Product: MacArthur (1977)
Rating: 3.0
Somehow makes the Pacific War and Douglas MacArthur stiff and dull
General Douglas MacArthur casts a long shadow over the entire Eastern Pacific region but this bio pic really does not do him justice. It feels like a the writers took a collection of his speeches, put them in order and filmed them, splicing some WWII and Korean war combat footage between them to build a narrative.Gregory Peck does a fantastic job of looking noble and heroic, and gives great speeches but never really comes to life; through the whole film he is stiff and dull. We get glimpses of his humanity, and some of the final scenes as he is removed from command and watches General Eisenhower become president are well-done but for the rest of the film he is about as human as a presidential robot at Disney World.The script raises some powerful questions about MacArthur's ego, whether his ideas of war still worked in the atomic age and civilian control of the military. But it passes over them with platitudes and never really challenges the viewer.The mix of recreations and stock footage from WWII and Korea makes the whole film feel cheap. The stock footage is easy to spot and the recreations look like they were filmed in a studio backlot. Compared to Patton or A Bridge Too Far everything looks fake.MacArthur has a powerful story to tell and that makes it worth watching, but it's a mediocre job at best.