• Starts off with a strong opening tracking shot along a well-worn battle field
  • Solid Bernstein score
  • Very detailed blocked, stacked faces like a Bergman film, stacked along vehicles here- lots of foreground/background work here
  • Feels like a horror film at times- the film’s narrative is essentially a group of men making’s way up a very treacherous road and Mann shoots often through the trees from the Korean perspective – it feels very claustrophobic- almost like a submarine film
  • Aldo Ray and Robert Ryan are great here- both aptly cast playing badasses
  • The mountain landscape/hill set piece to end the film is perfect for mann’s exploration of depth of field
  • Hard boiled and pessimistic
  • Border top 10 film of 1957
  • Recommend / Highly Recommend