MovieChat Forums > Bataan (1944) Discussion > Why did they charge?

Why did they charge?

posted 9 years ago by corriganville
4 replies | jump to latest

I've watched this movie a bunch of times since probably 1964-66 (WNEW CH5). Something that always puzzled me was that after defending their outmanned position from "hordes" of the enemy, they charge out of their "fort" to engage in bayonet fighting which doesn't work out too well.
All I can think of is that it made for a more exciting ending and made our soldiers look even braver for the folks back home in 1943.

Funny thing, back in 66 our folks told us the movie was over after the 'bushido bushwash' scene so we went to bed. Didn't find out till years later that wasn't the case.

[–] movies789 9 years ago

Also, charging out in front of their own machine guns completely negated the benefit those weapons could have provided.

[–] gribfritz2 9 years ago

I'd like to know why the last two remaining say that they'll spray the corpses with bullets to find the possum, then they delicately inspect the corpses instead. Even more amusing, after one of them gets stabbed, THEN the other one sprays the corpses with bullets. Should have done that to begin with, genius. Especially considering one of you actually SAID that's what you were going to do.

I enjoyed Dawn Patrol and Sahara much more.

[–] chrissso 8 years ago

Both of these points made no sense at all. I think this was a pretty dumb film.

[–] telegonus (727) 7 years ago

The movie was made as a "morale booster" for the folks back home, in the U.S.A., and the ending was intended as a tribute to the brave men who died defending the Bataan peninsula, wasn't intended to be realistic. I think that audiences at the time understood this, applauded and walked out the theater feeling better about the war and themselves. It probably didn't seriously occur to most people connected with the film back in 1942-43 that it would be watched, discussed and analyzed decades after its initial release.