Great movie, but to those who call America "imperialist", tell me,how many Chinese agreed with that accusation AFTER they experienced the full weight of Communist domination? I bet none. Like the Soviet Union, not many migrate to China, but everyone wants to come to "imperialist" America, hmm. Odd, isn't it?

I wasn't really looking forward to this, as I'm not a huge fan of military/war movies, not to mention it's three hours long. Thankfully, though, it's quite good, almost great. I think it could have moved a bit faster at times, but it's a compelling story with several exceptional set pieces and fine acting all around. Steve McQueen stars as a gunboat engineer assigned to a small ship, the USS San Pablo, sailing the Yangtze River in 1926. Revolution brews in China, but the handful of Westerners in the country don't have much to do with it. That doesn't last for long, as the communist factions gain more traction and the San Pablo becomes a scapegoat of some of the factions, who try to get the Americans to commit an act of war so their own civil war can fully blossom. The San Pablo has to play the situation very carefully. The movie is quite tense. It's not very action packed, but it does build to a fantastic battle sequence which has instantly become one of my all time favorites. McQueen was rarely better, and received his sole Oscar nomination for the role. Just as good in supporting roles are Mako (who was Oscar nominated, as well), Richard Attenborough (who was not but did win a Golden Globe) and Richard Crenna as the Captain. Candice Bergen, only 19 or 20 at the time, also co-stars as McQueen's love interest. She doesn't get a lot to do, but she's fine.

Great performance by Steve McQueen offset by unfocused, badly paced, meandering plot.1926. China is in the middle of a revolution. US, British and French gunboats patrol the rivers, but are meant to be neutral in the conflict, though this does not stop them from being attacked. Onto one such US gunboat, the USS San Pablo ("Sand Pebble" to its crew) steps Petty Officer Jake Holman, newly-appointed chief engineer.Not your typical Steve McQueen movie. For the most part this is more a human drama than an action movie. McQueen here is more an anti-hero than a hero, and displays a rare sensitivity and vulnerability in his performance.The performance garnered McQueen his one and only Oscar nomination. Remember that at the next trivia night!The script, however, undermines his efforts. For the first two hours or so it meanders without any real point. Even worse, it is quite schmaltzy and trite. After a point the pace lifts dramatically and you feel that at last the movie has found its direction. This is then all undone by the last few scenes where we have naive idealism (that seemed to come from nowhere), idealism shown up (so, which side is the writer on?), implausible gung-ho military tactics and a very unoriginal, predictable and conventional conclusion. Overall, it's okay, though quite uneven, especially in the pacing and the message.

The Sand Pebbles, for all its sweep and pageantry, is at its core a story of the cost of human cruelty, bigotry and arrogance, and indifference to the pain inflicted by these. Just about everyone in the story is trapped--Captain Collins by his stiff-necked devotion to intangibles like honor and duty, even when this devotion drives him to ignore his innate decency, at great cost to himself and others. Po-Han, who just wants to learn how to be a ship's engineer, tortured by Communists who want to punish him for what they see as casting his lot with the enemy. Maily, viewed by the brutish sailors and the madam of the whorehouse as chattel, an inhuman commodity to be rented by the hour until she is worn out and discarded. She cannot be redeemed even by the brave, clumsy tenderness of Frenchy, who gives his life for the privilege of being with her. The missionaries, who have no argument with anyone, being forced to take sides in a stupid and unnecessary conflict. And of course, Jake Holman, the rebel with a soft heart he wishes to God he didn't have but which makes him a better man than many others. He has the wisdom to take people not in bunches but on a per-case basis--he doesn't assume that just because somebody is Chinese, he's evil or stupid or uncivilized. The comradely ease he develops with Po-Han, his unquestioning acceptance of the romance between Frenchy and Maily despite knowing the perils they face, his refusal to brutalize himself to endear himself to some of his more Cro-Magnon shipmates are what lead to his tragic and wasteful death. Much as I loved this movie, I don't think I could get through another viewing. But if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and get your hands on a copy. Just make sure you have plenty of Kleenex.