When you say Sydney Pollack, and Francis Ford Coppola you do not think of a war drama without either of them behind the camera. When you think of Redford first movie, most folks did n't notice this one. The cast of this includes the Captain of the Love Boat, and Charles Aidman who I know mostly from other roles, but talentwise, this cast stacks up with any.
Scriptwise, well it is a fictional story about war torn Korea just before the cease fire. Set in the 1950's, the sets in this low budget film remind me of the sets from MASH. I am not sure but some of the tents might have been used in this, and some of the trenches and bunkers might have been used in the original Pork Chop Hill. No matter, the black and white photography is pretty well done.
The drama in a way makes sense with an American with combat fatigue hauling a Korean boy around with him in combat, telling him the war is going to last forever. Then he resents Redford interfearing with their relationship. Redford is new to the unit. Meanwhile, Redford comes in as a replacement reporting to the DMZ area with a group in a truck. That is where the drama starts.
A lot happens as the characters develop relationships, and try to avoid trouble. In the end, both of those goals prove to be elusive. The ending of the film seems sudden and artibtrary, like they ran out of money so they just decided to end it. Refords acting in his first role is satisfactory. It is not one of the better scripts he ever got for a film.
Redford was paying his dues, and this starring introduction did not get him much, but he kept working until he got better scripts to work with. If Redford had never done any movies after this one, he never would have gotten famous. Luckily for all of us, he did lots more after this.
Scriptwise, well it is a fictional story about war torn Korea just before the cease fire. Set in the 1950's, the sets in this low budget film remind me of the sets from MASH. I am not sure but some of the tents might have been used in this, and some of the trenches and bunkers might have been used in the original Pork Chop Hill. No matter, the black and white photography is pretty well done.
The drama in a way makes sense with an American with combat fatigue hauling a Korean boy around with him in combat, telling him the war is going to last forever. Then he resents Redford interfearing with their relationship. Redford is new to the unit. Meanwhile, Redford comes in as a replacement reporting to the DMZ area with a group in a truck. That is where the drama starts.
A lot happens as the characters develop relationships, and try to avoid trouble. In the end, both of those goals prove to be elusive. The ending of the film seems sudden and artibtrary, like they ran out of money so they just decided to end it. Refords acting in his first role is satisfactory. It is not one of the better scripts he ever got for a film.
Redford was paying his dues, and this starring introduction did not get him much, but he kept working until he got better scripts to work with. If Redford had never done any movies after this one, he never would have gotten famous. Luckily for all of us, he did lots more after this.