Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: 20th Century Fox
EAN: 0024543013099
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 15, 2001
Running Time: 179 minutes
Sales Rank: 27816
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release Date: December 20, 1966
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
Following the success of The Sound of Music, director Robert Wise chose to film Robert McKenna's prize-winning 1962 novel, The Sand Pebbles--an ambitious choice for a director at the peak of his career. Shot in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the film combines historical sweep and intimate human drama in several parallel stories, all revolving around U.S. Navy machinist's mate Jake Holman (Steve McQueen). Holman is a skillful but fiercely independent sailor who joins the 'sand pebble' crew of the U.S.S. San Pablo, a Navy gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River on the eve of the Chinese revolution in 1926. The San Pablo's inexperienced captain (Richard Crenna) obsessively defends the Navy's mission--however unnecessary or unwanted--to protect American missionaries and businessmen, blind to the more dangerous implications of American involvement with China's opposing political factions.
Holman is a defiant voice of humanity in this clash between outmoded values and inevitable change; his final line of dialogue ('What the hell happened?') is a tragic summation of misguided policy, expressing the film's criticism of the Vietnam War. Rather than preach, however, Wise lets McKenna's potent drama emerge from finely-drawn relationships--between Holman and a young American teacher (19-year-old Candice Bergen, in her second film); between Holman and the Chinese 'coolie' (Mako) whose heartbreaking fate transcends all issues of racial or political difference; and between crewmate 'Frenchy' Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough) and the Chinese woman he's sworn to love and protect at all costs. Combined with the film's colorful supporting cast, adventurous scope, and climactic battle scenes, these personal dynamics bring substance and spirit to a complex story of good intentions gone awry. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Cracker jack
I had forgotten how great this movie was so seeing it again made my day. Steve McQueen wasn't the first choice for his part, but he was a 10+. Worth every $$$. Hope you enjoy.
Rating: - Excellent Movie! Well Worth the time spent watching it.
David Arneson Previous Reviewer stated: "Good movie to show to the kids to let them see how crappy the 60s were for entertainment. ...kind of sparse on the special features."
I pity this poor man, apparently he wants nothing but special effects, computer-generated FX, explosions, etc. However, great actors and acting apparently don't fit his "style'.
He doesn't realize that some of the best movies of the 20th Century were made in the '60s, such as:
To Kill A Mockingbird, Dr. Stangelove, Fail Safe, The Longest Day, In Cold Blood, Psycho, 2001 - A Space Odyssey, Alfie, Bonnie & Clyde, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, Once Upon A Time In The West, The Manchurian Candidate, The Miracle Worker, In The Heat of The Night, The Great Escape, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Pink Panther, and so many more. Many of these movies have far betting acting and actors that what is available today.
I strongly suggest that people reading his review treat it with a grain of salt.
" The Sand Pebbles" is a great movie, one which garnered over EIGHT Academy Award Nominations!
Rating:  - Best anti-American propaganda has always come from Hollywood.
Starts out promising but after the intermission, (cut short), makes sharp left turn into anti-American drivel. The new Rambo movie, which I also purchased in Blu-Ray, covers largely the same story line, (disillusioned American soldier rescuing missionarys caught in a war zone), but Rambo does it much better. Steve McQueen seems embarrassed throughout the second half of the movie. Good movie to show to the kids to let them see how crappy the 60s were for entertainment. Picture quality excellent, kind of sparse on the special features.
Rating: - Love and a "Not War"
I have replaced the DVD version of "The Sand Pebbles" with Bluray and it delivers all it promises. I'll say no more about technology. This remains to this day perhaps the finest anti-war film ever; capped off by the line delivered by the Missionary "...it's too late in the world for flags". With the (possible) exception of Bullitt, this is McQueen's finest performance. The luxury of a movie that takes it time and films SCENES instead of snapshots always makes me long for a David Lean film (see "Bridge", "Lawrence" and "Doc Z"). Try it - you'll like it.
Rating: - The Best Catalog Blu-Ray I have seen.
The movie per se is excellent. Steve Mcqueen's best performance. But the jewel here is the excellent transfer on this blu-ray. If you are a fan of this film or of Steve McQueen, this is a must buy.
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