Product Description

NAVY RADIOMAN GEORGE R. TWEED IS TRAPPED FOR THREE YEARS ON THE JAPANESE-HELD ISLAND OF GUAM.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30227 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
• Released on: 2004-05-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 114 minutes

Customer Reviews

One of the most underated WW2 films of all time!
I'm so glad this classic is finally getting a dvd release! While it doesn't have the large-scale battle scenes of The Longest Day, it nevertheless remains one of my all-time favorite WW2 films. Jeffrey Hunter gives one of his best performances as George Tweed, a U.S. Navy sailor trapped on the island of Guam after the Japanese invade in Dec. 1941. There are four other sailors with him, but they are killed off one by one until only Tweed is left to fend for himself. That is, until he discovers the friendly natives, who continually risk their lives (& in some cases give their lives)to protect him from the Japanese occupation troops. He is continually on the move, however, because the Japanese are always trying to catch him. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that this is one of the best WW2 films you'll ever see!

Classic PAcific-war...
Havent seen it for years, sadly, although 'Hell to Eternity' with Jeffrey Hunter is a fairly-frequent TV re-run, 'No man is an Island' seems forgotten. Seen it at a drive-in as a child, scenes which stick in memory were the early part of the movie the shock of the first Japanese attack on Guam, some of his friends killed in Japanese strafing, his remaining friends being killed off one by one as they flee the victorious Japanese, one shot by a Japanese in a million-to-one shot while hiding in a straw-covered cart, another stung by a scorpion, till just the main Jeffrey Hunter character(Tweed , I gather from the other reviews) remains, to stay at large and harass the Japanese as well: the printing-press spreading encouraging-news of the US fighting back with the Dooloittle-raid, the Japanese smelling the news-pamphletts and declaring "ether-Hospital!"(ooops, they are onto them!)
the sword-wielding officer he and the brave Filipinos poison and cover-up, his body dumped on a beach and eaten by crabs,lol, and the final rescue by the US destroyer he warns and saves from the Japanese gun-emplacement on the island.( and the destroyer's sailors racial epithets which dont sit well with this man who has lived and fought for 2 or 3 years with these America-loyal people)

Pacific-war fans dont get the run of films that were made about the German war, but this is one Id put in any selection of top-5 faves. Has 'atmosphere' and good moments, is just entertaining yarn.As an Australian, I always was particularly interested in the WW2 Japanese and these Pacific campaigns, to this day. Good story, and Hunter did a few Pacific-war movies.Classical genre, and above-average.

Botched widescreen DVD makes flat VHS version preferable
A side by side comparison of both the DVD and VHS versions shows the DVD to contain no additional video information at the sides of the frame. That means that the DVD image has been matted to a 1:1:185 ratio that crops important signs, not to mention the breathtaking image of Jeffrey Hunter.

MCA-Universal has insisted on transferring every non-Cinemacope/Panavision movie from the 60s to 1:1:185, including the Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedies, which had their precise aspect ratios preserved intact in their laserdisc releases.

Audiences havn't been fooled by MCA-Universal's misguided widescreen transfers on DVD. The out-of-print VHS version of No Man is an Island sells for infinitely more than the low-priced DVD.

MCA-Universal, get your act together. At least try to achieve the conscientious standard set during the laserdisc period.