Great older movie if you love history. It has some fictional characters and elements but the truth is true. The Japanese were ruthless to the the Philippine people and worse to the American soldiers during the Batan death march. We must remember our history or we are doomed to repeat it.

I love John Wayne and war movies, however the two often don't mix well and this is a particularly bad example. Boring and overwrought, it never gets off the ground. The Duke doesn't seem himself and the war sequences are underwhelming. Overly patriotic Filipino school children and cringe worthy special effects made it almost unwatchable for me.

The combat scenes are pretty standard WWII action fare. What makes the movie interesting is that Wayne and the Americans are not front and center the whole picture. This is really told from the Filipino point of view, although not in a historically accurate sense (Anthony Quinn's character, the supposed grandson of Philippine national hero Andres Bonifacio, never existed; Bonifacio never fought the Americans as intimated in the movie, he died in 1897).

Great movie. John Wayne is the man

An overly tough, and surprisingly serious, (all be it a little too much so), addition to John Wayne's list of remarkable War classics.

Engaging and sometimes moving, but it has lost some of its effect nowadays. 57/100

The noir cinematography of Nicholas Musuraca (The Spiral Staircase, Cat People, Out of the Past) was an unexpected treat. His masterful use of light and shadow redeems a sappy script.

"The Duke Saves The Philippines"

An All-Too- Rare Look at Filipino Resistance--Gritty and uncompromising!!

One of my favorites.

WWii pic made during WWII

A pretty good Action filled John Wayne ww2 film.

Released in the waning days of WW2 and clearly aimed at home front morale, the film feels tired despite good performances from the cast and epecially Anthony Quinn who almost steals the show from John Wayne. The film briefly addresses the Fillipino plight against Spanish, American and Japanese Imperialism regarding the Philipines and I suppose looking at the film from 70+ years later the moral of the story is "It's better to deal with the devil you know then the one you don't."

Back to Bataan is an action-packed war film. It is about the U.S. Army's defense of its Philippines colonies and the allied Malay countries. John Wayne and Anthony Quinn give excellent performances. The script is well written. Edward Dmytryk did an excellent job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the drama. Back to Bataan is a must see.

The writing is fairly corny but the dynamic visuals make this effective propaganda.

John Wayne shows his heroism in this film of the true story of Joe Madden and his group of Guerrilla soldiers in their efforts to bring independance from the Japanese to the hilippines, good stuff, though the deaths from shooting looked a little unrealistic, but that's a minor complaint really

Pretty cool action-war flick although there is amount cheapness, religion, and patriotism. However, that doesn't shake Back to Bataan in a negative way because we learn a little bit of what actually happened like the Death March and the liberation of prisoners of war at Cabanatuan through raid. In the film, Japanese forces have invaded the Philipines and are predicted to take over, so John Wayne gathers Filipino guerrillas and uncaptured Americans to battle the Japanese forces.

Standard-issue John Wayne WWII flick pushes all the patriotic buttons in this bombastic and compressed re-telling of several key events in the Philippines. While the action is rousing, the film suffers a bit when examined by a modern viewer, as do many of this era. Japanese are portrayed as stock villains, and Filipinos, while lauded by the American officers as great and tenacious fighters, are somewhat patronized - ready to fight for soda pop, hot dogs and baseball. Cultural and historical awkwardness aside, it's a stirring tribute to those who fought and died for those islands - several real-life veterans of Baatan and Leyte appear in the movie. Wayne is as solid and reliable as ever, relaxed and laconic, and while its great to see young Anthony Quinn helping him out, its a bit of a stretch to accept him as a Filipino. Added bonus - a much younger and thinner Lawrence Tierney has a brief cameo.

Another great, if sad movie.

i don't own this one yet !!