Best movie of this year hands down!

the audience applauded

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

This is a remake of "The Bridge on the River Kwai" at one-tenth the cost (resulting, not surprisingly, in far less quality).Ten bullet points:1. I first saw the picture in about 1970 on "NBC Saturday Night at the Movies" and loved it. I was very young. 'Nuff said about that.2. It's not available as a DVD on Netflix, for some unknown reason, but is available for streaming there, and is available free on YouTube, somewhat altered (darkened to avoid copyright issues). 3. The music, by Richard LaSalle, sounds very much like "Kwai" except not as good. LaSalle scored many films in his career, all of them destined for second billing at drive-ins.4. The stars are mediocre. Hugh O'Brian (the poor man's William Holden) is palpably bored and/or wooden to the point of parody. O'Brian had quite a career going for himself in the 1950s but by the time of this production was C List. (He was a good man though; inspired by the great Albert Schweitzer, he founded a charitable foundation that seems to do good things.) James Mitchum, son of Robert, looks just like his old man (as he undoubtedly heard every day of his life) but has very little of daddy's talent (yes, nepotism does get your foot in the door in Hollywood). His role here, as written, is actually somewhat subtle and complex, involving emotions like ambivalence; he just ain't up to putting the stuff on the screen. 5. Two supporting actors do well here: Tisa Chang as Miyazaki and Mickey Rooney as Ernie. Miyazaki is tough, earthy, sexy, real. Ernie is full of vinegar and has a couple of funny lines. The film's director (Ron Winston) should have seen that Rooney brought his A game to this production and was worthy of a lot more screen time. 6. Re James Mitchum - what a burden, to be the not-very-talented son of a really famous father and look just like him. I think of Dhani Harrison (son of George) in this context. Difficult to have one's own life. (I really think Dhani should turn his back on all those millions of dollars coming in every year, and the endless parade of luscious 20-year-old groupies, and strike out totally on his own. Easy for me to say, right.)7. The heart of the film is the teahouse sequence followed a bit later by the village sequence. These are reasonably interesting - maybe worth six stars. 8. There seems to be a modest Vietnam connection here. My guess is, this is why the film got funded (it was made in 1965-66). Several lines of dialogue suggest Vietnam including "Who's the enemy?" "Anyone." That kind of thing.9. As various reviews note, these commandos aren't very good at their jobs (thanks to the film's writers). Examples abound. For instance, during their first encounter with the enemy (three Japanese soldiers eating supper) they open fire much too hastily (i.e., they don't wait to see if any enemy soldiers are off in the forest taking a dump or watching birds or whatever). This tactical failure gets the head honcho of the commandos killed. Handy for script purposes but absurd for believability. 10. Watchable for Mickey, for Tisa, for the teahouse and village sequences, and for the Philippines locale, and if, like me, you love war movies and are willing to put up with a lot of mediocrity.

*Spoilers below*"Ambush Bay" is the poster-child of how to make a war film based solely on clichés. Regardless, the result is a very entertaining look at espionage in the Pacific Theater.Days before MacArthur's fleet is to return to the Philippines, a squad of Marines is dropped on Mindanao with a risky assignment: penetrate enemy territory and contact a spy named Miyazaki who operates out of a Japanese rest camp. They spy has information vital to MacArthur's intelligence department. They are experts in the field of killing, except for Grenier (Jim Mitchum), a PBY radio man who was assigned to the team at the last minute when the original radio operator got sick. Grenier doesn't fit in with the veterans, especially the macho Sgt. Corey (Hugh O'Brian).The piece is clichéd from start to finish – in what movie have we not seen the characters, setting or mission before? Director Winston handles this nonsense seriously – so seriously, that despite the flaws, it's very easy to enjoy this movie, even in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. O'Brian gives a passionate performance, even if his character is anything but original and personal. His Sergeant is virtually a superhero, as Sgt. Wartell (Mickey Rooney!) reveals to Grenier by describing a series of Corey's early exploits on Guadalcanal and Tarawa. Rooney looks to be thoroughly enjoying himself as he scales cliffs and mows down Japanese infantry by the dozen, although he looks way too old and simultaneously boyish to be a believable career marine. Although he gets third billing, Mitchum's is the most developed and believable character. He's a person any viewer can relate to: thrown into a situation beyond his control, Grenier is forced to adapt to ever-changing conditions – and fast – because his life may depend on it. He wants to do his job well, but doesn't have any natural talent, and therefore his peers look down on him with contempt. His performance never strikes a false note, and he even gets to lapse into some voice-overs to keep things fresh.The on-location photography is stunning from beginning to end. Had this film not been shot in the Philippines, any credibility would have been totally lost. The exteriors are appropriately lush and beautiful. Winston and cinematographer Emmanuel L. Rojas don't just take us into the steamy jungles; we get to venture into rice patties, across streams and down rushing, crystal clear blue rivers. I absolutely hate it when producers try to make ridiculous locations like North American forests ("The Green Berets") or rocky plains of Spain (1964's "The Thin Red Line") pass for Asian or South Pacific jungles. The technique just doesn't work. Kudos to Winston for choosing to shoot this film in the actual locations it is said to have occurred at.Although the movie runs nearly 2 hours, the time flies by. The pace is kept fluid in two ways. The characters are constantly on the go. The only reason they stop is rest, and we're treated to discussion revealing something of their character. For example, we don't get to know Corey as a person until late in the film when he develops a relationship with Tisa Chang's character. When the men aren't hiking or resting, they're engaged in some sort of combat with the enemy – patrols, tanks and indigenous cannibals constantly hamper their progress. Winston doesn't dwell on the supporting cast at all: most of them are non-essential characters that he kills off in a few early encounters with the enemy. We constantly ask ourselves "Who is going to get killed next?" This curiosity keeps us engaged right up until the climactic battle inside a fortified Japanese radio installation.All of that said, it's necessary to point out several technical flaws which make the proceedings difficult to take seriously. The members of the squad are introduced quite extensively as masters in the art of warfare, but by the half-way point, almost all of them have been killed by Japanese draftees. Their detailed introductions are a waste of viewer time and engagement, since Winston seems to want to kill all of them off as quickly as possible. The death of one key character, involving "baked potatoes", has got to be an example of some of the worst screen-writing I've witnessed. Some of the special effects (namely the destruction of a tank) are very below par, even for a low-budget film from 1966. Outdoor sets are used multiple times, to represent very different locations. The film's climax is packed with unlikely heroics, but by the time it arrives, viewers have dispensed with realistic expectations. The ridiculous baseball-style caps look like something a Green Beret or Navy SEAL might have worn in the 1960s, but are totally out of place in a World War II movie. I took flak for this comment elsewhere. I don't care if Baseball caps are the "headgear of choice" for Marine air crewmen - these are Marines on an important mission and the last thing they'll be wearing in a green jungle is a bright red cap which yells "HERE I AM! SHOOT ME!" Perhaps the unbelievable, overstated corny parts of "Ambush Bay" make it such an entertaining film; maybe it's more sincere performances of Mitchum and O'Brian that make it stand out from the deluge of "jungle patrol" stories out there. Whatever the reason, it's thoroughly enjoyable has been a favorite of mine since I caught it on cable as a kid. Now that it's available on DVD, a whole new audience may have opened up.

The criteria presented regarding this movie is correct, except for the comment on the US M4 Sherman. In all wars, including the Second World War, forces from all sides wind up capturing enemy equipment. M3A1 Stuart light tanks of US manufacture were caputred by the Japanese in the Philippines (in Bataan) during 1941 and subsequently pressed into their service. The tank depicted in the movie could have been captured during the Guadalcanal campaign as the island kept continuously changing hands, shipped to the Phillipines and assigned to serve whatever division occupied those islands. Simple as that. There are records that show a few Sherman tanks were INDEED captured during the entire Pacific War.

******SPOILERS*******Tightly produced, well-cast little war film, with sturdy O'Brian in thelead as a seasoned marine leading a small detatchment of crack troops into the Phillippeans in late 1943 on recon work. The only member of the troupe who isn't seasoned is the all-important radio operator (Mitchum) who's taken under the wing of the unit's "career marine" machine-gun specialist (yes, Rooney). Predictably, he manages to grate on everyone's nerves and be one of the mission's last survivors at the same time. Good writing manages to make the story's more contrived moments come off well, and carries the film with a realistic tone and feel. Another good production from Aubrey Schenck.