"Where's your C.O. (Commanding Officer)?" "Fertilizing a rice paddy with the rest of the patrol."
"...half his head is gone."
This is the sort of gritty and realistic dialog that abounds in this ground-breaking Korean War film. Ground-breaking not just because of it's newer and more realistic language (complete with lots of racial epithets that would cause the politically correct types out there to have strokes) but because this picture managed to be the first Korean War film--being made while the war was still in its early days. And, to get this film out quickly, it was filmed in only 10 days--a shooting schedule typical of Sam Fuller's early films. It was also ground-breaking because the film tackled such topics as the treatment of Black-Americans and Japanese-American internment--touchy subjects that were virtually absent in films until years later. This film definitely marked a radical departure from WWII war films. Even excellent and realistic war films as BATTLE CRY and BATTLEGROUND didn't come close to the style in this film. Much of this realism is due to Fuller's own service in the front lines in the infantry in the previous war and the film seems like an ode to these brave men.
The only strikes against the film are an over reliance on stock footage towards the end--with some of it appearing to be WWII footage! Plus, while I enjoyed the scenes, apparently the folks at home weren't particularly pleased with scenes showing a prisoner being killed as well as a medic throwing off his red crosses and manning a machine gun! Realistic, perhaps, but not quite the same heroic vision of soldiers from previous films.
Still, overall this is a tense and exciting war film--perhaps the best of those made about the Korean War. Oh, and by the way, I checked. The tune for "Auld Lang Syne" really was the national anthem for Korea at one time. Also, read up on what IMDb says about the production--especially the number of extras and where the film was made. That Sam Fuller was a genius at getting the most out of minuscule budgets.
PS--Gene Evans, the tough sergeant from this film really had been a sergeant in the army.
"...half his head is gone."
This is the sort of gritty and realistic dialog that abounds in this ground-breaking Korean War film. Ground-breaking not just because of it's newer and more realistic language (complete with lots of racial epithets that would cause the politically correct types out there to have strokes) but because this picture managed to be the first Korean War film--being made while the war was still in its early days. And, to get this film out quickly, it was filmed in only 10 days--a shooting schedule typical of Sam Fuller's early films. It was also ground-breaking because the film tackled such topics as the treatment of Black-Americans and Japanese-American internment--touchy subjects that were virtually absent in films until years later. This film definitely marked a radical departure from WWII war films. Even excellent and realistic war films as BATTLE CRY and BATTLEGROUND didn't come close to the style in this film. Much of this realism is due to Fuller's own service in the front lines in the infantry in the previous war and the film seems like an ode to these brave men.
The only strikes against the film are an over reliance on stock footage towards the end--with some of it appearing to be WWII footage! Plus, while I enjoyed the scenes, apparently the folks at home weren't particularly pleased with scenes showing a prisoner being killed as well as a medic throwing off his red crosses and manning a machine gun! Realistic, perhaps, but not quite the same heroic vision of soldiers from previous films.
Still, overall this is a tense and exciting war film--perhaps the best of those made about the Korean War. Oh, and by the way, I checked. The tune for "Auld Lang Syne" really was the national anthem for Korea at one time. Also, read up on what IMDb says about the production--especially the number of extras and where the film was made. That Sam Fuller was a genius at getting the most out of minuscule budgets.
PS--Gene Evans, the tough sergeant from this film really had been a sergeant in the army.