Well-acted tragic character drama set in the shadow of the Pearl Harbor bombing. Memorable for its unusually direct depictions of alcoholism, infidelity, corruption, and violence in the US military.

Burt Lancaster gets Kudos as a really fine actor but Montgomery Cliff pulls off the greatest job, probably the best in his career. The tension is palpable in each scene in which he appears.

Pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film. Montgomery Cliff and Burt Lancaster are really great as soldiers in the Army before WWII. The romantic scenes left me cold. As they usually do with movies from the 1950's. The complete lack of intimacy. But I did love the scenes with the soldiers.

Iconic beach make-out sequences and good performances aside, the movie has so many noticeable compromises and cop outs in adapting its source material that it lessens the film's potential emotional impact.

The casting in this movie is excellent and the actors do an excellent job with what they're given, but there wasn't enough for me to invest in these characters relationships or characters. I can tell there is depth to these characters, no doubt form the book, but the movie didn't delve into it and I had trouble believing in their short-lived, fairly under-developed relationships - particularly the romances. I think the iconic beach scene is incredibly well-done and obviously pushing the envelope for it's time, but I have trouble stomaching the sense that Kerr's character has to excuse her affairs, much less that they can only be excused by serious trauma - not a lesson I can get behind.

A Classic Drama. Pretty much everything about this is fundamentally really well made. The only issues are the music is good when used but like most Zimmerman pictures it is very seldom used here but it never really feels dry here compared to other movies he's made mainly because it's very well paced with good drama and romance in between that never feels like it's dragged out or a slow burn. The setting is very memorable, there is excellent camerawork, and the attack is very well done also with a great mixture of stock footage and practical effects that blends in perfectly. It's very hard to tell what stock actually is. The editing is very good also but it can jump between Clift & Lancasters story a bit in the first half and it can feel a little jumpy but it really isn't that big a deal mainly because of how well acted and shot everything is. It's very impressive how not much happens here but it never feels like stuff just happens.It does a great job building charming, likable, complex characters that you care about male & female. The ending was a surprise also. Anyone who is a fan of any actors in this, the director, or drama/war hybrid films (As this really isn't a war movie or a straight drama) will like this a lot.

This is one of those movies that I find difficult to change the channel every time it's on. It's a little shy in depicting the brothel scenes, otherwise the ensemble cast is irresistible.

I completely agree with ed m. I am a huge fan of Fred Zinnemann, but unlike High Noon, From Here to Eternity does not hold up well. The plot's soap opera elements drag it down despite some good performances...and some not as good as we'd like to pretend they are. I'm talking to you, Frank. If you still think that this is a classic, invite some friends under 65 to come watch it. When "The End" flashes on the screen, you will be alone.

Fun, but too many soap opera elements. Has not aged well.

Amazing acting by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, and mainly Deborah Kerr in one of the greatest films ever made

top 10 all time film a must must must see

As classics (i.e. black and white films pre-1960s), I quite like this one as it has a good cast (Burt Lancaster and Frank Sinatra), interesting characters and some intriguing scenarios. There's some quite witty dialogue ('if you carry on drinking, you'll be as much use as a melted candle' etc.) and I found it to be an enjoyable watch for the most part. I suppose the plot partly reminded me of the recent drama series 'Catch-20'. I don't tend to be especially keen on some black and white older films but this one was enjoyable with the banter sort of aspect, the various male characters trying to out-do one another, the one-upmanship aspect and so on. Speaking of that, I was almost surprised by how open the male characters are, when talking to the females. I also liked that the female characters were quite good at standing up for themselves too, as necessary at different times. I suppose its perhaps a little sentimental but not entirely in a bad way. Oh and the bugle playing is pretty impressive!. I can certainly see why this is regarded as a classic film, with quite solid performances - its a fairly solid watch which I'd recommend.

It's a very good film with strong performances and some great cinematic passion, I just can't see myself seeing it again, though.

The movie follows a proud solider trapped in the dilemma of his unrelenting devotion to the military and the rigors at a corrupt military base in Hawaii he's been transferred to. The story leading up to the day of Infamy explores the abusive aspects of military cultures and the ideas of unreciprocated love and unappreciated dedication. It is candidly incredible how the internal conflicts the protagonist must wrestle with and the well crafted compelling story and characters of this movie still resonate with and speak to us more than 70 years after its release. It's a criminally underrated cinematic masterpiece.

It was on TCM's playlist and it's one of those iconic American films which I hadn't seen before. I can see why audiences went for this the year I was born - it pushed a lot of hot buttons in the immediate post-war era. It's a pot boiler but limited by the Hollywood production code still in effect. The crashing surf serving as a proxy for the passion between Lancaster and Kerr is a nice period touch. It's hard to separate the performances of the various cast members from their roles and the shooting script. Do we think Burt was especially good in this, or did he get the most sympathetic part? As for Clift, I've given up trying to figure out why critics and film historians think he's so noteworthy; I saw him doing the same portrayal in this as he did in Hitchcock's "I Confess." A lot of the movie revolves around his character but I couldn't see his motivation for undergoing "the treatment" at all. Another "production code" flaw is Donna Reed's involvement with him. I would guess this was developed a lot more in a 900 page book than it was here, but why she did a One Eighty on her life plan for a buck private showing little out of the ordinary escaped me. Women of any kind were a scarce commodity anywhere near a US military base in Hawaii at that time; the lines outside Honolulu's brothels on Hotel Street stretched around the block on paydays and the "New Congress Club" is a laughably sanitized version of what soldiers and sailors went downtown for. In accordance with movie-making of the time, Ernest Borgnine's character gets what's coming to him and December 7th provides a convenient wrapup for the multiple plot threads. Overall an acceptable watch but not All That and a Bag of Chips.

Love, Honor, Glory and Duty!

I gave this so called time classic the very benefit of the doubt as it deserves and my undivided attention for the 2 hrs and 5 mins running time to not feel all that entertained at the very end. Was my 1st time viewing ever and I tried hard to think like they did back in 1953 but that still did not work. Just too much love interest, flirting and "kissy kissy" even for 1953. The last 20 mins was long awaited for as Pearl Harbor was attacked and there was some half decent fight action finally but it was short lived and came too late in the movie. Talk about build up to the max and then just to see one of the main actors just die so easily before the end credits. I felt this was quite weak even for 1953 and the audience back then. If you have not yet seen Eternity like me today for whatever reason...try Tora Tora Tora, Bridge on the River Kwai and Midway rather instead. The acting performances were good overall in Eternity by Lancaster and Sinatra and Borgnine, etc, but it just lacked action and flare and just way too much build up. I had to pause and take a 20 min. cat nap half way through. 2.5 stars of 5!

Beautifully conducted with remarkable performances and a story that keeps getting better and better. A true masterpiece elevated by Montgomery Clift and Burt Lancaster at their prime. It's a fine example that emotions and expressions have more value than words.

A well-made if not sanitized adaptation of the novel. I found it interesting that the famous ocean sweeping the lovers as they make-out scene is just an incidental set-up shot, and not even a major moment in the story. While Frank Sinatra is definitely a scene-stealer, everyone turns in a solid performance.

Kinda like the film Pearl Harbour but an old less bombastic version. Still worth watching even if the acting is of its time. Some big names in the cast.