Director Lewis Milestone has created several landmarks in the study of war and cinema. All Quiet on the Western Front remains his number one effort, but he has made other works on others wars (notably A Walk in the Sun) as time goes by. Pork Chop Hill, Milestone's ode to the Korean War, remains the best film ever made on the topic, superseding MASH as a depiction of life and death in the "Forgotten War".<br /><br />The film itself is considerably well-made given the year of release. In many instances you can spot shots duplicated by Oliver Stone for Platoon: the slow pans around the littered battlefield, the awkward confrontations between squadmembers, and the lurking sensation between advances. While the film is nicely edited, the middle section lags terrifically, resulting in a botched jobs that requires the obligatory "Last Battle" to fix. Sound work is decent, but nothing to rave about (it is better than Patton, I will admit that). <br /><br />There are people at IMDB who love to lambaste Saving Private Ryan for its use of "senseless, excessive gore and violence" or other flaws in its execution. Spielberg merely enhanced or lifted many aspects of Pork Chop Hill in making that movie. There is no gore in the movie, but there is a disturbing sense of violence mixed with the typical Milestone message of futility. <br /><br />While I was not expecting a deep message from this movie, I was pleased that Gregory Peck remained the most resilient actor I have ever seen. His ability to stay in command is both obnoxiously monotonous and resilient. Other than that, the rest of the grunts, that's right "grunts", are given much of the stereotypical problems you'd expect in a 50s movie. Thankfully, the consistent presence of death by a largely faceless foe helps destroy any overt patriotism in them and keep any gung-ho shenanigans to a minimum. Even when they try, they only get killed or injured.<br /><br />Overall, an interesting war film worth viewing once. People who liked Enemy at the Gates or Black Hawk Down should avoid this one, though. I felt the use of black & white was exceptionally gritty. 3.5 out of 5 stars.