Pork Chop Hill is the story of one company's daring and bravery in taking and holding the titlular hill. The film is based on a true account of the Korean War. Gregory Peck plays the lead part of 1st Lt. Joe Clemons, commanding officer of King Company. With a murderously high casualty rate, they take and hold Pork Chop while the diplomats parley. Within that main framework are the small pieces of human interest woven in...boys becoming men, cowards faced with their own fear, men reacting to the loss of a buddy. One gets the sense, while watching the film, that some things are missing--but seeing as it is based in reality that does account for some of the 'missing' time. If one had a fuller understanding of the situation as it was, the odd moment of "I missed something" would not be there. This film does have a smattering language; but for a war movie it is quite clean (of course, pre-60's movies in general were fairly light on the inappropriate). The blood doesn't get much gorier than in the above picture.
This ranks up there as one of 'good' war movies I have seen...
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The basic plot of this film is as follows: a platoon of American soldiers land on the beaches of Italy during WWII. Their assigned target--a farm house six miles inland. A Walk in the Sun is a slow moving film. From the instant it opens until the second it closes, one gets the sense of the old Army cliche, "Hurry up and wait." However, I believe that is what makes this such a great movie. For those of my generation who have short attention spans, it might bore them, but if one really pays attention to the story--these G.I.'s morning "walk in the sun"--one easily gets emotionally involved with the characters and their own quirks. From the loquacious machine gunner from Brooklyn to the Sgt. who is really a farmer, the men make the story...they are the story. This is very much a story of soldiers and their fears and how they face them. The men who have seen war and continue to fight--because they know they are right. I find this movie to grip me and hold me...I feel anxious with them and compassionate with them when one of the characters--a good soldier--completely breaks down. This is a clean movie--there is no profanity and no gratuitous violence. There is some action, but nothing overly frightening. In other words, this is a film that a young child could watch (a family movie, so to speak). Made in 1945 and starring Dana Andrews (among others), this film gets a 5-star rating from me. It is one of those movies one can watch multiple times and get something new out of it each time.
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RachealA Reformed Presbyterian girl who enjoys a good movie or a good book any ol' time. Archives
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Note: All images picked up online. No copyright infringment intended.
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