Directed by Samuel Fuller
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, 20th Century Fox)
A small platoon is assigned to be the rear guard of a retreating US Army in Korea. They must convince the much larger pursuing Koreans that they are more than just a handful of men. It's the dead of winter and they must fight cold and snow as well. Rather than concentrate on large-scale action, writer-director Fuller chooses to focus on the individual men and their experiences in this hopeless situation. We get to know each man by face if not by name, so when something happens we feel it deeply. Occasionally Fuller resorts to internal thought-narration, such as the Corporal who has a fear of responsibility. So when the ranking officers are killed and he takes over command, we have the same trepidations. The low budget does blunt the impact: it's a static film on an obvious studio set and tanks are blown-up in poor miniature work. It easily overcomes these limitations and is another excellent part of the Fuller oeuvre.
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