A blaxploitation World War Two film? You bet! And starring Jim Brown, no less.
The 1979 Pacific Inferno is an historically inaccurate but weirdly entertaining piece of cinema. It’s 1942, and the Japanese have taken possession of the Philippines. McArthur’s hightailed it to Australia, leaving his men to face the death march without him. Prior to his departure,though, ole sunglasses orders about $20 million worth of silver coins to be dumped into Manila Bay, so the Japs can’t use them. Once the Nips gain control of the islands, they force a group of American divers (led by Brown) to recover the coins from the murky depths. Except that the Phillipine resistance suddenly shows up and complicates matters by demanding that the coins be diverted to them instead. So by day, the crew dives for the Japanese. By night, they smuggle the coins over to the Flips.
From here on out things get really weird. The movie’s filled with racist cliches and seventies melodrama that take you back to the days of yore. There’s racial tension, too. The white naval lieutant won’t sleep with the darkies, for instance, because they have had always had separate bunks on deck. Be that as it may, he’s forced to take up a cot alongside them, and conflict ensues. There’s a few strange montages that seem to serve no purpose. One sequence features Edwin Starr’s “War (What is it Good For?),” which takes the audience right out of the World War II setting. Not that we were ever really there to begin with. Also, there’s a “Confucious say”-type character, who gives the Yanks some Eastern-styled advice every now and again. In one scene, for instance, he senses they are about to resist the Japanese occupiers and counsels them against it. “To survive must sometime bend with passing wind,” he tells them. Thanks, Joe. Remember that advice I will.
Brown’s at his best here, too. He’s big and beefy, a perfect Mandigo who never gets laid. There’s a diversionary scene with a hot Flip chick, but it never goes anywhere. She’s in love with someone else it seems, although she sure would like to have that chocolate bone inside her. It’s definitely a missed softcore opportunity. As for his being an expert naval diver, I’m not sure blacks would have been allowed to serve in that capacity in the early 1940s, though I’ll keep my mouth shut just so Spike Lee doesn’t come after me with a can of race bait.
And speaking of sex, the movie finishes up with an explosive climax, after the Japs learn about the coins being smuggled out. There’s an interogation scene featuring one Colonel Fukoshima, who really looks like Charlie Chan. He’s got the white suit, the Panama Jack hat, and everything. Even the cane, I think. Anyway, Brown gets a hold of a detonator and eventually blows the camp sky high, himself included. Just before he torches the place, Colonel Fukoshima tries to talk him out of it by reminding him that he’s black and that he has no real good reason to sacrifice himself for Uncle Sam’s sake. “Black American, what cause you die for?,” he asks. “Who will cry for you in America?” Kaboom. The stupid question gets a stupid answer. Roll credits.
