It's not for anyone to say whether Steve McQueen's emotional and professional price as an actor is relevant. He did what he did and I'm just glad, whatever the reason, he made the movie. I'm 70 now and it's still one of the most memorable I've experienced.
We were talking about movies at work the younger guys liked Joe Dirt, Men in Black, etc--I mentioned the Sand Pebbles and no one had ever heard of it. I mentioned The Apartment. No one had ever heard of it. They said they were too old to be any good. I thought less of my co-workers after that.
Sand Pebbles was a fantastic read and a great movie. Used to watch it with my son, after which we'd take turns Sho Gen-ing each other or pretend to carve up Po Han.........GOOD times. Didn't know that Bergman and Steve-o had a frosty relationship, but the acting of both is completely to character. McQueen IS Jake. I think it's one of his best roles. It's a serious and important movie. Orson Wells may even have liked it......who knows?
The era when this movie was released was seeing the widespread emergence of the anti hero. And I challenge anyone to come up with a better embodiment, a more heroic but alienated anti hero than Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles. I was 12 when I saw this movie. And my Cub Scout heart fell in love, fell so hard, for Candice Bergen!
I'm 74 and saw this in the movies when I was 17, after recently receiving my A-1 status. It profoundly affected me, particularly the scenes at the end of the film. It left me with the feeling that to be a 'real' man, I must have the courage to be morally good to others, regardless.
Steve Mcqueen's best movie by far. Great story with all the sub plots, the history of China and the definite parallels to Vietnam, the love stories and was a gritty tale of life in the US Navy.
I'm 76 and first watched this movie at sea on a warship with other ratings. Different navy but the sentiment was just the same and I'm sure it had a lasting effect on all of us.
I also agree that Steve should have won an Oscar....in my humble opinion....his best role....was Taylor made for him.....also read that Steve did not like the ending....and wanted to survive....and Wise obliged him,and filmed a different ending...... but had no intention of using it in the film.....but did it to placate his temperamental star.
One of my favorite films. Steve McQueen was my childhood hero. I still miss him and never even met him. Enemy of the people is one of his lesser known, but worth a view.
Steve McQueen with that BAR... PRICELESS !! Handling the Lewis Gun would have something ! Too bad that I don't think he ever protrayed a Marine. I'm 71 and will never get tired watching this flick.
My dad, who served in New Guinea and the Philippines during WW II) came home from the war with nothing but a desire to forget about most of it. He never liked to talk too much abut his experiences, told me one or two here and there...and he was never much into guns, not a hunter and as kids he didn't teach us about guns...but I do remember how his eyes used to light up whenever he would remember the BAR...
@@kevinohalloran7164 most affirm ! I put him up there with the Ted Danson scene in Saving Private Ryan.. both sides yelling at each other..and he simplifies the "situation" by blasting away with his Thompson !
In the 1980s I served with a retired USAF NCO who had been stationed in Taiwan during the time this movie was being filmed. He was assigned to the Air Police (very soon to be re-designated Security Police) and worked with the Taiwanese police whenever there was an off-base incident involving American servicemen or their dependents. He told me an interesting story about his encounter with Steve McQueen that in some ways mimicked the movie he was making. Apparently, McQueen had brought with him a custom built motorcycle with which he cruised the island when not filming. As you might expect, he had a tendency to drive his bike somewhat recklessly and this resulted in a fender bender with one of the locals. My associate (I'll call him Harry) arrived with a Taiwanese police officer to handle the situation. By now McQueen was engaged in a heated debate with the other driver over who was as fault, and a large crowd had gathered to witness the exchange The language barrier only made matters worse until a very frustrated McQueen became so angry that he slapped the local across his face. The crowd suddenly went silent, but Harry knew this was a very bad sign because the slap was considered a grave insult by all Taiwanese. He calmly told McQueen, "If you don't do exactly as I say, we're both going to end up as red spots on the pavement." I guess Steve must have realized he'd gone too far and he meekly complied with Harry's orders. Suffice it to say he managed to salvage the situation and avoid an international incident, but as far as I know, this story has never been reported anywhere. I rather doubt it was something Seven McQueen wanted made public.
Thank you. McQueen was a visitor and guest of another country. We wouldn’t want visitors here to be lawless, like those students protesting GAZA or visiting Zionists on the other side.
@@Paladin1873 I guess that under the circumstances he made the wise choice to back down and let the man "save face". I now have even a better opinion and admiration of him. Thanks for the response.
@@williamwalker8107 Maybe somebody out there can provide more information on this incident. What I have related is second-hand information provided to me by someone who was present and a party to the encounter. My telling of the story makes it third-hand information, and after nearly 40 years it is but a rusty recollection of what I was told.
I was going through a biography of Mr. McQueen when I came across him being quoted after having trouble filming his TV show, "Wanted-Dead or Alive" saying, " I didn't come here to make friends. I came here to do a job." McQueen was not a people pleaser. He was actor/artist all the way.
I saw this at the movie theater when I was 10 or 11 (67?). Although I didn't fully understand a good deal of it, it always haunted me until I saw it years later. I now have had the DVD for years and watched it time and again. It's one of my all time favorite movies.
I was also just a kid when I saw it for the first time and did not understand much of it. In those days I loved anything that had a military theme to it. As I grew older I developed a very deep interest in history. I eventually majored in it in college and have continued to read history all my life (I'm 71 now.) I watched The Sand Pebbles again in my 20s and again a few decades later and again just recently. Each time I view it, it's better, because I have a deeper understanding of its themes and the time in which it is set, and what was going on in China then, which continues to affect the world even down to today. I highly recommend it as one of McQueen's best, along with Papillon. Even today, I find myself using the phrase "what the hell happened?" often in regard to something much less serious...usually involving something I screwed up....and I smile and remember Steve.
Am currently reading a book (again) given to me by a friend who served with the author (Mr McKenna) of The Sand Pebbles while on China duty. He, also, strafed Narvik along with sinking a Japanese destroyer (torpedo bombing) in WW11. R.I.P. Jim
The film indeed paralleled the Vietnam War experience. I saw this in theaters while my number was being pulled in the draft lottery. Enlisted in the US Coast Guard and patrolled from the Philipeans to Yankee Station on boats like the San Pueblo in the mid 70s
The film certainly made a statement regarding Imperialism: During the late 19th century and early 20th century (the movie takes place in the latter), Russia, France, Great Britain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States all wanted access to what China had, whether its natural resources or to push Western values and religions. Western power brokers and wielders wanted to get richer.
One of my favorites, great script, directing, acting and I think a bit overlooked, the music. It really sinks you into the situation and the characters IMO. I liked the fact they didn't dodge the tougher issues and Jake and the delaying squad doesn't make it back to the San Pablo. It really makes you think about the US acting as "the world's policeman", what it meant and whether we should have taken that position. What a classic!
The movie actually sparked an interest in America’s relations with China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Also in Japan’s ultimate destruction of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet at the start of World War II. There are several books that tell the real story of the Yangtze Patrol. Another, “Thirty Years as a Master Mariner,” I believe, is told by the Captain of a Standard Oil boat attacked and sunk with two others, along with the USS Panay.
Ya the USS paney was straffed by Japanese aircraft in the late 1930’s There was some casualty’s I cant remember how many but The ship was recovered it sank in what looks like 4 ft of water.
It seems that several movie “experts “ hold Steve McQueen in low regard! Yet they fail to point out how many really good movies 8:02 that McQueen’s presence elevated to classics! From “The Magnificent Seven” to “Tom Horn” he played romantic comedy, Love With the Proper Stranger” suspense “The Get Away”, westerns Nevada Smith, Junior Bonner & Tom Horn to crime drama “Thomas Crown” & “Bullet”! Some of his movies have been recasted & remade & none were as good as the original! Contrary to conjecture McQueen once said “being an actor is a gas, but being a movie star is a pain in the ass”, showing what was most important to him!
One of Steve McQueen best roles along with Bullitt (his very best as far as I am concerned), Junior Bonner, The Thomas Crown Affair, Tom Horn, The Magnificent Seven, Papillon, The Getaway, The Great Escape, Hell is for Heroes, The Cincinnati Kid.
I believe McQueen and Attenborough became good friends after this despite what I have read to the contrary...I do know they kept in touch, call each other, met up and spoke fondly of each other...You only do that when disagreements are trivial...
McQueen's problems seemed to have had more to do with women. I'm 100% certain that comment about McQueen suggesting that Bergen "loosen up by *dating* one of his stunt buddies" was sanitized. It rang untrue and out of character for McQueen. It's much more likely that the word "f--king" was the actual word used, hence Bergen's anger. In Michael Gordon's book, "Blue & Orange" (a book about the Porsche 917, in which the film "Le Mans" was also covered), McQueen, when first meeting the beautiful female lead, out of nowhere said this to her: "You didn't f--k the director...you didn't f--k me. So how the hell did you get this part?" Fine actor. Total a-hole, hated by his wives who he would physically abuse and pushed drugs to, and hated by just about everyone who worked with him. On the set of "Le Mans" (and allegedly on coke... again) he crashed a rented car. In the car was his friend/assistant who ended up with a broken arm, and an actress who was rendered unconscious. To get out of the mess that he created he told everyone that his friend caused the crash. McQueen didn't apologize to those he had harmed. His injured friend fled the film shoot and went back to the US. McQueen. Great film actor---vicious and unstable to the people around him. Toxic masculinity.
I found this movie in the early 2,000’s. Still one of my favorites. Classic theme for the 60’s. The selfish loner who fights authority but transforms for the overall good of the people he learns to respect
Easily one of the top 25 best movies I have ever seen. It's a perfect film done perfectly. The 7-month effort to film it lives through imagery and emotion that persists inside me since seeing it in the '60s.
Wish they would find the roadhouse version.....and include all the deleted scenes....makes the movie longer, but also makes it flow better and explains many things left unanswered.....
McQueen should have gotten the Oscar for his role as Jake Homan, I was in high school when the movie came out and I remember McQueen kissed the ground when he got back to America because he missed the food and freedom of living in the USA.
I do not think he would have it any other way. He knew what he was doing and felt it too. Fortunate is the person who is in a space he is about, even though it takes a toll. This is an unforgetable story. Fair Winds and Following Seas.
"I was home. What happened? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" One of the most poignant lines ever in a war movie, especially considering the times. Also, Robert Wise was a cinematic genius.
I saw this movie at the drive-in. My mother's friend told her that this was a good movie and that she should go see it. So, it came to the drive-in and she took me and my brother to the movie. However, she quickly realized that the movie wasn't kid friendly given the themes of the movie and the strong language. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
You left out a great fact about this film. It was Jackie Chan's first film role. He was an extra in the battle scenes at the bamboo cable and junk river barricade.
I read a long essay by McKenna in which he said, since his primary work prior to The Sand Pebbles, was in Science Fiction, the initial intent was to make a story of a human starship on an alien world. But more and more, drawing on his Navy experience and his interest in the "Brown Shoe Navy" in China of the 1920s, the source material became the actual story--which got it out of the "science fiction ghetto" and into mainstream literature.
As a kid i loved Steve McQueen and this film was the best, i remember how genuinely shocked i was when he (spoiler alert) dies at the end. There's almost nothing wrong with the final product and had some sway in my own naval adventure years later.
I feel that this is an excellent film,... but it's a film that many find hard to watch because it's not fast paced. It is very much a thinking person's movie. While Steve McQueen could be difficult and a real pain in the ass, there shouldn't be any question that he brought an edgy take to the people he portrayed in most of his movies. I thought that he was an exceptional actor.
I'd love to be paid the equivalent to act in such a film even with the problems he had. Compared with the troubles in this world, his difficulties were mild.
I can see in the actors a sense of tension and frustration which fits the story and how they actually felt off camera while making the movie. If they were staying in a luxury motel and hanging out at the bar late at night they would all look fake in the movie. Its like having actors who are playing soldiers actually experience a boot camp first.
Read the novel a couple of times and saw the film which was brutal but well done! Steve knew how to shoulder a Springfield rifle. I read that he kept trying to hit on young Candice.
a truly underrated classic ...definitely in the top 10 for that decade
It's not for anyone to say whether Steve McQueen's emotional and professional price as an actor is relevant. He did what he did and I'm just glad, whatever the reason, he made the movie. I'm 70 now and it's still one of the most memorable I've experienced.
There will never be another Steve McQueen. Gone but not forgotten.
And me fantastic film and a fantastic actor he was brilliant in papillon
We were talking about movies at work the younger guys liked Joe Dirt, Men in Black, etc--I mentioned the Sand Pebbles and no one had ever heard of it. I mentioned The Apartment. No one had ever heard of it. They said they were too old to be any good. I thought less of my co-workers after that.
You should buy them copies.
12 Angry Men, too.
Yeah my grandson once said he never watched any movie made before 2000 so I made him watch several classics he now has changed his mind.
And you should
Sand Pebbles was a fantastic read and a great movie. Used to watch it with my son, after which we'd take turns Sho Gen-ing each other or pretend to carve up Po Han.........GOOD times.
Didn't know that Bergman and Steve-o had a frosty relationship, but the acting of both is completely to character. McQueen IS Jake. I think it's one of his best roles.
It's a serious and important movie. Orson Wells may even have liked it......who knows?
Man, i would have too
The era when this movie was released was seeing the widespread emergence of the anti hero. And I challenge anyone to come up with a better embodiment, a more heroic but alienated anti hero than Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles.
I was 12 when I saw this movie. And my Cub Scout heart fell in love, fell so hard, for Candice Bergen!
I'm 74 and saw this in the movies when I was 17, after recently receiving my A-1 status. It profoundly affected me, particularly the scenes at the end of the film. It left me with the feeling that to be a 'real' man, I must have the courage to be morally good to others, regardless.
I am 69 and I have seen this film many many times, I agree with what you have stated here and I feel the same as you.........
Me too. 64 now but father took me to see this new.
What a fantastic movie, certainly one of the very best movies McQueen starred in .
Steve Mcqueen's best movie by far. Great story with all the sub plots, the history of China and the definite parallels to Vietnam, the love stories and was a gritty tale of life in the US Navy.
I'm 76 and first watched this movie at sea on a warship with other ratings. Different navy but the sentiment was just the same and I'm sure it had a lasting effect on all of us.
Damn, how did you guys get such a good flick? We always seemed to get crap movies. Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club '69-'70.
Steve McQueen was right up there with the best actors in film history. A genuine great.
Not really.
This movie was an overwhelming experience to sit in the movie theater and watch. It is in my top five, regardless of the order.
Steve was a marine between WWII and Korean War. He knew how to use many of the weapons in the film. He did many of his own stunts, too. Incredible.
Steve McQueen is an example of why I'll tale old Hollywood over new Hollywood all day long.
I'm a big fan of McQueen...mostly because he was a good guy in real life...but this movie was a gut wrenching experience for the audience as well.
What a great film! One need only watch "The Sand Pebbles" or "Papillon" to recognize that Steve McQueen was much more than just a Hollywood Star!
I believe Steve McQueen should have won an oscar for his acting in this film!
At least he was nominated.
I agree
He did not win because he was not an arse kisser.
I also agree that Steve should have won an Oscar....in my humble opinion....his best role....was Taylor made for him.....also read that Steve did not like the ending....and wanted to survive....and Wise obliged him,and filmed a different ending...... but had no intention of using it in the film.....but did it to placate his temperamental star.
One of my favorite films.
Steve McQueen was my childhood hero. I still miss him and never even met him.
Enemy of the people is one of his lesser known, but worth a view.
Steve McQueen with that BAR... PRICELESS !! Handling the Lewis Gun would have something ! Too bad that I don't think he ever protrayed a Marine. I'm 71 and will never get tired watching this flick.
My dad, who served in New Guinea and the Philippines during WW II) came home from the war with nothing but a desire to forget about most of it. He never liked to talk too much abut his experiences, told me one or two here and there...and he was never much into guns, not a hunter and as kids he didn't teach us about guns...but I do remember how his eyes used to light up whenever he would remember the BAR...
He was a Marine in real life though so you got that : ).
I think this and his role in *Hell Is for Heroes* are my favorites.
Hey, that's Gavin McLeod manning the Lewis Gun - a much more grim role than on McHale's Navy.
@@kevinohalloran7164 most affirm ! I put him up there with the Ted Danson scene in Saving Private Ryan.. both sides yelling at each other..and he simplifies the "situation" by blasting away with his Thompson !
Fantastic movie I have watched many times great acting by many actors but Steve McQueen nailed it
i agree totally,love that movie
"Hello engine,,,, I'm Jake Holman", what a great line for a guy like him.
Well, he was a gearhead after all. Yet another thing to admire about him. Racer, mechanic, stuntman. No wonder he was such an iconoclast.
So very poetic, and such a deep insight to the man.
I took my wife (then girlfriend) to see The Sand Pebbles on the week before I went to Boot Camp at San Diego back in '67. Classic movie.
San Diego ?... Squid or Jarhead ?
One of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. It impacted me as a young person, and throughout my life. Difficult to watch sometimes.
In the 1980s I served with a retired USAF NCO who had been stationed in Taiwan during the time this movie was being filmed. He was assigned to the Air Police (very soon to be re-designated Security Police) and worked with the Taiwanese police whenever there was an off-base incident involving American servicemen or their dependents. He told me an interesting story about his encounter with Steve McQueen that in some ways mimicked the movie he was making. Apparently, McQueen had brought with him a custom built motorcycle with which he cruised the island when not filming. As you might expect, he had a tendency to drive his bike somewhat recklessly and this resulted in a fender bender with one of the locals. My associate (I'll call him Harry) arrived with a Taiwanese police officer to handle the situation. By now McQueen was engaged in a heated debate with the other driver over who was as fault, and a large crowd had gathered to witness the exchange The language barrier only made matters worse until a very frustrated McQueen became so angry that he slapped the local across his face. The crowd suddenly went silent, but Harry knew this was a very bad sign because the slap was considered a grave insult by all Taiwanese. He calmly told McQueen, "If you don't do exactly as I say, we're both going to end up as red spots on the pavement." I guess Steve must have realized he'd gone too far and he meekly complied with Harry's orders. Suffice it to say he managed to salvage the situation and avoid an international incident, but as far as I know, this story has never been reported anywhere. I rather doubt it was something Seven McQueen wanted made public.
Thank you. McQueen was a visitor and guest of another country. We wouldn’t want visitors here to be lawless, like those students protesting GAZA or visiting Zionists on the other side.
What did McQueen have to do to calm the situation?
@@williamwalker8107 I don't recall, but I think he had to apologize and possibly he paid the man for the damage to his vehicle.
@@Paladin1873 I guess that under the circumstances he made the wise choice to back down and let the man "save face". I now have even a better opinion and admiration of him. Thanks for the response.
@@williamwalker8107 Maybe somebody out there can provide more information on this incident. What I have related is second-hand information provided to me by someone who was present and a party to the encounter. My telling of the story makes it third-hand information, and after nearly 40 years it is but a rusty recollection of what I was told.
One of the greatest films. Candice Bergen so young, so excellent.
I was going through a biography of Mr. McQueen when I came across him being quoted after having trouble filming his TV show, "Wanted-Dead or Alive" saying, " I didn't come here to make friends. I came here to do a job." McQueen was not a people pleaser. He was actor/artist all the way.
I saw this at the movie theater when I was 10 or 11 (67?). Although I didn't fully understand a good deal of it, it always haunted me until I saw it years later. I now have had the DVD for years and watched it time and again. It's one of my all time favorite movies.
I was also just a kid when I saw it for the first time and did not understand much of it. In those days I loved anything that had a military theme to it. As I grew older I developed a very deep interest in history. I eventually majored in it in college and have continued to read history all my life (I'm 71 now.) I watched The Sand Pebbles again in my 20s and again a few decades later and again just recently. Each time I view it, it's better, because I have a deeper understanding of its themes and the time in which it is set, and what was going on in China then, which continues to affect the world even down to today. I highly recommend it as one of McQueen's best, along with Papillon. Even today, I find myself using the phrase "what the hell happened?" often in regard to something much less serious...usually involving something I screwed up....and I smile and remember Steve.
@@therealniksongs A big yes to Papillon. I read the book and was excited to see the movie and glad that it was well done.
@ niksongs Me, too! I've often quoted McQueen's "What the hell happened?!" when I've let some small thing go wrong.
Am currently reading a book (again) given to me by a friend who served with the author (Mr McKenna) of The Sand Pebbles while on China duty.
He, also, strafed Narvik along with sinking a Japanese destroyer (torpedo bombing) in WW11.
R.I.P. Jim
I bought some other books on the river boats there and
Apparently if a sailor got duty there it was the best in the navy.
This is an EXCELLENT film! Highly recommended!
This Film, and "From Here To Eternity" are my faves. And Steve McQueen was an incredible actor, he right up there in the top 10 for sure.
Best performance McQueen ever did.
The Sand Pebbles was and is an outstanding movie.
If the movie required exhausting effort, I would say the efforts show on screen. A great film of the type rarely made today.
The film indeed paralleled the Vietnam War experience. I saw this in theaters while my number was being pulled in the draft lottery. Enlisted in the US Coast Guard and patrolled from the Philipeans to Yankee Station on boats like the San Pueblo in the mid 70s
The film certainly made a statement regarding Imperialism: During the late 19th century and early 20th century (the movie takes place in the latter), Russia, France, Great Britain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States all wanted access to what China had, whether its natural resources or to push Western values and religions. Western power brokers and wielders wanted to get richer.
Thank you for your service. Semper Paratus.
One of my favorites, great script, directing, acting and I think a bit overlooked, the music. It really sinks you into the situation and the characters IMO. I liked the fact they didn't dodge the tougher issues and Jake and the delaying squad doesn't make it back to the San Pablo. It really makes you think about the US acting as "the world's policeman", what it meant and whether we should have taken that position. What a classic!
The movie actually sparked an interest in America’s relations with China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Also in Japan’s ultimate destruction of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet at the start of World War II. There are several books that tell the real story of the Yangtze Patrol. Another, “Thirty Years as a Master Mariner,” I believe, is told by the Captain of a Standard Oil boat attacked and sunk with two others, along with the USS Panay.
Ya the USS paney was straffed by Japanese aircraft in the late 1930’s
There was some casualty’s
I cant remember how many but The ship was recovered it sank in what looks like 4 ft of water.
My favorite Navy movie of all time. Same with lots of my brown water Navy friends. It set off their nightmare cycles all over again.
One word. A classic
It seems that several movie “experts “ hold Steve McQueen in low regard! Yet they fail to point out how many really good movies 8:02 that McQueen’s presence elevated to classics! From “The Magnificent Seven” to “Tom Horn” he played romantic comedy, Love With the Proper Stranger” suspense “The Get Away”, westerns Nevada Smith, Junior Bonner & Tom Horn to crime drama “Thomas Crown” & “Bullet”! Some of his movies have been recasted & remade & none were as good as the original! Contrary to conjecture McQueen once said “being an actor is a gas, but being a movie star is a pain in the ass”, showing what was most important to him!
Very underrated movie! One of McQueen's best.
His best by far.
One of Steve McQueen best roles along with Bullitt (his very best as far as I am concerned), Junior Bonner, The Thomas Crown Affair, Tom Horn, The Magnificent Seven, Papillon, The Getaway, The Great Escape, Hell is for Heroes, The Cincinnati Kid.
I believe McQueen and Attenborough became good friends after this despite what I have read to the contrary...I do know they kept in touch, call each other, met up and spoke fondly of each other...You only do that when disagreements are trivial...
McQueen's problems seemed to have had more to do with women. I'm 100% certain that comment about McQueen suggesting that Bergen "loosen up by *dating* one of his stunt buddies" was sanitized. It rang untrue and out of character for McQueen. It's much more likely that the word "f--king" was the actual word used, hence Bergen's anger. In Michael Gordon's book, "Blue & Orange" (a book about the Porsche 917, in which the film "Le Mans" was also covered), McQueen, when first meeting the beautiful female lead, out of nowhere said this to her: "You didn't f--k the director...you didn't f--k me. So how the hell did you get this part?" Fine actor. Total a-hole, hated by his wives who he would physically abuse and pushed drugs to, and hated by just about everyone who worked with him. On the set of "Le Mans" (and allegedly on coke... again) he crashed a rented car. In the car was his friend/assistant who ended up with a broken arm, and an actress who was rendered unconscious. To get out of the mess that he created he told everyone that his friend caused the crash. McQueen didn't apologize to those he had harmed. His injured friend fled the film shoot and went back to the US. McQueen. Great film actor---vicious and unstable to the people around him. Toxic masculinity.
I found this movie in the early 2,000’s. Still one of my favorites. Classic theme for the 60’s. The selfish loner who fights authority but transforms for the overall good of the people he learns to respect
This analysis is very well done. The Sand Pebbles have always fascinated me.
A Classic.
You know that there has to be a potential for an extended cut re-release of this movie. I would bet some good stuff was edited out originally.
Fantastic actor and the film the sand pebbles was one of his best movies
“I was home. What happened? What the hell happened?”....
what and ending !! Never forgot that line !
Easily one of the top 25 best movies I have ever seen. It's a perfect film done perfectly. The 7-month effort to film it lives through imagery and emotion that persists inside me since seeing it in the '60s.
This is my second favorite movie!! I only wish I could see it in the theater someday!!
Wish they would find the roadhouse version.....and include all the deleted scenes....makes the movie longer, but also makes it flow better and explains many things left unanswered.....
This was a truly great movie. Emotionally jarring.
Wrong, it is a great movie.
McQueen should have gotten the Oscar for his role as Jake Homan, I was in high school when the movie came out and I remember McQueen kissed the ground when he got back to America because he missed the food and freedom of living in the USA.
Excellent movie of a long forgotten era.
I do not think he would have it any other way. He knew what he was doing and felt it too.
Fortunate is the person who is in a space he is about, even though it takes a toll. This is an unforgetable story. Fair Winds and Following Seas.
"I was home. What happened? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"
One of the most poignant lines ever in a war movie, especially considering the times.
Also, Robert Wise was a cinematic genius.
An excellent film that never received the recognition that it deserved.
It was an incredible movie. Very moving and keeps you engaged. Thanks for this video!
My dad was in Shanghai with the British Army in 1927-28 helping to keep the peace and fighting off the US Marines in the bars at night!.😏
SAND PEBBLES IS AN INCREDIBLE MOVIE. AT LEAST IT SHOWS NAVY GUYS BEING REAL SOLDIERS OR SAILORS
I saw this movie at the drive-in. My mother's friend told her that this was a good movie and that she should go see it. So, it came to the drive-in and she took me and my brother to the movie. However, she quickly realized that the movie wasn't kid friendly given the themes of the movie and the strong language. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Certain films have a cinematic signature. The Sand Pebbles is one of them.
The battleship in the background at the 7:10 mark is the Battleship Texas BB35
"Come on Texas!"
I thought it was too long and too deep when I first saw it, but was a long time ago. Should watch it again.
Definitely, it’s a bit long but older me loved it.
I liked the movie since I first watched it in a cinema in Perth (Western Australia).
I have the movie on Blu-Ray.
His best movie, & one of the best anti-war film ever. Director Wise showed the same greatness in The Sound of Music.
You left out a great fact about this film. It was Jackie Chan's first film role. He was an extra in the battle scenes at the bamboo cable and junk river barricade.
This is my favorite Steve McQueen movie.
I still say, "I won't mess with your rice bowl"
Me too.
Saw this first when I was about 10 years old. Have watched it countless times since. One of my all time favorites and Steve should’ve gotten an Oscar.
A great actor. Who cares what he was like otherwise, now?
I read a long essay by McKenna in which he said, since his primary work prior to The Sand Pebbles, was in Science Fiction, the initial intent was to make a story of a human starship on an alien world. But more and more, drawing on his Navy experience and his interest in the "Brown Shoe Navy" in China of the 1920s, the source material became the actual story--which got it out of the "science fiction ghetto" and into mainstream literature.
Great movie,a classic!
Steve McQueen, The King of Kool. 😎
Great movie and great acting by the cast. McQueen was outstanding. His skill at arms showed. Better than most actors.
Great Movie.
Fantastic cast! And the talent kept going on to other great things.
its a powerful movie with an amazing cast with all the work done make it a show piece for anyone who wants to make legendary films.
Great actor
Truly outstanding movie.
This role allowed McQueen to show his acting range. The character was stoic in Bullit, and I don’t think acting talent was needed in his other movies.
Great classic.
Steve McQueen's most humane characterisation, playing against all his other roles. I saw it back in 1966, and it still affects me.
This movie is my favourite McQueen movie.
As a kid i loved Steve McQueen and this film was the best, i remember how genuinely shocked i was when he (spoiler alert) dies at the end. There's almost nothing wrong with the final product and had some sway in my own naval adventure years later.
Saw it in the movies when I was about 10.Amazing !
My favorite movie
I have the DVD as part of my collection. What a stunning film
I feel that this is an excellent film,... but it's a film that many find hard to watch because it's not fast paced. It is very much a thinking person's movie. While Steve McQueen could be difficult and a real pain in the ass, there shouldn't be any question that he brought an edgy take to the people he portrayed in most of his movies. I thought that he was an exceptional actor.
Really good movie, very intense and enjoyable all though thought provoking.
I'd love to be paid the equivalent to act in such a film even with the problems he had. Compared with the troubles in this world, his difficulties were mild.
great flick...mcqueen was chasing neuman till this flick..after this they were even....mcqueen is only one who coulda done holman....come down
Excellent movie! One of my favorites.
I can see in the actors a sense of tension and frustration which fits the story and how they actually felt off camera while making the movie. If they were staying in a luxury motel and hanging out at the bar late at night they would all look fake in the movie. Its like having actors who are playing soldiers actually experience a boot camp first.
An awesome movie
Movie was great, book was even better.
I love the movie..its very deep
Great movie.
Read the novel a couple of times and saw the film which was brutal but well done! Steve knew how to shoulder a Springfield rifle. I read that he kept trying to hit on young Candice.
Epic and sublime...
This was Steve McQueen's best performance by far in his career.
One of my top 5 movies.
One of my favorite all time movies.
I was station on a ship home ported in Yokosuka, I could relate a lot with MM1c J. Holman