Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Great Film overall

As Good As It Gets

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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.

Hello, dear mid-'40s, Hollywood-style, low-budget, war films fans EVERYWHERE!!! :PI was just wondering where could I find this one's script 'coz I can't find it anywhere, it seems(!) :( I need it for a subtitling job, BADLY(!) As for the film itself, I believe it's awful, as all the other war(-time) ones, made by the Americans FOR the Americans and their kitsch patriotic spirit. :) Furthermore, even though this may "sound" offensive to some, it's MY pov and I have my FULL rights to it; freedom of expression. :) Now, WHY is it awful, imao? Well, because it depicts those very funny made characters, talking like a machinegun, the Japanese soldiers who don't know anything else BUT beheading pows, and last but not least, those very energetic women-of-arms who act more than boyish. They remind me of Lt. Yarrrr. :))~ S.M. ~

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/

Made during the dark days of WWII, this movie is outstanding because it continued the whole purpose of the raid, that is, to boost American moral by striking back at Japan for the Pearl Harbor attack. It is ironic that Dalton Trumbo was one of the screenwriters. He was later blacklisted for his political views. Regardless of whether Trumbo was a victim or hero of the era when writers were being fired for their alleged Soviet sympathies, the facts of the raid were written in a patriotic and completely pro-war manner.The men who went on the raid were bono fide heros. And as a former USAF pilot, I appreciate their skill and courage for conducting a gutsy mission. However, in the hindsight of history, the raid was about as affective as V-1 and V-2 Nazi attacks on London, or the Iraq Scud attacks on Israel and Allied forces during the Gulf War, or more recent Hezbolla rocket attacks on Israel. The purpose behind all these efforts was an attempt to mold public opinion and moral.Trumbo was a propagandist of the highest caliber. Lt. Doolittle himself thought the raid was a military failure. All of the B-25 bombers were lost as well as a large number of the crews. No significant military damage was done. (As no really significant damage was caused by the Pearl Harbor attack which sunk obsolete battleships, but no carriers.) Moral during war is as important as guns. This movie and many others of its era had an important role to play in winning the war. Without similar efforts today, our country and its freedoms are at risk due to an ideology that thinks making war on civilians is a religiously just and proper means to an end. The Nazi and Fascist governments of Germany and Italy did not attack the US in 1941. However Roosevelt knew that he had to spend most of our resources fighting and defeating Nazi Germany first. We were already at war with Germany in the North Atlantic when Japan attacked us on Dec 7, 1941. Hollywood did not make movies pointing out that Roosevelt lied, or committed us to war without the consent of Congress. It did paint the enemy, which had embarked on a conquest of the world exactly for what it was. If Trumbo were alive today, I wonder what type of screenplay he would write about the current world war that is underway.