ThiefHott Too much of everything

Steineded How sad is this?

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

GusF Set in the final months of the Korean War, this is an excellent film which very effectively explores the dehumanising effects of war on its participants. It has a very strong script by Stanford Whitmore and it is well directed by Denis Sanders, though the first 25 to 30 minutes are perhaps a bit too leisurely paced. After that, however, it rollicks along at a great pace and there is a great atmosphere of tension. This was the second of only five films directed by Sanders, which is a shame as he could have become a successful film director if he had more opportunity to hone his craft. This is the first film that I have ever seen about the Korean War, easily the least represented 20th Century war involving the US in Hollywood terms, so that was very interesting. The film ends on July 28, 1953, the day after the armistice that ended the war was signed but it is much more personal significance to me as the day that my dad was born.The film features Robert Redford in not only his starring role but his first credited film appearance. He is quite good as Private Roy Loomis but his acting certainly improved as he got older. Loomis is a new recruit who arrives in Korea in May 1953, by which time negotiations for the armistice are already well underway. He is a very likable character who is necessary to ground the film. In many ways, he is the idealistic all-American boy who does not know what to expect when he reports for duty. His first experience of combat is very effectively depicted as being a traumatising one. As he listens to the artillery bombardment, he stares ahead blankly, hoping against hope that it will end soon. Before his unit withdraws, he is injured and knocked unconscious, only to awake the next morning to find himself alone. He manages to make his way back to the American lines but he is forced to kill a North Korean soldier in order to do so. After this scene, Loomis seems to be more mature and sensible as this rude awakening has allowed him to grow up.While Loomis is the protagonist, the best character in the film is Private Raymond Endore, a cold, distant, detached soldier who exhibits signs of psychosis. The underrated John Saxon gives an excellent performance as Endore, who is allowed to infiltrate enemy lines at night in order to gather information. It is his nightly ritual to kill North Korean soldiers with a knife and draw circles around their bodies. This could indicate that he is a serial killer and that the war is serving as an outlet for him to exercise his murderous desires but I prefer the interpretation that the war exacerbated these preexisting tendencies. One of the reasons that I think is that Endore is not completely without feeling as he does seem to be genuinely fond of Charlie, the young South Korean orphan whom he has unofficially adopted. He wants to take him under his wing and take care of him, even though he goes about doing so in a very warped fashion in that he intends to teach him to kill with a knife as he does. When the armistice is signed, Endore is unable to accept that the war is over and he becomes even more unstable. He has become a professional killer but whether he would have always been one or whether his experience of combat aggravated behaviour that may not have otherwise manifested itself is debatable. Loomis works well as a character in large part because his normal behaviour and attitudes serve as a great contrast to Endore.The film also has a strong supporting cast. Sydney Pollack made his film debut as Sgt. Owen Van Horn but he later focused on his directing career and did not take on another major film role until "Tootsie", which he also directed, 20 years later. He and Redford met on the set of the film and became close friends, leading Pollack to cast him in seven of his films. Charles Aidman is very good as the aptly named Captain Pratt who condones Endore's nightly excursions. I would like to believe that an officer would not do so in reality but I am afraid that they probably would under similar circumstances. Gavin McLeod and Tom Skerritt, whom Redford cast in "A River Runs Through It" 30 years later, have nice but smaller roles as Private Crotty and Sgt. Showalter. McLeod brings a few occasional moments of comic relief which I appreciated as they served to break the tension. Tommy Matsuda, one of the few people in the film who doesn't fall into the "Before They Were Famous" category, is great as Charlie. It is a shame that this was his only acting role as he could have had a solid career. Francis Ford Coppola makes an uncredited appearance as an army truck driver. In a bizarre coincidence, this means that the cast of the film includes three men who later directed Best Picture winners since Coppola directed "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II", Redford directed "Ordinary People" and Pollack directed "Out of Africa", in which Redford appeared. All three of them also won Best Director.Overall, this is a very strong film which is at times quite disturbing in its portrayal of the effects that warfare can have on a person. It is also a great indication of what you can do with a low budget but a good script and good director.

Woodyanders May, 1953. The last days of the Korean war. Naive and idealistic Private Roy Loomis (a sound and sympathetic performance by Robert Redford in his film debut) gets sent to the front lines as a replacement in a platoon. Loomis meets crazed and reclusive soldier Raymond Endore (splendidly played with frightening remoteness by John Saxon), an aloof loner who sneaks behind enemy lines on a nightly regular basis and butchers rival soldiers. The officers in command know about Endore's activities, but let it slide because he obtains valuable information during his nocturnal excursions. Loomis decides to stand up to Endore in order to save orphan boy Charlie (a touching portrayal by Tommy Matsuda) from Endore's possibly dangerous influence. Director Denis Sanders, working from a tight, literate, and incisive script by Stanford Whitmore, presents a compellingly gritty, realistic and unglamorous depiction of the darker aspects of war, specifically showing how war allows stone psychos like Endore the readily available opportunity to engage in brutal exploits that would never be acceptable and permissible in the everyday peaceful civilian world. This film astutely nails the horror and humanity of warfare: The one big combat sequence is genuinely harrowing while Endore's relationship with Charlie is truly moving. Endore makes for a fascinatingly complex character; the sight of Endore with mud painted on his face is very chilling, his acts of cold-blooded murder are likewise upsetting, yet his concern for Charle's well being is still nonetheless poignant. Fine supporting contributions by Charles Aidman as the tough Captain Wallace Pratt, Sydney Pollack as the hard-nosed Sergeant Owen Van Horn, Gavin MacLeod as the disillusioned Private Crotty, and Tom Skerritt as the easygoing Sergeant Stan Showalter. Ted D. McCord's stark and striking cinematography makes artful use of fades and dissolves. Bud Shank's melodic and melancholy score also does the trick. A real sleeper.

George&Deolene Catsicadellis At the outset the film appears to be about the typical effects of war and its effects upon the soldiers and population surrounded by it. A closer look though reveals the questioning of the purpose of the Korean War. Besides the negative psychological effects upon the soldiers; they constantly seem to ask themselves, through the eyes of Robert Redford, what the purpose behind the killing is. We are constantly reminded that this was a war fought by the politicians and bankers to the detriment of the soldiers and the Korean people who suffered. This is ironically depicted when we see a group of soldiers being driven to the front while one of them is looking at the price of Wall Street stock prices. Redford in this, one of his early film debuts, dramatically questions the senseless violence. This is emphasised at the end of the film by the senseless killing of a fellow American soldier who looses control over his ability to distinguish between killing as a soldier and for no reason at all.

SgtSlaughter Director Denis Sanders isn't a very well-known or acknowledged filmmaker. After seeing "War Hunt", I looked up his filmography, hoping to credit him to another, more mainstream film – one does not exist. Fortunately, a man does not have to be well known or have a huge fan base to be a good director. "War Hunt" is one of the best low-budget sleepers in the video store, now available on DVD from MGM.Running less than 90 minutes, "War Hunt" tells a powerful story about the toll of warfare on those who fight it. Idealism, patriotism and notions of heroism are forgotten in the midst of battle. Instead of making men into saints, war usually turns them into demons. Pvt. Loomis (an impossibly young Robert Redford) arrives in Korea during the last few weeks of the war. He meets Raymond Endore (John Saxon, "The Cavern"), an unhinged draftee who thrives on night patrols, during which he kills North Korean soldiers in their sleep. Endore has taken Charlie (Tommy Matsuda), a Korean orphan, into his care and Loomis also befriends the boy, hoping to wrest him away from Endore's dangerous influence.Much like "Hell is for Heroes" which premiered the same year, "War Hunt" was shot on a shoestring budget in the Midwestern United States. From start to finish, it's obvious that the military did not back the production. After all, this is a very anti-military movie. There are only a few extras on-hand and we only see a few trucks. The lack of financing really shows through in the climactic scene in which hordes of Chinese troops attack the entrenched Americans; most of the explosions and reactions to them look utterly false and stagy.Thankfully, this is not a picture about action and the glory of war – it's about the aftermath of such scenes. The fighting serves to push the conflict forward in the quiet moments of rest and recuperation when the bullets are done flying. In fact, in the film's third act, set during the cease-fire with the Chinese, the most devastating violence occurs. Endore sets off with Charlie to live in the mountains after the war's end, refusing to admit that he is part of the Army and must return home. The final conclusion between Endore and Captain Pratt (Charles Aidman) is quick, gritty and comes to an unexpected, powerful conclusion.Sanders' ensemble cast is superb in every way. Redford, in his film debut, is actually quite memorable as Loomis. The first time we meet Loomis, we already know what to expect: we've seen this type of clean-cut, fair-haired boy before. He'll go on to undergo a baptism of fire and become the hero of the piece. Not so, here. Loomis arrives in Korea with ideals and patriotism; much like Charlie Sheen's Chris Taylor in "Platoon", he comes to realize that there are only two kinds of men in warfare: those who crack under its pressures, like Endore, and those who just want to survive, like his new found friends Crotty (Gavin MacLeod) and Showalter (Tom Skerritt). His scenes between Charlie are tender, poignant and moving. His encounters with Endore are chilling and unconventionally solved. As Endore, John Saxon brings a new meaning to the word psychopath. We've never met a wacko like him before. His mannerisms, dialog, expressions, are all played with utter randomness. It's as if he was handed the role and told "do what you want with it". There are times when Endore is almost completely human, but something in his eyes tells us that perhaps there is something slightly wrong with this guy. As the nature of his character is gradually revealed, we can't help but become shocked, almost frightened."War Hunt" is a cliché-free, freshly original and involving drama. It makes a strong statement about war's general destructive nature. This is a movie about survival and flawed idealism, not heroism and courage. Kudos to the director for choosing to pick such a controversial subject. The film is almost prophetic in that it approaches the Korean War with an attitude that would come across with force and power in Vietnam films 25 years later, like "Hamburger Hill" and "Platoon".