ada the leading man is my tpye

Diagonaldi Very well executed

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

jacobs-greenwood Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, Army Major Ted Lawson's autobiographical book (of the same name, co-written with Bob Considine) was turned into this above average World War II drama, which details the James Doolittle- led first bombing of Japan after Pearl Harbor, by screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. The movie won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects; its B&W Cinematography was also nominated.Van Johnson plays Lawson; Spencer Tracy plays the eventual Medal of Honor recipient Doolittle, who's not really central to this story's telling about the men who volunteered for this mission that was executed just 131 days after December 7, 1941. Instead, the plot revolves around Lawson, his relationship with his pregnant bride of six months Ellen (Phyllis Thaxter), his crew which included gunner Corporal David Thatcher (Robert Walker), and their experiences before, during, and after their mission, a moral boosting success. Robert Mitchum plays a fellow Army Lieutenant pilot to Johnson's Lawson, Bob Gray, who had also been (according to the film) in the Lawsons' wedding party.The film details the secrecy of the mission, the three months of training at Elgin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Florida (on the Gulf of Mexico, near Destin) the sixteen pilots and their crews had to go through to do something that had never been done before (fly B-25 bombers off an aircraft carrier, shortening their takeoff from 1,500 to 500 feet), their sea voyage from San Francisco to 400 miles from the Japanese coast on the U.S.S. Hornet, their titled time and mission over their targets (which were more than just Tokyo), and the aftermath which included most of the planes running out of fuel and crash landing in China (because they'd been spotted by a Japanese patrol boat, they had to launch the planes earlier than planned).Since Lawson's plane was one of these, and he and his crew, save Corporal Thatcher, were injured, the last 40+ minutes of the film details their experiences with the native Chinese, who helped them evade capture to eventually return home safely. Alan Napier plays a British missionary and Benson Fong plays a native doctor, both of whom were among those who helped the men from suffering the fate Lieutenant Commander Stephen Jurika (Leon Ames), who used to live in Japan and provided valuable targeting information for the mission, had warned them about - falling into Japanese hands. Some did, though they are only mentioned in the film.In this MGM produced movie, a brief reference is made to some valuable intelligence information which Doolittle's men received from a submarine that had infiltrated Tokyo bay prior to their bombing mission. Warner Bros. made a film called Destination Tokyo (1943) which had previously described that mission.

maldez I tried watching this on AMC today but just couldn't do it...I wanted to like it, but had to click off way before even half through.I know older movies are heavy on the sentimental, mawkish stuff, sometimes to the point of being charming, but 30 Seconds Over Tokyo was just way too swell for me....gosh, it was swell.All this absurd smiling and happiness that made WWII seem more like a senior prom than an actual war.I tried watching this on AMC today but just couldn't do it...I wanted to like it, but had to click off way before even half through.I know older movies are heavy on the sentimental, mawkish stuff, sometimes to the point of being charming, but 30 Seconds Over Tokyo was just way too swell for me....gosh, it was swell.All this absurd smiling and happiness that made WWII seem more like a senior prom than an actual war.

Boba_Fett1138 This is a rather enjoyable WW II about the Doolittle-raid on Japan, made during WW II itself, that however is given more credit for than it really deserves.Just like basically with every '40's movie is the case, the first halve is formulaic and drags on for too long. The second halve is far more powerful, original and gripping, although in this case the movie also starts to drag again toward the ending, when the movie starts to go on for far too long. The movie easily could had been 45 minutes shorter by cutting some from its beginning and let the movie end way earlier, after they crashed down in China. The movie of course also has a love-story in it to add to the drama. It's typical and formulaic but lovers of '40's movies shall probably not complain about it.The build up of the movie just takes too long. It provides the movie with some good and likable characters but however those get hardly featured again in the second halve of the movie. Basically the only truly real successful part of the movie was the raid itself. It had a good build up and was shot well, with the help of some tremendously good looking miniatures. In this part only the tension and action works out well and the movie starts to grab you and becomes emotionally effective. All of the other moments in the movie around that are well made but just nothing original, gripping or dramatically effective. It's just too average all. So that's also why I can't really consider this movie as a truly great genre movie.The movie is made during WW II, so it obviously has propaganda elements in it. It however isn't anything too disturbing but nevertheless it's a big laughable because it's so obvious. Such as when the air force and marine's constantly say how much they respect and admire each other's work, or when the Americans start to say how much they admire the Chinese and that they would be honored to fit along their side against the Japanese.It was WW II, so more than anything big Hollywood names were more than happy to be in a movie for the good cause. The movie features Van Johnson in the main lead and Spencer Tracy as general Doolittle. and Robert Mitchum in small role. Too small because he probably is the best actor of the bunch. But nevertheless, Van Johnson really wasn't a bad pick as the main lead of the movie.A good movie but I guess it's more fun and powerful to watch when you're an American yourself.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

pgreis This represents one of the best WWII aviation movies. Follows the crew of Doolittle's Raiders who gave the US a boost in the early dark days of WWII. Well acted, excellent cinematography (Oscar nomination). Lots of great shots of B-25s for aviation buffs. The early days of training are especially interesting as the crews try and get their aircraft off the ground in a very short distance. At that point none of them realized they would ultimately have to take their B-25s off the deck of an aircraft carrier. Based on Ted Lawson's (played by Van Johnson) autobiographical accounting of the raid in the book of the same name. Excellent acting by Van Johnson and Spencer Tracy as General Doolittle.