People are voting emotionally.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Because "Guadalcanal Diary" was made during the war, the film was meant as propaganda--to build support for the war at home and to convince folks that the war would be won. However, the film is not just simple-minded propaganda and is well worth watching. The American marines, while tough, are NOT invincible in this one and the story is based on the invasion of Guadalcanal in 1942. It also helps that the film has a very good ensemble cast of actors and decent production values. The only negative, and it's true in most of these films, is that there is the use of some grainy stock footage. Fortunately, it's not used too often and the story gives you a good but slightly sanitized view of this important battle in the Pacific. Nothing brilliant but very well done.

Considering that this was a WWII movie released in 1943,while the war was still going and a ways from being resolved,this movie was probably as effective and convincing as you were going to get for the period. Certainly,given the state of the nation's need to keep the national morale up for the war effort,anything too graphic or too gritty would(besides probably raise the dander of the censorship standards of the day)probably would've deflated the efforts to get stateside citizenry to buying war bonds,cutting usage of certain products(metals come first to mind)and probably would've helped undercut the Roosevelt administrations efforts to keep the war push at the rate it was going. If it's too soft,it becomes mostly jingoistic and loses just about all of the entertainment value it could possibly have. Fortunately(perhaps by design,maybe not),the makers of this movie were able to strike the right--if perhaps unremarkable--balance.Being a grandchild of the generations being showcased here(erstwhile known by some as "The Greatest Generation"),I have only stories told or written about the two theaters of war effort,not to mention the movies. Of course,as more years would pass between the conclusion of that war,the movies that would be made(many of them sprung from books)would become grittier,harsher,a little less glossy or idealistic,and ultimately,more graphically violent. THerefore,I(And I'm guessing many of my generation)could view this movie somewhat jadedly: the dialog is so simple and full of gaps that it almost feels like it could be parodied on Mystery Science Theatre 3000,add in the fact that many of the "kills" and soldiers dropping dead are noticeably staged and forced looking and you have a film that might have a hard time being instantly compelling to people who've seen things ranging from The Great EScape to Saving Private Ryan. Still,there ARE saving graces to this movie that make it stand the test of time:--The earnest and no-nonsense portrayal of battle and the basic emotions between MArines,from deployment aboard a battleship carrier,right on through the two month battle to claim and seal off the island,is honest enough that anyone who's been through battle,known someone who has been(or still is)at war can feel some common relationship with the characters in the film. Some poignant lines are spoken by the perceived comic relief of the film(a brash,slightly dense private from Brooklyn played by luggish William Bendix)and the wise yet quietly strong chaplain(Preston Brooks),among others,to give this film some heft and--The battle scenes are concise and tight,showcasing plenty of gunfire,explosions,bombings and other various forms of combat violence WITHOUT being tedious or trivial. They are not neat,pretty or always with the desirable outcomes,but they are neither futile nor random.MOst of the characters here seem like composites,no doubt probably an amalgam of (Mostly)young MArines and Army men that script co-writer(with Lamar Trotti) and book source writer Richard Tregaskis met while covering the Pacific Theatre of Operations in the war. I imagine there was pressure on the studio and director Lewis Seiler to crank out this film as fast as possible to stoke the fires of stateside interest in the war effort,so if the finished product doesn't exactly shine,I think he and the people making this movie can be forgiven. All in all,this is a film to recommend for those who are curious about movies set around WWII,particularly films about it that are IN the moment,when America was only able to have so much perspective on it.

The ensemble cast of this film made it the fine war film it is. Most of the cast had starring roles in other films. I thought the narration of Reed Hadley was perfect in telling the story of the first American offensive against the Japanese in WWII. Guadalcanal was a turning point in the Pacific War as it ended a series of Japanese successes and began the shrinking of their Pacific conquests. Others have pointed out the historical inaccuracies including the fact that the Japanese survivors were successfully evacutated from the island and not driven into the sea as depicted in the final battle. One shocking inaccuracy I noticed took place on the second day of the Marine landing. The first night, while huddled in foxholes, they hear gunfire off shore and comments that "The Navy is busy tonight." The next morning, Col. Grayson (Minor Watson) comments, "We lost four cruisers but we beat them off good." In fact, the U.S. Navy suffered one of its worst defeats in history in the battle of Savo Island. The Japanese commander was hardly "beaten off" but decided to withdraw after sinking 4 Allied cruisers (Canberra, Astoria, Quincy and Vincennes)because he thought U.S. carriers were in the vicinity. In fact, they had departed and the Japanese commander could have destroyed the entire invasion fleet and the outcome would have been far different. What proved to be an eventual allied victory, came within a hairs-breath of being a disastrous defeat. While the Marines have received the lion's share of the glory, well deserved, Guadalcanal took the lives of many more Navy personnel than Marines. The many horrific night naval battles took a heavy toll and the waters north of Guadalcanal were aptly renamed "Ironbottom Sound." Sadly, Hollywood has never made a film about the horrors faced by sailors in achieving the victory at Guadalcanal. The movie about the five Sullivan brothers, who all died when their ship (Juneau) was sunk with only 10 survivors in the bloody waters of Guadalcanal, was just a small part of the carnage the Navy suffered there. Guadalcanal Diary is a stirring tribute to the Marine Corps and a accurate portrayal of what they endured on that wretched island.

This is one of the all-time great classic movies of its genre. Unlike most Hollywood movies that use historical events as backgrounds for sappy and insipid love stories, the main "character" of this movie is the event itself. For the Battle of Guadalcanal is one of the key battles in all of history. This momentous event, which took place at the same time the Soviet Union was battling the Germans at Stalingrad, marked the end of Japanese expansion in the south Pacific and the beginning of the process that would lead to Japan's ultimate defeat. It should also be noted that the Battle for Guadalcanal was entirely an American operation, fought several thousands miles away from home and against an implacable enemy that had months, if not years, to prepare their defenses. Moreover, this battle took place just months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The acting is great, the story compelling and is all-in-all a movie that is definitely worth watching.