PORK CHOP HILL is a standard black and white American war movie of the 1950s. This one's headlined by Gregory Peck who immediately lifts the proceedings a couple of notches with his carefully mannered performance. The story is very simplistic, involving the taking and re-taking of an otherwise insignificant hill from the Chinese during the Korean War, but on the other hand the pace is very fast and the story packed to the brim with battle action.
Usually films in this genre take time out to introduce the characters via chit-chat and training, but not so here. We're in the thick of the action from the beginning and it stays that way until the very end. The cast is star-studded, featuring such notables as Woody Strode, Rip Torn, and George Peppard, and the battle scenes emphasis the humanity of the situation; they're quite small scale, but as a plus this makes them claustrophobic. The film is also heavy on the ordinance, making it an explosive journey.
Usually films in this genre take time out to introduce the characters via chit-chat and training, but not so here. We're in the thick of the action from the beginning and it stays that way until the very end. The cast is star-studded, featuring such notables as Woody Strode, Rip Torn, and George Peppard, and the battle scenes emphasis the humanity of the situation; they're quite small scale, but as a plus this makes them claustrophobic. The film is also heavy on the ordinance, making it an explosive journey.