Very violent and at times, sensitive anti war film. Wilde proves once more his talents as a director. This is one of those movies, that although it isn't a favourite, I return to periodically. Many critics on IMDb have mentioned it's influence/similarity to saving private ryan and The thin red line. You can see where they're coming from. Although I don't tjhink it's in the same league, it's still a worthwhile companion piece. One thing I noticed. Rip Torn was the only actor who had what would be considered an army haircut.

I remember seeing Cornel Wilde in a couple of costume dramas as a kid. Intense eyes, a very interesting voice, and later I realized he was wearing a wig. He always seemed old to me. I've seen three movies directed by Wilde. I reviewed Sword of Lancelot, a very good try for a low-budget clang-and-banger. I remember enjoying how daring Wilde was in his execution of battle scenes, and I'm still a little startled by his scene with Guinevere, all drying sweat and catching their breath. 1962. Wow.Anyway, I saw Beach Red in 2008 on TCM, I think. Although it's a clunky, over-dramatic war-is-heller, once again, Wilde finds some interesting ways to tell his story of the US Marines and Japanese soldiers fighting for an island in the South Pacific. Lots of narrative, lots of flashbacks. I remember one where a Japanese thinks about his wife and children in a bath house. Lots of naked people, but you don't really notice because of how Wilde humanizes his characters. Of course they're naked in a bath house. So what?It's weird to say this, but that is good movie-making.Beach Red isn't a great war--or anti-war--movie. But Cornel Wilde seems to have made a name for himself as something of a risk-taker. He sometimes uses a sledgehammer when a scalpel would do, but he gives it a try. Something most corporate movie-hacks wouldn't dream of doing. And that is why I recommend Beach Red.I just saw 1977's The Hills Have Eyes. Wes Craven seems to come from the same school of thought, "Let's throw it up on the screen and see if it sticks." But don't lose control of the narrative.

For the first few minutes i thought this might be good but during the landing i knew it was just gonna be a wreck.......i even kept watching while cornel wilde held his .45 like an ice cream cone.......constantly......i've never seen a handgun held that way except by a small child......it is just sad with all the money he must have spent on this it is just incredible that everyone who hated this movie was absolutely correct..........i was gonna keep watching so i could see the goof with the guys running around in the background in blue jeans and sneakers but i couldn't stand the awful dialogue, the terrible direction, the goofy narration and the us marines portrayed as girl scouts any longer so i'll never know or care how it ends..........i did get to the plastic spoon used for the canned bean eating though........that was funny......1945....white plastic spoon.....ha!.......i actually have my uncles 3 utensil METAL cutlery set he used in the pacific......the kind that fits together and slides apart while in use.......i also enjoyed whenever an actor was going to shoot a weapon in a number of scenes and the gun didn't or wouldn't fire when in the context of the scene it was clearly supposed to...........and i'm sure they said we'll just leave it in because it looks real when in actuality the actor made no effort to "clear" or un-jam the thing as would a real marine......it just looked so stupid..........something that should have been re-shot or left on the cutting room floor.All in all, just a waste of time..........a real boring, kind of weird stinker and probably the reason wilde only directed two more films after this.

Despite Burr DeBenning's and Rip Torn's best efforts at overacting, there is absolutely nothing funny about this film. BEACH RED is one of the most straight-faced and poignant visions of World War II, featuring a lot more heart and humanity than most others of the era and production values which betray its small budget.Wilde had more creative control over this than any of his other projects and used it as nothing less than a damning condemnation of war not seen since ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. The Japanese aren't subtitled but are presented as just as human as the Americans, and everything appears fair and balanced without any jingoism, patriotism, or bravado in the slightest.It opens with us introduced with many low-level marines who bond and bicker while their landing boat approaches a deadly beach. What follows is some of the most harrowing war action seen up until recently in the likes of PLATOON or SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, and it doesn't let up for the next 20 minutes. This opening action is really top-notch, featuring plenty of pyrotechnics, massed extras, vintage Walker-Bulldog tanks, and even some flamethrowers. The real stand-out shot is when the pinned-down soldiers look back to the beach to see a lone G.I. staggering around with his left arm blown off. Truly powerful.At around this point the film makes a transition to flashback mode with lots of still images used for dramatic effect to show what all the players have to lose by the war. I don't think I've ever seen a film with this many stills, and they work just as well as (or better than) the live-action footage. In the end, it makes the deaths of even the most minor characters quite profoundly tragic. In the end, men have died, dreams have been crushed, memories lost... and just to take control of some obscure island in the Pacific.This was one of those many war films I remember catching on TBS back when I was 7 or 8. For some reason it always stood out to me, even though I was far too young to catch the meaning of it. However, as an adult and finally able to see it via DVD, I've come to appreciate it on a deeper level every time I can bear to watch it. An experimental, though not entirely successful film, BEACH RED is however the war film that most effectively communicates the tragedy of death in war.