Pork Chop Hill Reviews

A company of American soldiers stationed in Korea suffer terrible losses when ordered to take a strategically unimportant hill from Chinese forces. Pork Chop Hill was directed by Lewis Milestone who was no stranger to the genre having directed the classic All Quiet On The Western Front and here he pretty much invented the modern war movie. Influencing everything from Zulu to Black Hawk Down, its power is in its gritty realism and unrelenting depiction of terrifying and seemingly meaningless violence. It was based upon real accounts and written by a veteran soldier which gives it a real authenticity and is very unsentimental in its representation of the soldier on the ground, avoiding the usual soap opera back stories of the central characters. Instead it jumps straight into the action and virtually the entire film is set in the blood soaked trenches. Woody Strode's sole dissenter adds a mild socio-political element which was expanded on the great effect in the Vietnam-based remake Hamburger Hill and solid performances all round make for a quality war film that won't change the mind of anyone who dislikes the genre but will be a potential favourite of those who do.

This is the kind of classic war film that I loved as a kid. It's full of heroics, non-stop battle sequences and no yucky girls! Well, there is one girl, but she's a North Korean soldier and nobody ever kisses her so she doesn't count. :)

US Infantry vs. Fanatical oriental Communist forces in blood-soaked battle: 1953 Korea! ("They're not just Orientals, They're Communists!!"). Ranks with "Lost Command" for showing accurate military tactics. The actual person Pecks persona is based on was the technical adviser. This film recreates actual events, and with hardcore but antiwar Ukrainian Director Lou Milestone at the helm, we know we are getting the real deal here. Awesome musical score and solid cast of future greats & solid character actors makes this a must-see that veterans will appreciate as being damn near as close as it gets without real bullets and artillery flying at you...Notable for including Japanese-American & Black actors in the cast, a big deal at the time of it's making, portraying them as Men rather than stereotypes: showing the improved Army after they had proved themselves in WW2 & the then new abolishment of racist segregation in the military, which only added to the realism the film effectively projects. A Great time-capsule (before Peck, a'la Eastwood, caved in to the Hollywood SAG "politically-correct" crowd who never grasped what this essentially anti-war film, was all about, preferring the overly-simplistic "America is Evil" line personified by "Racist with credentials" Oliver Stone and similar ilk). Pork Chop Hill and director Milestone's vision stands firmly in the face of such faddishness and still gets to the point as directly as a kick in the genitals-even today!. Grab a tub of buttered popcorn and get into it...You will be a better person for the effort...Don't miss it!

To quote Donald Rumsfeld: "You fight with the army you have, not the army you wish you had." That pretty much sums up "Pork Chop Hill", an effective war movie chronicling the taking of the hill during the Korean War. Very frustrating to watch as Gregory Peck and his soldiers have to deal with bad communication, not enough troops, and the fact that they could very well be the last ones to die as the U.S. and China negotiate for a truce. Some great young talent of the day pop up, including Martin Landau, Robert Blake, and Harry Dean Stanton (and Norman Fell. I saw that Rip Torn and Gavin MacLeod were in it as well, but I didn't recognize them in the movie). One of the better war movies of its time with some memorable images, such as soldiers slowly ascending the hill as the Chinese play "Taps" over loudspeakers.

Gripping and powerful story of Gis holding a hill against Chinese forces in Korea. Peck is at his typical best. Quite good!

what the hell flixster people!? This is the greatest War movie ever. eeks out Platoon just barely. Yes it is worthy to have an actors name the same size as the title of the movie. he seriously needs a best actor award of the decade. so peck is divine. the story is remarkable, and fairly accurate? as far as i remember from class. oh my this is FANTABULOUSO!

A really good war movie... but then anything with Gregory Peck is pretty good. You really end up sympathizing with the soldiers. In the end, you're just as tired as they are. In a way.

Solid war film, thought-provoking, realistic, and intense. The climax is really unsatisfying, however, especially after such a great buildup.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

(1959) Pork Chop Hill
WAR

Based on fact written from S.L.A. Marshall's personal book similar to "Hamburger Hill" centering on taking charge of a pointless hill. In this case it's against the Chinese taking the hill from the Koreans and the US soldiers duty to take it back from them. Another anti-war film with a message already seen way before the movie is even over still important since it's part of history. Starring Gregory Peck as the Sergent and George Peppard, Rip Torn and Robert Blake playing some of the soldiers.

3 out of 4

This is a boring and very lame movie. I only made it an hour or so before I bailed.

This review is also applicable to Das Boot.

I am going to simplify my reviews of these two classic war movies into one topic ... values.

By value I am not writing about monetary values. You have probably heard the phrase: "He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing". I know people like this too. Value in the movies being reviewed in not the intrinsic 'value' of the thing being fought over or for, but the sacrifice individuals are willing to make for the effort. Pork Chop Hill was a forgotten battle in a forgotten war and soldiers died to prove that they valued with their sacrifice a thing on no military value.


Das Boot was based on a mission of failure for a lost cause, but of value to those men who died also to show that by their sacrifice they valued the effort and each other, not the mission.

PORK CHOP HILL (1959)

An acquaintance recommended this movie to me. Judging by the title, I assumed (incorrectly) that it was a comedy. So I expected nothing other than it would be a very good movie. WRONG! Now if you like war movies and scenes of people being killed in a variety of different ways, you'd probably enjoy this one. That's not my cup of tea. The best thing I can say about this movie is that it's not as horrible as Passion of the Christ, which I watched immediately afterwards. There are heroes and cowards but the ending is neither realistic nor climactic. This movie reminded me how much better movies are in the 21st century than in 1959. The bright side, you'll be very glad when it's over and it may make you actual life seem pretty damn good! But I can watch Cops to get that result. Don't waste your time.

Gregory Peck, once again, is the only reason this movie is up to snuff with war film classics.