In 1943, hard nosed Captain Hawks is placed in command of the Belinda, an attack transport ship responsible for ferrying Marines to Japanese held islands in the Pacific. Austere in character, the rigorous Hawks enforces sharp discipline on the Belinda's lackadaisical crew. He is met at first with resentment, but later wins the men's respect using tact whilst remaining firm. Hawks pushes the men beyond their limits as the Belinda fights it's way through some of the bitterest campaigns in the Pacific theatre.
Away All Boats is dated flag waving at the best of times crammed with all the war movie clichés of the decade as well a strong share of wooden performances. The movie chunters along at a laboured pace with mostly desiccated dialogue and tight eruptions of action. It does get rather boring in the middle and we are fed spoonful upon spoonful of corniness. The romantic flashbacks involving Lt. MacDougall(the Belinda's second in command)and his wife forced me to cringe. I just found these flashbacks pointless and again clichéd, they're just so familiar and seem to be copied from at least 10 other movies. Then again I suppose every film of the 1940s and 50s had to have at least one character with a love interest. The 1950s morals surrounding husband and wife were just too forced. There are also some poor attempts at comic relief. Two sailors fight over a Coconut like a couple of kids which in turn instigates a brawl. I'm sorry but it made the movie feel all the more hackneyed. The main problem is that the script contained a few great ideas which were hashed together with mawkish plot devices in a rush. The piercing soundtrack, whilst commanding your attention, is nearly played non stop over endless shots of landing craft and Battleships.
Apart from the movie dragging itself to the point of becoming tiresome, Jeff Chandler was excellent as the stern Captain Hawks, although he was trying too hard to channel John Wayne. He played in a lot of Universal's B westerns but his portray of Hawks in this movie is his most robust performance. He really hams it up without coming across as being too pretentious, therefore exploding with charisma in a lot of scenes and showing the viewer he cares about his character. His acting ability peaks during the battle near the end of the movie. At the sight of a burning Kamikaze hurtling toward the Belinda, the near crazed Hawks waves his hand in rage and screams above all the explosions and gunfire as it speeds ever closer "HARD LEFT, HARD LEFT I SAY, GET AWAY FROM MY SHIP, GET YOUR FILTHY PLANE AWAY FROM MY SHIP"!!!!!!. The plane crashes and the Bridge becomes engulfed in flames. Overacted maybe, but these few seconds are the greatest part of the entire film and the brutal aggression displayed by Chandler is an acting tour de force to be reckoned with!. The same cannot be said for much of the other actors, although Richard Boone was pretty good. The few action sequences were spectacular and crammed with all the suspense that director Joseph Penvey could muster. The use of colour wartime footage showing massive destroyer's cannons blasting islands to smithereens takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the battles of Makin, Saipan, Guam and others. The final Kamikaze attack on the Belinda was packed with amazing special effects and tautness and looked extremely professional. A lot of this action footage, including the shot of one of the Japanese planes crashing into the Belinda, various shots of anti aircraft batteries firing at the attacking planes and shots of the Belinda's crew struggling to douse the flames on it's deck were all pinched and inserted into The Battle OF Midway(1976). This is the only part of the movie which etches the realistic chaos of war into your mind.
Away All Boats is given the cheap and corny treatment but is saved by a few dazzling sequences, but it's not up to much other than that. It's still worth watching for some of the sequences mentioned above though.7/10.
Away All Boats is dated flag waving at the best of times crammed with all the war movie clichés of the decade as well a strong share of wooden performances. The movie chunters along at a laboured pace with mostly desiccated dialogue and tight eruptions of action. It does get rather boring in the middle and we are fed spoonful upon spoonful of corniness. The romantic flashbacks involving Lt. MacDougall(the Belinda's second in command)and his wife forced me to cringe. I just found these flashbacks pointless and again clichéd, they're just so familiar and seem to be copied from at least 10 other movies. Then again I suppose every film of the 1940s and 50s had to have at least one character with a love interest. The 1950s morals surrounding husband and wife were just too forced. There are also some poor attempts at comic relief. Two sailors fight over a Coconut like a couple of kids which in turn instigates a brawl. I'm sorry but it made the movie feel all the more hackneyed. The main problem is that the script contained a few great ideas which were hashed together with mawkish plot devices in a rush. The piercing soundtrack, whilst commanding your attention, is nearly played non stop over endless shots of landing craft and Battleships.
Apart from the movie dragging itself to the point of becoming tiresome, Jeff Chandler was excellent as the stern Captain Hawks, although he was trying too hard to channel John Wayne. He played in a lot of Universal's B westerns but his portray of Hawks in this movie is his most robust performance. He really hams it up without coming across as being too pretentious, therefore exploding with charisma in a lot of scenes and showing the viewer he cares about his character. His acting ability peaks during the battle near the end of the movie. At the sight of a burning Kamikaze hurtling toward the Belinda, the near crazed Hawks waves his hand in rage and screams above all the explosions and gunfire as it speeds ever closer "HARD LEFT, HARD LEFT I SAY, GET AWAY FROM MY SHIP, GET YOUR FILTHY PLANE AWAY FROM MY SHIP"!!!!!!. The plane crashes and the Bridge becomes engulfed in flames. Overacted maybe, but these few seconds are the greatest part of the entire film and the brutal aggression displayed by Chandler is an acting tour de force to be reckoned with!. The same cannot be said for much of the other actors, although Richard Boone was pretty good. The few action sequences were spectacular and crammed with all the suspense that director Joseph Penvey could muster. The use of colour wartime footage showing massive destroyer's cannons blasting islands to smithereens takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the battles of Makin, Saipan, Guam and others. The final Kamikaze attack on the Belinda was packed with amazing special effects and tautness and looked extremely professional. A lot of this action footage, including the shot of one of the Japanese planes crashing into the Belinda, various shots of anti aircraft batteries firing at the attacking planes and shots of the Belinda's crew struggling to douse the flames on it's deck were all pinched and inserted into The Battle OF Midway(1976). This is the only part of the movie which etches the realistic chaos of war into your mind.
Away All Boats is given the cheap and corny treatment but is saved by a few dazzling sequences, but it's not up to much other than that. It's still worth watching for some of the sequences mentioned above though.7/10.