Pork Chop Hill

Rating:
Summary: harrowing
Review:
This a stark and claustrophobic look at battle, one that manages to harrow with out the special effects and the gore of Saving Private Ryan, but rather makes its most powerful statements in moments of quite, much like A Thin Red Line. In fact, though Red Line is superior, it owes much to Pork Chop Hill, and in many ways Pork Chop Hill seems an extended meditation on the Hamlet scene in which soldiers in the army of Fortenibras discuss the idea that they are fighting for nothing more than straw, for a little stretch of land that really means nothing to anybody but rather has just become a place on which to pitch a battle and see who is most powerful and most willing.


Rating:
Summary: Lewis Milestone Pays Tribute to Korean War Heroes
Review: "Pork Chop Hill" from 1959 is a grim but riveting look at an actual battle, near the close of the Korean War. Lewis Milestone, who already had left quite a distinguishable mark on Hollywood, directed this, his third entry into what may be considered his anit-war trilogy. "All Quiet on the Western Front"(1930), his academy award winning look at the horrors of WWI, and "A Walk In the Sun" made in 1945, his WWII entry, were the first two.

Gregory Peck stars as Lt. Joe Clemons, who is ordered to lead an Army Company to hold "Pork Chop Hill". The hill is insignificant to the outcome of the war, and not only that, but the war is all but over. Knowing this, the men are not exactly gung-ho to risk their lives. They are pinned down and outnumbered by the enemy, shells going off all around, they lack water, food, medical supplies, communication is practically nil, and were also taunted by psychologically destructiove messages, broadcasted by the Chinese. There was great loss and sacrifice of life and limb, yet the powers that be, commanded they "hold that hill". And so they did.

War Buffs and Film Buffs alike will well appreciate the authenticity of the battle, and the superb way it was shot. The black and white cinematography, adds to the starkness and bleakness of the situation these infintry men faced. Peck turns in a masterful performance and the film is also known for so many young talented actors involved that would go on to be stars and great character actors. The cast includes, George Peppard, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, Woody Strode, Martin Landau, Harry Dean Stanton, and Robert Blake(who oddly enough can't seem to find his gun). And that is just to name a few.

It's an eye opener and wonderful tribute to these Korean War Heroes, who didn't get quite the attention or accolades of those from other wars. A must have addition to your Gregory Peck, or great war films collection.

Enjoy...Laurie

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and accurate portrayal.
Review: An excellent movie of the Korean War. I don't believe it had much commercial success, but it portrays accurately the combat in the hills of Korea.

Rating:
Summary: excellent and accurate
Review: Based on the actual happening and with excellent acting this is more than just a war movie it's a documentary. Most of the actual names were kept and the technical advisor was the actual company commander. As an ex-infantryman in Korea in '53 I was moved.
I'd rate this on a par with Band of Brothers.

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Summary: I was in 224 reg. 40th div. in that battle.Great movie.!!
Review: Best korean war movie ever made.Brings back many memories,good and bad

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Summary: one of the first realistic war pictures made
Review: Even tho this movie was made in 1959 it still measures up to todays standards of war pictures made, and in most cases is better than what they have out there today. The director was very accurate in the setting and the history behind the battle from what I read about Pork Chop Hill and what my father told me, who was in the 2nd Infrantry division during the Korean War and fought at Old Baldy.The cast of actors are good in there portrayal of the every day soldier concerns and fears,and finally the propoganda that the Chinese broadcasted over the speakers is deadly accurate from what my father told me.

Rating:
Summary: Frustration in the Final Days of the Korean War
Review: Gregory Peck is solid as the frustrated commander of troops that are being ordered to take a hill controlled by the enemy during the closing days of the Korean War. Peck and his men know that a truce is being negotiated and that in the end, the battle may be for nothing. Miscommunication during the battle adds to their obstacles, as does political manouvering. There is also the propaganda broadcast by the Chinese at the Americans, a facet of this film I found especially memorable as I imagined it's effect on the soldiers. There are a lot of recognizable faces in the cast, long before they were stars, but that does not distract from the action. I found the movie to be slow in parts and the story required a better pacing and dramatic structure, but it's very accurate in portraying the honest emotions of the men caught between duty and their hearts. This is not a "pretty" war movie, with beautiful photography and attractive locations. It gives you a feeling of the hell that war must be, especially with a battle such as Pork Chop Hill.

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Summary: Peck Preps for Navarone
Review: I am a huge Peck fan. Here Gregory Peck matures into his battlefield role. Pork Chop Hill has plenty of conventional action, but lacks context and depth, symptomatic of the fact that the film was made just a very few years after the Korean War. For those who lived through the period circa late 50's, Pork Chop provides a very in-your-face, black and white look at the lives of soldiers in battle. Immediately we are plunged into the battlefield with very little in the way of location establish, preamble, character development, or historical context. They didn't use the word Communist even once. We just go there and fight an uphill battle against the Red Chinese, period.

The movie has a very narrow focus, narrow in time and narrow in location, that of the taking of the hill, and the very, very short scene at the negotiating table just scratched the surface of what could have been milked out of that confrontation. An occasional cutaway to the commanding officers (would have liked to have seen more of Barry Atwater, Mr. Cool Cranium) provides only brief relief from the main task of taking and holding the hill. The Leonard Rosenmann music score is used sparingly and in a utilitarian fashion.

I enjoyed the supporting cast, including Norman Fell, Martin Landau, George Peppard, and Harry Guardino. Other than that there were no surprises or unexpected plot twists. Blood and guts were kept to a relative minimum -- no use of squibs. For it's time, I'm sure it was a groundbreaking film, they even use the word DAMN a couple of times. This is straightforward storytelling that tells the story of incredibly brave men, but rather low in shock or artistic value by today's standards. They soft-pedaled the "what are we fighting for" message -- they could have hit a lot harder with that one, but seeing as this was an Army-approved production, the conclusions and emotions one draws from this film seem rather watered down.

Rating:
Summary: This film is a "must see" if one is a war movie afficionado.
Review: If there is such a list as "Essential War Movies," then Pork Chop Hill should certainly be in the "Top Ten." The film is about patriotism and bravery in the midst of fear and doubt as to why the hill must be taken. The movie takes us back to a period when fighting was done by ordinary men with all of their vulnerabilities as opposed to modern portrayals of the military as fearless, smirking, wisecracking muscle men. This is a guy's movie. All others need not apply.

Rating:
Summary: Gregory Peck orders a bayonet charge
Review: In the spring of 1953, a company of the U.S. Army was ordered to assault an otherwise unprepossessing lump of Korean real estate called Pork Chop Hill. It's only value to either side was as a chess piece in the peace talks at Panmunjon, which were stalled on the question of where to pencil-in the cease-fire line. The Americans had occupied it; the Red Chinese had overwhelmed it; and now Gregory Peck (as Lt. Joe Clemons) is ordered to take his 135-man company and re-take it. PORK CHOP HILL is ostensibly based on the actual battle, and a qualifier at the beginning even states that most of the names haven't been changed.

As the battle unfolded, I began to mentally compare the production with recent, outstanding, "last stand" epics, specifically WE WERE SOLDIERS and BLACK HAWK DOWN - both also based on true events. PORK CHOP HILL comes up short, but not by much. The obvious difference is that PCH - released in 1959 - is filmed in black and white. This mutes the gore, which, in any case, is positively negligible compared to the grisly and graphic realism of today's simulated combat footage. However, the resulting tension felt by the viewer as Joe's unit is surrounded and faced with impending annihilation is only a click less than that felt during the height of the WWS and BHD on-screen fighting. At one point, Clemons orders a bayonet charge, which, as he says, may be the last one ever carried out by the U.S. Army. Well, the last perhaps until Mel Gibson's character, Lt. Col. Harold Moore, orders his Air Cav troopers to do the same to get out of a tight spot in WE WERE SOLDIERS.

PORK CHOP HILL is anti-war to the extent that it condemns the rear echelon desk jockeys tempted to sacrifice American boys on the altar of political expediency, or just from pure incompetence. It also isn't afraid to show the demoralization within Joe's command, and that not every grunt was itching to go over the top and charge the enemy trenches. In a film made well before the Vietnam debacle, such candidness must have been some sort of cinematic milestone for U.S. audiences used to the gung-ho dramas based on the nation's relatively recent World War II victories.

My sole motivation in watching this film was to see Peck. I can't think of any actor today whose on-screen presence exudes such dignified strength and integrity. I'm so convinced of this fact that I've gone ahead and ordered a biography of the man. We are missing the likes of him (and icons Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, and Cary Grant).