There are excellent and exciting battle sequences, as well as one throat-tightening, laudably un-Hollywoodized, glimpse of the infamous Death March. And there are also numerous good performances under the firm, capable direction of Edward Dmytryk.

| Feb 1, 2023

The picture, which drew its vitality from the front pages of the newspapers, goes deeper than the headlines and delves into the human story behind the guns and bayonets.

| Feb 1, 2023

As films of this type go, the R.K.O. production ranks above average.

| Feb 1, 2023

Wayne, physically fitted for the role, plays the colonel! forth-rightly, with a restraint and quiet determination that makes for an-impressive performance. Anthony Quinn comes off with great credit as a Filipino soldier.

| Feb 1, 2023

For people who like that sort of picture, it will probably be gratifying... But, from a more realistic viewpoint, it seems a cheap and meretricious conception of the ordeal of the Philippine patriots and of the Americans who stayed behind to aid them.

| Feb 1, 2023

Quinn does a particularly outstanding job, as does Franquelli. Wayne makes a stalwart leader for the guerrillas, commendably underplaying the role for best results.

| Feb 1, 2023

The courage and perseverance of the Filipino guerrillas is emphasized in Back to Bataan, a thrilling, lusty, more or less honest account of how the way was paved for General MacArthur and his men to come back to beaten Bataan as victors.

| Feb 1, 2023

[Back to Bataan achieves] that new steely-hard objectivity which Hollywood itself has finally caught up with in its approach to total war.

| Feb 1, 2023

The action scenes in the pictures are excellent, thanks to Director Edward Dmytryk. The first scenes of battle during the losing struggle for Bataan are among the best over filmed. It is only in the story and ideological aspects that [the film] bogs down.

| Feb 1, 2023

The action is filled with suspense and is deeply moving at times, as brave men and women risk their lives over and over again in their efforts to deceive and overcome the enemy.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 1, 2023

This film, altho based on dramatic deeds we know were facts, is not the convincing document the history should provide.

| Feb 1, 2023

Convincing as the story is, the picture is at its best in the faked but grimly realistic battle scenes.

| Feb 1, 2023

Although the film is a regulation war picture in many ways, it is notable as an intelligent and sympathetic tribute to the Filipino guerillas.

| Jan 31, 2023

Talk of constant shortage of ammunition is hardly borne out by the amount of trigger-happy small arms fire that punctuates the action. Sentimentality does the rest, and one is left without any particular fresh admiration for flamboyant U.S. methods.

| Jan 14, 2021

Designed as a tribute to the Filipino resistance, it's fast, vigorous and quite exciting, but marred by incessant flag-waving, the usual racist depiction of the enemy, and some atrocious sentimentality.

| Jan 26, 2006