• Fuller’s third film and best to date in 1951
  • Often cited as the first Korean war movie, true to Fuller’s standard operation- shot in 10 days Starts with a trademark Sam Fuller close-up (often uncomfortably close seeing characters’ sweat) during the credits—on the titular steel helmet with a bullet hole
  • Gene Evans is the hard-boiled, world-weary soldier wearing the helmet- he chews a cigar, hazes rookies, colorful language- it’s like if Tom Sizemore’s character in Saving Private Ryan was in charge
  • visceral – under fire from an unseen enemy in the fog
  • A great frame at 38 minutes of the platoon in the ornate temple
A great frame at 38 minutes of the platoon in the ornate temple
  • Very low-budget, not uncommon at the time but uses doc newsreel footage during some of the action
  • A strong overhead shot at 55 mins
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A strong overhead shot at 55 mins
  • Unlike many films that glorified war during WWII this is the seedy, ugly underbelly- Fuller’s dedication to uncovering truths, exposing lies. This is about the grunts in the platoon
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the story of the collective platoon- certainly an influence on Oliver Stone- films like Saving Private Ryan telling the story of war through in a micro level
  • Fuller has these 180-degree shots swinging around the platoon that are nice touches
  • Typical of Fuller he exposes and discusses racism- the enemy captive is grilling the black medic in the platoon about white American hypocrisy
  • 70 minutes a stunning close-up, shot here- the head of Evans and the helmet title after his buddy “short round” (yep Spielberg would use in Temple of Doom) passes
70 minutes a stunning close-up, shot here- the head of Evans and the helmet title- one of Fuller’s greatest image in his body of work
  • Certainly a companion (ugliness of war, story of a platoon, visceral action, cynical) to Fixed Bayonets! Which would come out just after this in 1951 and The Big Red One in 1980
  • Fuller uses one of his patented tracks in at the 83 minute mark pulling in for a close-up of the three survivors in the frame (spaced perfectly)—they talk about how they’ll get medals and say they’d rather have something to eat — to Fuller’s suspicious worldview
Fuller uses one of his patented tracks in at the 83 minute mark pulling in for a close-up of the three survivors in the frame (spaced perfectly)—they talk about how they’ll get medals and say they’d rather have something to eat — to Fuller’s suspicious worldview
  • End with the “there is no end to this story title”
  • Recommend/Highly Recommend border