword and decapitates them both for revenge as it was in the original screenplay. Apart from the third being the tackiest thing ever the first ending solves literally nothing plot wise and the second one goes against the entire flow and meaning of the movie. It's like saying I am bored to create a coherent ending which shows that peace is more important than war and that the things that drive people together are more important than the things that drive them away, so yeah.......they're not. I think that Boorman underestimated the gem he had in his hands. So yeah I give this movie a 6/10.