The Raiders of Leyte Gulf

This B&W action film joins the handful of others shot in Phillipines during the early 60's by local producers.

Low budget, with cast of hundreds, and truckloads of blank ammunition, the shootouts are noisy, wild and as chaotic as the direction (or lack thereof) and final editing. Compared with the amateurish battle/action scenes shot in 1968 by Edward Dmytryk in 'Anzio'(with Robert Mitchum and a hugely larger budget) they aren't that bad.

What is of particular interest in this work (and the other films of the period) is the incidental and unintentional documentary value showing how the region, ancient buildings and villages looked in the 1960's. Not much changed from the 1940's.