Movies Best Hollywood Depiction of the Korean War

[pugilistico]

The Steel Helmet is the answer. One of the best and most underrated war movies ever, directed by the great Sam Fuller at the very beginning of his career (he started his career with his three best films, I Shot Jesse James, The Baron of Arizona, and The Steel Helmet). Pork Chop Hill is good, too, but The Steel Helmet is the best that I know.

I admit I have a hard time watching old movies but you sold me on it. Paths of Glory to is one of the best war movies I've seen and it was made in 57

 

[Bullitt68]

I admit I have a hard time watching old movies but I sold me on it. Paths of Glory to is one of the best war movies I've seen and it was made in the 57

Paths of Glory is one of the GOAT, which is not a surprise considering it was directed by the GOAT. The Steel Helmet isn't quite on that "masterpiece" level, but it's excellent all the same -- as are lots of classic war films like The Birth of a Nation, Battleship Potemkin, The Big Parade, Gunga Din, Battleground, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Run Silent, Run Deep, Ivan's Childhood, The Longest Day, The Guns of the Navarone, Hell is for Heroes, The Great Escape, 36 Hours, In Harm's Way, The Hill, The Sand Pebbles, The Dirty Dozen, Shame...lots of 'em.

 

[Highway99]

If anyone hasn't seen The Steel Helmet:



Park Row also with The Steel Helmet's Gene Evans is another great one of Fuller...Two subjects he knew well, war and newspaper.

 

[Sobek]

There isn't many at all. Imagine having fought in a war no one knows about and many didn't care about.

Not a movie, and it's only short but this is quite well done

 

[pugilistico]

There isn't many at all. Imagine having fought in a war no one knows about and many didn't care about.

Not a movie, and it's only short but this is quite well done

Nice touch with the Chinese looking like monsters in the dark and the GI realizing they're just people like he is.

I've only met one WWII vet but met a few Korean war vets. It almost never gets talked about in history classes. In my high school history class my teacher mentioned it in passing when talking about the cold war. Like it was some minor operation. Many in my generation don't even know that it happened so I doubt the younger kids would know.

 

[Jesus X]

Devotion was a korean war film looks woke tho.

 

[Sobek]

Nice touch with the Chinese looking like monsters in the dark and the GI realizing they're just people like he is.

Yeah the fear and propaganda they used to get fed before their first combat was interesting.
I heard an Australian WW2 veteran talk about fighting the Japanese in New Guinea. Back then very few people had met Asians.
He recounted the army feeding them propaganda about Japanese saying they were unathletic, had poor eyesight, couldn't see at night, were very small and bandy legged and not good soldiers.

The Australians got a rude shock when the complete opposite was true and many remarked they were 'the best soldiers they'd ever seen'.
He also said they were told they were all like 5'5 and thin and he said 'the first Jap I saw was 6'2 and 100kgs (225lbs)'.

 

[pugilistico]

Devotion was a korean war film looks woke tho.

It's not really a Korean war film. The korean war only starts in the 3rd act and most of the movie is about being a black guy in the 50s. I was hoping they would focus more on the war but I don't they had the budget for it.

Yeah the fear and propaganda they used to get fed before their first combat was interesting.
I heard an Australian WW2 veteran talk about fighting the Japanese in New Guinea. Back then very few people had met Asians.
He recounted the army feeding them propaganda about Japanese saying they were unathletic, had poor eyesight, couldn't see at night, were very small and bandy legged and not good soldiers.

The Australians got a rude shock when the complete opposite was true and many remarked they were 'the best soldiers they'd ever seen'.
He also said they were told they were all like 5'5 and thin and he said 'the first Jap I saw was 6'2 and 100kgs (225lbs)'.

That guy must've been a beast. The average japanese guy now isn't 6'2 and 200lbs. I'm sure most of them were smaller than the average westerner though. In pictures you can see the Japanese soldiers are visibly shorter than their western counterparts.

Dude here looks like he's as tall as the rifle he's carrying.

The propaganda must've been real though. I recall an account from a Brit who was on a ship attacked by Japanese planes. He thought the Japanese were idiots with no plan but was actually shocked to see them flying in formation and coordinating their attacks. The ship got sunk. What a way to underestimate your enemy.

 

[Flower2dPeople]

the first Jap I saw was 6'2 and 100kgs (225lbs)'.

They sent Yasuke.

 

[Sobek]

It's not really a Korean war film. The korean war only starts in the 3rd act and most of the movie is about being a black guy in the 50s. I was hoping they would focus more on the war but I don't they had the budget for it.


That guy must've been a beast. The average japanese guy now isn't 6'2 and 200lbs. I'm sure most of them were smaller than the average westerner though. In pictures you can see the Japanese soldiers are visibly shorter than their western counterparts.

Dude here looks like he's as tall as the rifle he's carrying.

The propaganda must've been real though. I recall an account from a Brit who was on a ship attacked by Japanese planes. He thought the Japanese were idiots with no plan but was actually shocked to see them flying in formation and coordinating their attacks. The ship got sunk. What a way to underestimate your enemy.

Yeah I know they are on average shorter but it'd be a shock to find you'd been lied to. The last Japanese guy I met was like 6'1 as well, so they have some bigger dudes.

 

[pugilistico]

Yeah I know they are on average shorter but it'd be a shock to find you'd been lied to. The last Japanese guy I met was like 6'1 as well, so they have some bigger dudes.

I've been to Japan and they're definitely shorter and have smaller on average. I'd say say slimmer and shorter on average compared to their neighbor Koreans too. I'm guessing it's their diet because their sumo wrestlers are huge. Japanese don't seem to eat as much. Comparing pictures of American GIs to Koreans during the war, the average korean definitely looks smaller but Korean now are much bigger than back then. So a 6'2 Japanese guy in the 40s was probably a beast compared to his peers.

American GI with Korean soldier.

American with North Korean POWs. The North Koreans look like kids damn.

But current day US and ROK guys look more similar in size

 

[Prutfis]

MASH