ChikPapa Very disappointed :(

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

mark.waltz This is American exploitation at its worst, and in the case of this film, it ranks as a "Bomb" because it is exploiting a recent American tragedy with no well-meaning intentions whatsoever. The film actually starts off pretty good with a well filmed explosion sequence that destroys a pleasure cruise ship and puts three people aboard a lifeboat. The two men are quickly exterminated by the Japanese, and only Marguerite Chapman survives. A Japanese bomber plane sets out to fill her with holes but somehow she manages to hide from him by holding onto the side of the boat so she cannot be seen. An American submarine en-route to Hawaii rescues her, while the Japanese pilot is quickly punished in a shocking manner by his commanding officer. This leads to an exciting sequence where another Japanese pilot, wounded from being shot by the Americans, determinedly continues to drop bombs on the submarine, which has begun its descent to get out of harms way.Back in Hawaii, it's very clear that there are spies abound, because it's apparent that the driver of the car Chapman is in with her fiancé is being driven by is Japanese. This leads into a chase sequence near Pearl Harbor, which of course, is soon raided. What makes this scene really horrible is the manner in which a radio reporter reveals the devastation. Rather than sounding horrified or even rushed to get the news out, he sounds like he's introducing nominees at the Oscars. This is very off putting and is insulting to American intelligence, if that already hadn't been insulted by the fact that Chapman's fiancée was revealing military secrets in front of an obvious spy.The Japanese are presented in a very stereotypical manner, more interested in dying for honor than having really any sort of mission for why they were attacking America out of the blue. If you thought "Air Force" and "Destination Tokyo" (in addition to dozens of other propaganda films of the time) made the Japanese an extremely nasty enemies, then this one makes them purely evil without redemption. The film was obviously rushed together to take advantage of the timing (released only six months after Pearl Harbor!) and lacks any intelligence whatsoever. Columbia, which specialized in fast paced "B" films that were actually pretty enjoyable, really messed up by letting this one out. The first 20 minutes are promising, but the rest settles into disaster.

boblipton Marguerite Chapman is picked up by a submarine on its way to the Sea of Japan during the Second World War, and it looks like this movie was plundered for the Blake Edwards comedy OPERATION PETTICOAT almost twenty years later, except for the long spy subplot in which every Asian American crosses his eyes because he's a Jap spy.It's a competently managed programmer for the era, but this sort of movie was fairly commonplace during the Second World War and the cheapness of the production shines through, both in the cast and the lighting -- there are lots of day-for-night shots, outdoors scenes shot during the day which we're supposed to think are at night because they were printed dark --- black cars with blacker shadows. See it or don't see it and your life won't be much different either way.

Kittyman Atrocious thy name is "Submarine Raider." Oh, it's not that the acting is bad. It isn't. Old friends Philip Ahn, Bruce Bennett, Richard Loo, Keye Luke, and Forrest Tucker perform well. However, a major character is miscast, special effects suck, there is no understanding of naval procedures, and the plot advances only because of stupid and wrong-headed behavior.Nino Pipitone should not have been cast as Captain Yamanada, the Japanese carrier's commander. Kangaroos look more Asiatic then he did. Instead, First Officer Philip Ahn should have played that role.The Japanese carrier, which is presented as the only one responsible for the Pearl Harbor attack, is depicted as having no screening ships (cruisers or destroyers) at all. It just blithely sallies forth alone. Then, there is the carrier's nemesis, an American submarine. Its Captain chooses to surface, with no weapons broken out, just after having received a nearby yacht's distress signal about a Japanese attack. When a Japanese plane is spotted, the sub doesn't dive for safety. Instead, it remains on the surface to fight with its only anti-aircraft weapon, a single machine gun.As to wrongheaded, the yacht's survivors clamor aboard a lifeboat never thinking that that too might be attacked by the Japanese. As a pilot starts to strafe them, they don't slip over the side into cover. Instead, one-by-one, they stand to face the plane, thus becoming easy targets. And, meanwhile, back in Hawaii, an American agent dooms himself by talking loudly about sensitive issues while potential (and, of course, real) Japanese spies surround him.Oy vey! What a turkey.

GUENOT PHILIPPE Lew Landers has made many little propaganda war movies in the early 40's. All action packed flicks. And this one makes no exception. No boredom during one hour. Some could say it's an average war movie from this period, but I consider it very interesting. It takes place in Pearl Harbor, just around December the 7th...Of course, the Japanese are all bad and American all good, but we can't expect something different. Anyway, I prefer this little film instead of great war movie classics twice much longer and talkative, even with more deeply described characters.And it's rather a rare film. Try it if you can.