Pork Chop Hill

Starring: Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard, Robert Blake, Martin Landau, Henry Dean Stanton
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Rating: Not rated
Genre: War, Action, Drama
1959

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: American soldiers, led by a tough lieutenant (Gregory Peck) are charged with taking a hill of no military importance during the final days of the Korean War.

Review:

Tim: This Korean War movie is notable more for its anti-war sentiment than anything else. The film is about a unit of soldiers ordered to take a hill of no particular military value only days before the war would be concluded. We are told in no uncertain terms, of the absurdness of this exercise in wasting human life. Yes, the film tries to put a happy spin on this at the end, but the undercurrent of anti-war statements cannot be denied.

Gregory Peck does a good job in the title role, and balances out his feelings for following orders with the increasing frustration in lack of communication from headquarters. He gives a good performance and is fun to watch on screen. Under his command is a great cast, with many small performances going to excellent actors. Most notably are George Peppard, Martin Landau, Rip Torn, and Harry Dean Stanton.

Compared to some war movies, this one might slightly be more depressing. We are told of the worthlessness of the hill, yet we still see many Americans dying to take it. There are certainly some heroic and patriotic moments and we do get caught up in some of the wartime action, but ultimately, the whole thing just seems silly. Ironically, in making this point, the movie actually works against itself, and we occasionally wonder why we're still sticking around watching it. Luckily, the film does enough right to entertain and to make its anti-war statement known. This isn't the best war movie of the late 1950s, but it serves as an interesting entry nonetheless.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Exorcist, E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial, The Sixth Sense