7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Grim story of one of the major battles of the Korean War. While negotiators are at work in Panmunjom trying to bring the conflict to a negotiated end, Lt. Joe Clemons is ordered to launch an attack and retake Pork Cop Hill. It's tough on the soldiers who know that the negotiations are under way and no one wants to die when they think it will all soon be over. The hill is of no particular strategic military value but all part of showing resolve during the negotiations. Under the impression that the battle has been won, battalion headquarters orders some of the men withdrawn when in fact they are in dire need of reinforcements and supplies. As the Chinese prepare to counterattack and broadcast propaganda over loudspeakers, the men prepare for what may be their last battle.
Starring: Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard, Carl Benton ReidWar | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The seemingly genetic patrician quality of Gregory Peck made him more apt to play brainy, articulate types rather than brawny action heroes. That may be one reason why Peck, an actor who suavely moved through any number of film genres in his long and vaunted career, never made that many war pictures. It’s notable that what is probably Peck’s best remembered World War II opus, Twelve O'Clock High, presented the actor not as a rabble rousing go get ‘em Type A personality, but rather a conflicted, psychologically scarred veteran attempting to come to terms with the rigors of battle and the inevitable attrition of his troops. While The Guns of Navarone would seem to present Peck in a more straightforward hero guise, even here he shows a certain intellectual acumen that sets him apart from many typical war film leads. And it’s certainly no mere coincidence that one of his later roles in a supposed “war film,” the title character in MacArthur, is a man who was, like Peck, seemingly genetically patrician himself. Pork Chop Hill is therefore a kind of odd man out in at least a couple of ways in Peck’s filmography, for in this outing Peck is indeed a grime covered lieutenant named Joe Clemons battling not just seemingly insurmountable odds in the Korean conflict, but also a kind of bureaucratic groupthink at the highest levels of command that seemed to view the rank and file as mere pawns being played in some global version of chess.
Pork Chop Hill is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. This is one of the nicer looking catalog titles from this era Olive has released recently, with the elements showing only relatively minor signs of normal aging and wear and tear. Those niggling distractions are more than offset by an appealing crispness to the imagery, aided and abetted by strong, consistent contrast and solid black levels. Detail is quite good even in busy action scenes, where things like individual droplets in water or discrete pieces of debris during explosions can easily be made out. Milestone favors close-ups on his actors quite a bit of the time, and fine detail is excellent in these moments. There are no issues with image instability, and as with virtually all Olive releases, there are also no signs of intrusive digital manipulation.
Pork Chop Hill features a serviceable DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix that sounds just a trifle boxy at times, but which manages to deliver both dialogue and the onslaught of explosive sound effects with a surprising amount of nuance and, when necessary, force. Leonard Rosenman, usually a composer of rare intelligence and savvy, has a moment of political incorrectness in his first cue, offering parallel fourths to evoke a supposed "Chinese" (Korean?) sound in a blatant example of ethnic "Mickey Mousing." Otherwise, though, Rosenman's brass inflected score also comes through nicely on the track.
There are no supplements on this Blu-ray disc.
Pork Chop Hill offers an unusually intelligent take on the war genre, perhaps one of the reasons Peck blends so naturally into the environment. The political machinations provide a bit of intentional absurdity in the background while a ragtag—and rapidly diminishing—group of Americans attempts to gain control of a hill for—well, for what, really? The old adage goes "war is hell," but at times Pork Chop Hill seems to suggest "war is patently ridiculous." The action scenes provide a rather riveting dose of brutality at times, and the character interactions all resonate with authenticity. While there are no supplements on this release, technical merits are strong and Pork Chop Hill comes Recommended.
1969
1954
1945
2011
1955
1968
Fragile Fox
1956
Special Edition
1958
1967
1970
1949
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1958
1957
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1966
1949
1978
1987
1978
2022
1977