Overrated

Awesome Movie

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I was somewhat disappointed with this film and can only give it a charitable 5. Maybe patriotism is adding a rosy glow for other reviewers? The story is a good one and tension does build effectively towards the launch of the mission. Is the plane going to start? Is the takeoff going to be successful? After that, the actual raid is somewhat bland and lacking in tension, and the aftermath of injury and rescue is just corny and unconvincing. It was no doubt made on a limited budget, and it shows just about everywhere. Van Johnson carries the film, such as it is, with his boyish charm, hard to fault. Spencer Tracy acts with power and charisma, only wish we saw more of him. Robert Walker is effective in his part, and something of the emerging screen personality of Robert Mitchum comes through in his part. Otherwise, I found the script shallow and the acting painful. Phyllis Thaxter is unrelentingly saccharine in her part. The other actors seem under-rehearsed, or under-directed. They deliver their lines with verve but seem to just want to get them out and get off. There is rarely any impression that they are listening to other characters and considering their replies. The whole cast is two-dimensional and this really prevents the viewer engaging with them to any extent. It's an adventure story, sure, but it would be good if you felt more empathy for their personalities and concern for their survival! No doubt it fitted the bill at the time, but its value for present-day viewers is limited.

During World War II (before I was born) my father was in the army and served in the campaign that went up through the boot of Italy and then over into Berlin in the closing weeks of the war. After the war he became a civilian, but then in 1952 reenlisted, but this time in the Air Force, where he remained until around 1968. Whenever he would come home on leave I would be stuck watching every old war movie on television, and going to any new war movie at the movie house. Perhaps as a result of over-exposure to war movies, it's a rare war movie that holds my interest. This is one of those rare movies.First, it's a good story...based on the historical first raid on Tokyo during WWII.More important to the movie are strong performances. This was the film that really made Van Johnson. And, indeed, it may be his best performance on film. Ironically, makeup covers up the scars from his terrible real-life auto accident in the first half of the movie. But after the plane crash is this film, they allowed the terrible scars on his forehead show very clearly Spencer Tracy plays Jimmy Doolittle, although he is in a supporting role here...supporting also in the sense of bringing one really big name to the production, thereby increasing box office. I usually think of Don DeFore as being pleasant though shallow, but he does very nicely here as part of the plane's crew who becomes severely injured. Phyllis Thaxter sweetly plays Van Johnson's wife. There's a young Robert Mitchum here in a small supporting role. And Benson Fong is very good as the young Chinese doctor.I'll tell you how good this film is...there were a couple of scenes that brought tears to my eyes, and I don't think that has ever happened to me with a war film.That's not to say it's a perfect movie. The scenes on the beach after the plane crash are poorly acted, perhaps ever hokey. But other than that, it's a great film.

THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO has men training for a dangerous mission, led by Col. Doolittle (Spencer Tracy) who leads them into an adventure that begins with fully loaded bombers making their ascent into the wild blue yonder aboard Naval aircraft carriers. The cooperative team efforts between the Navy and the Air Force is demonstrated throughout and the result is a film that looks almost documentary in its approach to the subject matter.But you have to get beyond some sentimental interludes for romance and that's where the story weakens somewhat, despite the sincerity of the moments depicted between VAN JOHNSON (as Lt. Dawson) and his loving wife (PHYLLIS THAXTER). Nevertheless, by the time the story reaches its powerful conclusion, you'll be rooting for the reunion of the husband (a wounded war hero who has lost one leg) and his wife who is expecting a baby.Sterling performances help put the movie over. Never for a moment is the acting less than exceptional--and that includes VAN JOHNSON in the leading role, ably supported by SPENCER TRACY, ROBERT WALKER, ROBERT MITCHUM, DON DeFORE, SCOTT McKAY, STEPHEN McNALLY (billed as Horace McNally) and, in an unbilled small role, BILL WILLIAMS. All give natural portrayals that are as compelling as the events of the bombing over Tokyo, the crash landing in China and the many events that follow. Relationships between Americans and the Chinese make for the most touching elements in the crash scene and the hospitalization.A fine tribute to the war effort, it's among the best of the service films produced by any of the major studios during WWII.

I was in college and my instructor was giving a lecture on WWII.We dabbled in classroom discussion about the famous Doolttle Raid. I was aware of the raid but I wanted to know more. He suggested the book Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. The book was so compelling, I believe I read it in two days. As you can see I first read the book before I even knew the movie existed.I actually caught the movie on TV accidentally.I was just browsing the Scedule then I noticed the title. This was pretty cool because I read the book only a few weeks before; I had actually thought "too bad they never made a movie". You can never compare a book to a movie, but this movie left you with the same riveting feeling as the book. This is an excellent WWII history.The movie is a classic and is still one of my favorite WWII movies. I absolutely loved this movie.