Watch Merrill's Marauders For Free

The Worst Film Ever

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Based on the true story of a brigadier general who led his troops through Burma during World War II despite fatigue and starvation, 'Merrill's Marauders' might sound like a simple slice of history, but with Samuel Fuller at the helm it is more than that. Fuller apparently did not have full control over the film, and the flag-waving, sentimental ending and heavy exposition early on ensure that the film starts and ends on a weak note. The bulk of the movie is very well done though, and as per 'Verboeten!' and 'Fixed Bayonets!', the film benefits from Fuller's penchant for dialogue over action scenes in his war movies. The battle scenes are in fact quite dull with lots of explosive noises but limited bloodshed or carnage - something that actually helps the dialogue scenes stand out. Memorable bits include the soldiers discussing lost time (they can't work out whether it is 'a.m.' or 'p.m.', let alone the day of the week), the soldiers debating how much Merrill really cares about them over his objective, and Merrill reluctantly accepting orders to keep his men fighting on for longer than they had agreed without food (there is a haunting part when one soldier rushes to some parachuted supplies). The film's best asset though is probably Jeff Chandler's commanding lead performance, having to hide his character's health problems and show a strong face to his men despite having mixed feelings about the mission himself. Chandler was reportedly quite unwell during filming, which no doubt helped him carve such a realistic performance; sadly he passed away before the film was even released.

In 1944, an elite US unit of jungle fighters dubbed Merrill's Marauders is engaged in a dangerous mission in Burma to capture a Japanese stronghold. Faced with treacherous conditions and greatly outnumbered, can they prevail ?This gritty war story, like almost all of Fuller's fascinating films, challenges the viewer to decide what it is really saying. On one hand it's a simple story of bravery, heroism and loyalty overcoming incredible odds, and is comparable to many of the war pictures of its time. On the other however, it's a detached portrayal of military insanity, shocking savage mistreatment of men pushed through almost unimaginable hardship for scant reason. The victories and the patriotic ending (which was added against Fuller's wishes) dress it up a little more palatable, but for me it's clear which one of these viewpoints the film is really going for. People often think movies like The Deer Hunter or Platoon were the first to depict the physical and psychological ravages of war, but this is unfounded; there's a long tradition of realism in American war films, with movies like this, Robert Aldrich's Attack, John Huston's The Red Badge Of Courage, all the way back to Lewis Milestone's All Quiet On The Western Front. Fuller was a WWII veteran and he understands these men instinctively; the General given impossible decisions to make, the Lieutenant who finds it hard to be above the camaraderie of his men, the world-weary Sergeant who cries when a local woman offers him a bowl of rice. Shot in the Philippines in beautiful Cinemascope by longtime John Wayne collaborator William H. Clothier, the camera glides around the action often with long, elegant silent takes. One of the hardest things for a movie to do is convey the oppressive conditions this one does - heat, humidity, stench, malaria, grime, mud, thirst, sheer animal exhaustion - which are at the very core of the story. The pathos of the movie is that it's all true; there really was a 5307th Composite Unit and they did march 750 miles across Burma, fought five major battles and only 200 men from 3000 survived. The movie was adapted by Fuller and producer Milton Sperling from a book by journalist Charlton Ogburn. Chandler's final film.

Sam Fuller's "Merrill's Marauders" (1962) is a realistic account of U.S. Army soldiers fighting the Japanese in the jungles of Burma during World War II. Starring Jeff Chandler as General Frank Merrill, the movie captures the sheer exhaustion of these men as they battle typhoid, malaria, and the perils of jungle warfare under the worst conditions possible. Along for the ride are plenty of stock players from the Warner Brothers roster of the early 1960s including Will Hutchins, Peter Brown and Ty Hardin. Claude Akins also has a prominent role in the cast as does Andrew Duggan as the unit's top M.D. Pushing his men to the extreme, Merrill is soon scorned as a "butcher." What they don't know is that the General is practically dead on his feet himself. Obsessed with completing his mission and following his superior's orders, Merrill finally collapses in a heap. In the final reel, his men march by his outstretched body to go off and fight another brutal battle. Duggan mouths off some unnecessary patriotic nonsense at the end while cradling the stricken General in his arms. Luckily, it doesn't detract from the overall proceedings.Director Sam Fuller, a combat soldier from World War II himself, knows something about war and he instills enough realism in this film for viewers to feel the jungle sweat on their own faces. He later went on to make a movie about his own unit (1980's "The Big Red One"), but this film certainly ranks with his best work. The real Frank Merrill survived the war but died from a heart attack in the mid-1950s. Jeff Chandler didn't last long after this movie either, succumbing to a botched operation at the age of 42.

This was a decent World War II movie, but not as exciting as I had hoped it would be. I liked the fact it was exactly that - a war story - with no sappy romance distractions - but yet it was still on the bland side. I can't quite put my finger on it, but some spark was missing. If this was re-made today, I'm sure it would have been more of an attention-grabber.Perhaps part of the minor problem is that the story is a bit of a downer most of the way through (not that war is ever uplifting). It's basically about a group of soldiers who volunteered for this bad assignment (to fight in Burma) and when their assignment was over and they assumed they were going home, they were given further assignments. Battling unrelenting fatigue and extremely difficult terrain means there are very few upbeat moments in this film. In this based-on-a-true story movie, only about 100 soldiers were left fighting after 3,000 started. Yet a lot of the movie just shows the poor guys sloshing through swamps or slowing trying to make their way up treacherous mountain terrain.You get a few minor attempts at some humor to break up the depressing story, but they are weak such as the stereotypical southerner with his pet mule who wears a straw hat.In some respects, this film reminded me of "The Big Red One," which also was directed by Sam Fuller but had a lot more intensity and passion to it.Jeff Chandler and Ty Hardin were fine in the lead roles, as was Claude Atkins in a supporting one. Chandler and Atkins looked like tough, battle-scarred soldiers more than the others. Hardin has too much pretty-boy looks and voice for this role, although his acting was fine.Overall, okay, but not worth a second look.