The Long and the Short and the Tall

source: Jungle Fighters

Moviecut—Jungle Fighters

The Long and the Short and the Tall

Over acting and a lot of shouting made it an irritating movie...and the set looked like it was in somebody's garage...I thought Lawrence Harvey was supposed to be a good actor

Having read the Willis Hall play with the school. I watched this film and saw that it was like watching the actual characters arguing. This shows how the different characters react to a war situation and this makes the combat scene at the end deeply moving because we get to know the characters as individuals as well as stereotypes. First class drama

An excellent character study of the effects of war on a small British patrol in the Burmese jungle during WWII. Things heat up when they capture a Japanese soldier and then find themselves pinned down by enemy troops. Sets are stagy but it's the acting and writing that carry this story. An all star British cast lead by Lawrence Harvey and Richard Todd are first rate.Todd is the no nonsense leader trying to get his men out of a potentially deadly situation. Harvey plays a hard case enlisted man whose fundamental decency gives the movie it's moral force. A young David McCallum (Man From UNCLE) plays a spineless radio operator in what must be his first role.And to top it off a theme song to rival the Bridge on the River Kwai. All in all a movie that should saved from obscurity because it's so good.

Rarely does a movie transform from the stage to the screen successfully. The Long and the Short and the Tall is one of few exceptions. A harrowing and moving story of how a group of British soldiers find themselves engaged in combat with the enemy in the Burmese jungle. Not only does the imagery capture the intense feeling of fear engaging the soldiers as they realise the enemy forces are aware of their existence, it also takes the viewer into the minds and exposes the smell of death as it envelopes the humid moment of combat. Well worth watching. One of the best war movies ever made with an all star British cast delivering a perfect script.

Indeed, I believe this is the best movie ever made. I saw it first when I was a teenager, and its effect on me was astounding, although I didn't know the title. Twenty years later I learned the title, and it is still the most profound war movie ever made. It proves you don't need a gigantic budget and special effects to have a super story, and a script, in my opinion, is the biggest reason to see a movie. If you don't like great scripts, profound themes, believable characters, great acting and directing, you won't understand what makes this movie great. The characters and fight scenes are uncannily realistic, with human blows and emotions instead of the silly choreography look you get in the modern "dork" fight scenes that leave your eyes wandering in disdain. I won't give away much except to say the plot is much like The Ox-Bow Incident and Southern Comfort. Probably not for right wing war mongers, but it may be just what they need to see.