Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
starring: Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Mitchum
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The story of the first american bombings of the city of tokyo.Studio: Warner Home VideoRelease Date: 06/05/2007Starring: Spencer Tracy Van JohnonRun time: 138 minutesRating: Pg13
Amazon.com:
There is no more ringing title among World War II movies than Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, and the mission it celebrates was unquestionably historic: a 400-mile bombing raid to carry the war to Japan itself mere months after that nation's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet the film is less memorable than many WWII pictures with less exalted factual basis. At the time, critic James Agee eloquently defined both its virtues and limitations as "a big-studio, big-scale film, free of artistic pretension ... transformed by its not very imaginative but very dogged sincerity into something forceful, simple, and thoroughly sympathetic in spite of all its big-studio, big-scale habits." That remains true today, but perhaps the movie--and its unimpeachably noble, admirably life-sized characters--wouldn't seem so stuck in the amber of a bygone era if Mervyn LeRoy and company had pumped a little "artistic pretension" into it.
Spencer Tracy--as James H. Doolittle, architect of the raid--rates the most towering screen credit, and he's superb. But his role's an extended cameo; the emotional core of the film is B-25 pilot Ted Lawson (Van Johnson) and his wife, Ellen (the glowing Phyllis Thaxter). Lawson's bestselling memoir (with Bob Considine) of his training for the secret mission, his group's launching from the aircraft carrier Hornet, and his crash landing and protracted ordeal in China--where he lost a leg--has been faithfully served. The film is long on homely detail and all-American decency (including a remarkably outspoken regret over the unavoidability of civilian casualties) but achieves its greatest impact in the raid itself.That sequence, in addition to boasting Oscar-winning special effects, is mostly shot in riveting silence. --Richard T. Jameson
The story of the first american bombings of the city of tokyo.Studio: Warner Home VideoRelease Date: 06/05/2007Starring: Spencer Tracy Van JohnonRun time: 138 minutesRating: Pg13
Amazon.com:
There is no more ringing title among World War II movies than Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, and the mission it celebrates was unquestionably historic: a 400-mile bombing raid to carry the war to Japan itself mere months after that nation's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet the film is less memorable than many WWII pictures with less exalted factual basis. At the time, critic James Agee eloquently defined both its virtues and limitations as "a big-studio, big-scale film, free of artistic pretension ... transformed by its not very imaginative but very dogged sincerity into something forceful, simple, and thoroughly sympathetic in spite of all its big-studio, big-scale habits." That remains true today, but perhaps the movie--and its unimpeachably noble, admirably life-sized characters--wouldn't seem so stuck in the amber of a bygone era if Mervyn LeRoy and company had pumped a little "artistic pretension" into it.
Spencer Tracy--as James H. Doolittle, architect of the raid--rates the most towering screen credit, and he's superb. But his role's an extended cameo; the emotional core of the film is B-25 pilot Ted Lawson (Van Johnson) and his wife, Ellen (the glowing Phyllis Thaxter). Lawson's bestselling memoir (with Bob Considine) of his training for the secret mission, his group's launching from the aircraft carrier Hornet, and his crash landing and protracted ordeal in China--where he lost a leg--has been faithfully served. The film is long on homely detail and all-American decency (including a remarkably outspoken regret over the unavoidability of civilian casualties) but achieves its greatest impact in the raid itself.That sequence, in addition to boasting Oscar-winning special effects, is mostly shot in riveting silence. --Richard T. Jameson
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- 30 Seconds Over Tokyo,DVD
Great Classic WWII movie, True story.
Good service. DVD arrived on time and in good condition.
Rating: - A Very Long Thirty Seconds
When THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO was released in 1944, the war was a long way from being over.Hollywood knew that the Average Joe was basically still a decent sort, despite the understandable need for a revenge of Pearl Harbor.Director Mervyn LeRoy had to walk a fine line between an over the top jingoistic paen of American pride and one that dealt with a reasonably accurate and entertaining account of the famed Doolittle raid. LeRoy managed to achieve this delicate balance.First, he divides TSOT ... Read More
Rating: - a favorite
May be my Favorite Van Johnson movie of all time. The tru story of Ted Lawson, on e of the pilots on the raid over Tokyo in the B-25 Bombers that took offfrom an aircraft carrier during the early days of WW11
Rating: - The Crew of the Ruptured Duck
Ted Lawson (Van Johnson) is a flyer. He is an ordinary man who excells at his job; he has a wife who is expecting a baby. But it is war, so his circumstances are more intense than they might be in a different time. He is asked to consider a highly secretive project under the command of Lieutenant Doolittle (Spencer Tracy). He accepts and eagerly trains for a mysterious final command.
The project is the now-famous Doolittle raid that bombed Japan following the Pearl Harbor attack. It has ... Read More
Rating: 
- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Good old movie, good old stars.Movie is based on facts.I enjoyed it.Probably what the country needed at the time but characters are to black and white and not well developed.
- 30 Seconds Over Tokyo,DVDGreat Classic WWII movie, True story.
Good service. DVD arrived on time and in good condition.
- A Very Long Thirty SecondsWhen THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO was released in 1944, the war was a long way from being over.Hollywood knew that the Average Joe was basically still a decent sort, despite the understandable need for a revenge of Pearl Harbor.Director Mervyn LeRoy had to walk a fine line between an over the top jingoistic paen of American pride and one that dealt with a reasonably accurate and entertaining account of the famed Doolittle raid. LeRoy managed to achieve this delicate balance.First, he divides TSOT ... Read More
- a favoriteMay be my Favorite Van Johnson movie of all time. The tru story of Ted Lawson, on e of the pilots on the raid over Tokyo in the B-25 Bombers that took offfrom an aircraft carrier during the early days of WW11
- The Crew of the Ruptured DuckTed Lawson (Van Johnson) is a flyer. He is an ordinary man who excells at his job; he has a wife who is expecting a baby. But it is war, so his circumstances are more intense than they might be in a different time. He is asked to consider a highly secretive project under the command of Lieutenant Doolittle (Spencer Tracy). He accepts and eagerly trains for a mysterious final command.
The project is the now-famous Doolittle raid that bombed Japan following the Pearl Harbor attack. It has ... Read More
- Thirty Seconds Over TokyoGood old movie, good old stars.Movie is based on facts.I enjoyed it.Probably what the country needed at the time but characters are to black and white and not well developed.
