Very well executed

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

An action-packed slog

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

"I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone to conquer, not to redeem." — Mark Twain Robert Aldrich attempts to repeat the success of "The Dirty Dozen" with "Too Late the Hero", a dull war adventure starring Michael Caine and Cliff Robertson.The plot? During WW2's Pacific Campaign, Captain Hornsby (Denholm Elliot), an incompetent British soldier, leads an attack on a Japanese radio outpost. Assisting him are Lieutenant Lawson (Cliff Robertson), an American language translator, and Private Tosh Hearne (Michael Caine), a disgruntled soldier."Too Late the Hero" indulges in many, then trendy, Vietnam Era counter-clichés. Aldrich's British and American soldiers are all corrupt, incompetent or insane, the Japanaese military men they face are nobly portrayed, and combat is seen to be uniformly vile and brutal. For Aldrich, warfare is a game of constant betrayals, though his film as a whole eventually amounts to but a familiar ode to heroism and sacrifice. And like most war films, locals are given no voice (the film was shot in the Phillipines, scene of a bloody but now forgotten US genocide). Michael Caine steals the show as the jaded Private Hearne.5/10 – Worth one viewing. See "Beach Red", Cox's "Walker" and "Decision Before Dawn".

Too Late the Hero is directed by Robert Aldrich who also co-writes the screenplay with Lukas Heller and Robert Sherman. It stars Michael Caine, Cliff Robertson, Henry Fonda, Ken Takakura, Denholm Elliott, Lance Percival, Ronald Fraser and Ian Bannen. Music is by Gerald Fried and cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc.Lawson (Cliff Robertson) is an American naval officer who specialises in Asiatic languages, thus he is sent to a Pacific island to assist a group of British soldiers on what seems a routine mission. The mission is to simply knock out the Japanese army's key transmitter, but as the men get deeper into the jungle terrain it becomes obvious that the odds of survival are minimal at best. With inner fighting escalating and a hostile enemy closing in fast, it's a time for heroes to be born and friendships to be laid bare.Often, and wrongly, considered a weak attempt by Aldrich to cash in on the success of his Dirty Dozen movie three years earlier, Too Late the Hero had been written some ten year previously. Although some way away from the gutsy grandeur and bulging biceps of The Dirty Dozen, TLTH is still a potent war movie. Often claustrophobic in mood and acerbic in war character observations, film holds narrative attention from first reel to last. Bursts of violence drift in and out of the plot to keep things on the boil, but it's the excellently drawn characterisations of the major players that stops this from merely being another run of the mill "insanity of war" movie. It's also nice to find the Japanese are portrayed as an intelligent foe, and not the irksome machine gun fodder so rife in other films of the ilk. It helps to have Takakura turning in a stoic performance as part of the latter, too.Some other astute reviewers has given this film a tag line of it being a unique war film, not a truer line has been typed on the internet forums. This film, tho not bringing anything new by way of the psychological aspects of men under duress, always remains a thoroughly engrossing picture. Helmed by the criminally undervalued Aldrich, film boasts a ream of excellent performers making it unique by bringing to life a screenplay that's not pandering to any conformity's of the genre, it relies totally on strength of dialogue and character formations to capture our interest. Really the only charge from dissenters that might stick here is that it's arguably just another Vietnam allegory that the 70s seemed intent on giving us. Arguably, mind.It's a bloody suicide mission!That the cast list contains Michael Caine (brilliant here with gritty swagger), Cliff Robertson, Denholm Elliott and a barely used Henry Fonda is of obvious interest from the start, but the ace card in Too Late The Hero's pack is with its supporting players, Ian Bannen, Harry Andrews, Ronald Fraser and a serious turn from comedy specialist, Lance Percival, where all of them in the sweltering confines of the Phillipines location manage to pull the viewer into the mix and fully realise the crispness of Aldrich's excellent screenplay; aided superbly by Biroc who manages to convey via his photography some apt sweaty jungle madness. Yes! This is not a film for those wanting guns a blazing at every turn, it's simply not that type of Gung-Ho picture, those bursts of action, while hitting hard, are swamped by the focused action of the human mind at work, the kind where greed, mistrust and a basic survival instinct are the order of the day.The set-up of the two opposing armies on this island is a bit daft, so some suspension of logic is needed from the off, while there's no escaping the fact that there are a number of war movie clichés within. Yet this is still potent stuff, a film with things to say and corrosive in its telling. Making for once, the negativity of such material, still a rewarding viewing experience. 8/10

It started with films like 'Lost Patrol' and 'Objective, Burma', but completely exploded into a sub-genre with the likes of 'The Guns Of Navarone' and 'Bridge On The River Kwai', these two films creating such momentum that for the next two decades the sub-genre ruled box office draws like a tornado. What made these films special? For one, they were usually set in far away, exotic, dangerous and exciting places. Places you never even heard of, so remote, not even the characters in the film knew where they were. But this still is not a sufficient explanation to why we find these films appealing. No, they're appealing because of the men. Send a group of men far away on a mission behind enemy lines, where the minutest mistake could be the difference between life and death, and you have a 'time bomb'. Characters are vital for the success of these films. Each in the unit must have a different background, be flawed in some way, have a weakness and strength. Only together they will succeed in achieving their goal. We love to listen to the briefings, objectives and the planning phase and we enjoy watching the selection process because we anticipate that by the end we will know these men like they were our own brothers. Once deployed, the film really begins and we are in for an adventure of a lifetime. We know what the men must do, but we don't know how. And once there is opposition among the men, the tension really begins. Subconsciously, after watching the men interact and counteract and delve deeper behind enemy territory toward their goal, you cannot help but feel you are part of a unit. Your only world is the group. They are your family. And voilà, magic! Rarely has a sub-genre such as this been defined so well as by the classic "Too Late The Hero". It has it all. Exotic jungle, hot weather, rugged terrain, arrogant men from all walks of life, impossible mission orders, uncharted territory and a mighty enemy. No silly actresses or damsels in distress for comic or tragic relief, this film is like Rorke's Drift in the tropics. Everyone is tough and if they're not tough, tough luck, because once behind enemy lines there is no turning back. And this film has the most colorful ensemble of character actors I've ever seen. Cliff Robertson plays that lackluster turned reluctant hero character he's so good at playing. Michael Caine eats the scenery as the Cockney loud-mouth. Denholm Elliott is still lost in his own museum. Harry Andrews and Henry Fonda play themselves (which isn't a bad thing as they both deserve all accolades they ever received). Supporting cast is made of character actors playing roles that range from 'slum rat' unreliable type to 'strictly by-the-book' stiff-upper-lip type, from paranoid, insecure type to hard-as-nails tough S.O.B. Denholm Elliott falls into all categories throughout the film as the mission takes its toll on his nerves.The film's setup is so riveting. You have an island situated somewhere in the pacific. Two settlements both on opposite sides of the island, both represent the enemy to the other. The Americans have sent one of theirs on a mission that is as daring as the quest for the Golden Fleece. A unit of British soldiers is assembled when the American arrives to the island's southern settlement, a settlement surrounded by an oval of grass clearing (to allow for a visible barrier around the settlement). The men set off, their objective being to locate a radio-tower at the Japanese settlement on the other side of the island and neutralize it. Why not just send planes to raid it by air? The Japanese will hear them coming and will radio for reinforcements. This is not what the British want. A complete element of surprise is crucial to finding the radio and destroying it, so that when a British ship passes the Japanese settlement, no transmissions can be made for help. This means the brave soldiers must walk into the lion's den. Led by the American (Cliff Robertson), they must cut their way through humid, sticky, wet, dense jungle completely unnoticed for miles, through night and day, and find the settlement, the radio tower, blow it to smithereens, neutralize the enemy and run for their lives back to base……….back to where they started, with the impenetrable jungle, and the invisible mines and soldiers camouflaged by the green in between them and freedom. But if that were not enough, the tension and confusion between the men builds to such intensity that mutiny seems inevitable.If you're looking for a jungle suspense fest, you've found the film you're looking for. The whole cast delivers. You finish the film feeling worn out, tired, secure and relieved…………..the kind of relief you get when you feel free and safe…….the actors pull it off so convincingly that you could almost taste their sweat. It's sheer brilliance and an amazing realization of heroism. The direction was claustrophobic and fast-paced, as was the desperate dialog between the men. The script consistently holds your attention, never letting go, always leaving you on the edge-of-your-seat until the powerful finale. One of the greatest complements to the film was the lack or little use of music. This is used to great effect as the REAL music comes in the form of snapping twigs, leaves moving, water trickles, bird chirping and other wildlife…….and absolute MAYHEM. But the greatest monument to the film, the force behind its very success, is the combined efforts of all actors involved. They MADE the film. It's completely character driven……….it's about the men………..about the heroics of those who never thought they could accomplish anything, who under the odds accomplished everything.If you're getting a little tired of watching Colin Farrell, Will Smith and Brad Pitt, borrow this film and relive a time when films were made with professional actors……..not bum fluff.

This is a very exciting and fast paced war movie, as most older war movies are, in comparison with the yawners made today. It may even be compared to Platoon, which I consider a classic. It is a war story which depicts the phases of World War II before modern warfare. It involves real men put into the situation of war, not like today, with super technical training, but with a real portrayal of leaders who weren't always so capable, and the almost comic (from a distance) horror(up close) they could cause. Cliff Robertson plays his usual rogue, and reluctant hero (Masquerade, PT 109), and the others play characters they are usually comfortable with. It is a thrill ride, and a good psychological look at sometimes stupid split second decisions in times of stress.