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During the Korean War peace talks in Panmunjom, U.S. troops fight and die trying to retake a worthless hill from the Communist Chinese forces.During the Korean War peace talks in Panmunjom, U.S. troops fight and die trying to retake a worthless hill from the Communist Chinese forces.During the Korean War peace talks in Panmunjom, U.S. troops fight and die trying to retake a worthless hill from the Communist Chinese forces.
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War movie? Anti-war movie? For you to judge on this one.
Fact is that this is a crude depiction of what happened a bit everywhere in the Korean war.
Gregory Peck, a gentleman of an actor, delivers a very strong performance as an officer tasked to take that darn hill. His conflict goes both ways.
He has to order his men to "get out there and take the Hill at all costs" and at the same time he has to keep their spirits together before they totally crack-up.
In fact, you actually can feel the bombs and the mortars shelling you throughout the movie. Imagine how you would feel if you had actually been there...
This is probably a good companion to "M*A*S*H" (the Movie and/or the TV series). It's just on the other side of those Hills. It's these boys who were delivered on Hawkeye's operation table.
Never forget that!
It's honest, well played and has much less war-glorifying aspects than one would imagine or expect.
The DVD edition is a bit better than its VHS counterpart and is in the correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
Now, if some producer is still able to make a 90 minute movie with a similar gripping story nowadays, then you may call me Santa Claus!
Fact is that this is a crude depiction of what happened a bit everywhere in the Korean war.
Gregory Peck, a gentleman of an actor, delivers a very strong performance as an officer tasked to take that darn hill. His conflict goes both ways.
He has to order his men to "get out there and take the Hill at all costs" and at the same time he has to keep their spirits together before they totally crack-up.
In fact, you actually can feel the bombs and the mortars shelling you throughout the movie. Imagine how you would feel if you had actually been there...
This is probably a good companion to "M*A*S*H" (the Movie and/or the TV series). It's just on the other side of those Hills. It's these boys who were delivered on Hawkeye's operation table.
Never forget that!
It's honest, well played and has much less war-glorifying aspects than one would imagine or expect.
The DVD edition is a bit better than its VHS counterpart and is in the correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
Now, if some producer is still able to make a 90 minute movie with a similar gripping story nowadays, then you may call me Santa Claus!
10Jay V.
I think when movies like Saving Private Ryan or Platoon came out people thought that these represented "new" insights on the war movie. Unfortunately, I guess they'd never seen a number of classic old films, such as Hell Is For Heroes (Steve McQueen), Sahara (Humphrey Bogart), or, indeed, Pork Chop Hill, starring Gregory Peck.
I've seen Pork Chop Hill three or four times. It is, from what I understand, a historically accurate account of one of the last fifty years' most famous battles, based on the book by famous military historian Gen. S. L. A. "Slam" Marshall. The scene is at the end of the Korean War. Negotiations between the combatants have stalemated. LT1 Joe Clemons (played by Gregory Peck) is ordered to take Pork Chop Hill, a basically worthless piece of territory to demonstrate to the Chinese and North Koreans that resolve had not flagged. So a night attack is ordered. Fog of war messes the whole thing up repeatedly and Clemons is left holding the bag, with his company of men stuck in the assault without the backup they expected to happen. The story is very human, particularly the interaction between Clemons and his second in command, Ohashi. You see men determined to win even though they know they might die (and for what?), men on the verge of breaking only to be rallied or not, the utter confusion of battle. The movie's got a lot of then-unknowns, but later stars, e.g., George Peppard, Rip Torn, etc.
I've seen Pork Chop Hill three or four times. It is, from what I understand, a historically accurate account of one of the last fifty years' most famous battles, based on the book by famous military historian Gen. S. L. A. "Slam" Marshall. The scene is at the end of the Korean War. Negotiations between the combatants have stalemated. LT1 Joe Clemons (played by Gregory Peck) is ordered to take Pork Chop Hill, a basically worthless piece of territory to demonstrate to the Chinese and North Koreans that resolve had not flagged. So a night attack is ordered. Fog of war messes the whole thing up repeatedly and Clemons is left holding the bag, with his company of men stuck in the assault without the backup they expected to happen. The story is very human, particularly the interaction between Clemons and his second in command, Ohashi. You see men determined to win even though they know they might die (and for what?), men on the verge of breaking only to be rallied or not, the utter confusion of battle. The movie's got a lot of then-unknowns, but later stars, e.g., George Peppard, Rip Torn, etc.
One of the finest (anti)war movies ever made is undoubtedly the 1930 epic All Quiet On The Western Front, directed by the incomparable Lewis Milestone. 29 years later, Milestone once again turned his attention to the waste and futility of war with Pork Chop Hill. This powerful and well-made Korean War drama is not quite in the same league as Milestone's earlier classic, but it still paints a vivid picture of the harsh realities of combat, and conveys a palpable sense of the pointlessness of war.
Lieutenant Clemons (Gregory Peck) is a honest, dependable American soldier fighting in the Korean War. He believes in carrying out orders whatever they may be, but his attitude is put to the ultimate test when he is instructed to lead an attack on a tactically insignificant hill in the dying days of the war. Issuing orders which he knows will lead to pointless loss of life, Clemons leads his men up the titular hill into a maelstrom of enemy gunfire, looking on in horror and dismay as his boys are gunned down or blown to bits in their futile quest.
After the film had been shot, Milestone was somewhat irritated to discover that the studio had tampered with his intentions, adding a misleading last-scene voice-over which tried to suggest that the victory on Pork Chop Hill made a significant difference to the future of millions of Koreans. The film is at its best when delivering its anti-war sensibilities, especially the bitter scenes showing honest young soldiers losing their lives for no particular reason. In historical terms, the capture of Pork Chop Hill was both costly in lives and irrelevant in consequence. The performances are generally first-rate. Peck is excellent as the man who tries to justify the insanity of what his platoon have been ordered to do. He gives his best performance since Twelve O'Clock High a decade earlier. Giving memorable supporting turns are familiar character actors like Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard and Martin Landau, all of them resisting the urge to appear as gung-ho heroes to add to the film's stance that war is a meaningless and expensive pursuit. There have been few genuinely worthy Korean War films but this one and M*A*S*H - released 11 years later - are recommended titles for anyone looking for authentic film treatments about the subject.
Lieutenant Clemons (Gregory Peck) is a honest, dependable American soldier fighting in the Korean War. He believes in carrying out orders whatever they may be, but his attitude is put to the ultimate test when he is instructed to lead an attack on a tactically insignificant hill in the dying days of the war. Issuing orders which he knows will lead to pointless loss of life, Clemons leads his men up the titular hill into a maelstrom of enemy gunfire, looking on in horror and dismay as his boys are gunned down or blown to bits in their futile quest.
After the film had been shot, Milestone was somewhat irritated to discover that the studio had tampered with his intentions, adding a misleading last-scene voice-over which tried to suggest that the victory on Pork Chop Hill made a significant difference to the future of millions of Koreans. The film is at its best when delivering its anti-war sensibilities, especially the bitter scenes showing honest young soldiers losing their lives for no particular reason. In historical terms, the capture of Pork Chop Hill was both costly in lives and irrelevant in consequence. The performances are generally first-rate. Peck is excellent as the man who tries to justify the insanity of what his platoon have been ordered to do. He gives his best performance since Twelve O'Clock High a decade earlier. Giving memorable supporting turns are familiar character actors like Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard and Martin Landau, all of them resisting the urge to appear as gung-ho heroes to add to the film's stance that war is a meaningless and expensive pursuit. There have been few genuinely worthy Korean War films but this one and M*A*S*H - released 11 years later - are recommended titles for anyone looking for authentic film treatments about the subject.
Pork Chop Hill is to films about the Korean War (when more than 50,000 men die, it is a war, not a "conflict") what Go Tell the Spartans is to the Viet Nam War. Neither of them are artificially dramatic, both are understated, both tell the story pretty much as it was, or, at least, as close as Hollywood gets. This entire movie represents the Korean War very well including the posturing at the peace talks. Some people are now calling Korea "the forgotten war." This is regrettably true. More people should see Pork Chop Hill.
One of the few classic films about the Korean war, Pork Chop Hill is a genuinely good specimen of a nitty gritty war film in the pre-blood and guts era. What the movie lacks in realistic language and violence it more than makes up for in intensity. Peck is amazing, as usual, as Lt. Joe Clemons, the man leading the charge on the hill. His performance of a man on the edge is very believable. Sympathizing with his plight to try and get reinforcements or the heck outta there is an easy task. The early civil rights-era film seems to also touch on some social issues, showing a camaraderie between all ethnicities. Overall, this is a fine example of a classic war film with one of the finest American actors of all time in the lead role...you can't go wrong.
Did you know
- TriviaGregory Peck personally chose Lewis Milestone to direct because Milestone's All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) had made a deep impression on him.
- GoofsAll of the American officers are wearing their bright rank insignia and Infantry branch insignia. In reality, officers rarely wore these items in the front lines because they identified them as leaders who then became prime targets for enemy snipers.
- Quotes
Lt. Joe Clemons: [to his commanders via radio] I have about 25 men, they are completely spent. I expect a heavy attack at dark, that'll be about a half an hour from now, unless we can be reinforced, I recommend we withdraw. Over.
- Crazy creditsFollowing the opening credits and opening scenes: A RESERVE POSITION NEAR PORK CHOP HILL--70 MILES FROM THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT PUNMUNJOM-KOREA-1953
- ConnectionsEdited into The Our Gang Story (1994)
- How long is Pork Chop Hill?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $14,200
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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