Runtime: 83 minutes
Directed by: Denis Sanders
Starring: John Saxon, Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack, Tom Skerritt, Tommy Matsuda
From: T-D Enterprises
Here's an obscure film I saw late last night. It is most noteworthy for the talent involved, which I'll get into the Letterboxd review below. I will return Friday night, as my schedule doesn't allow me to watch then talk about a film until then.
I watched this late last night on TCM and this is noteworthy as the first film (aside from a bit part) for Robert Redford, but the same holds true for both Sydney Pollack and Tom Skerritt. Who would have thought back then that later on all three would become famous in the film industry? Hell, there's even Francis Ford Coppola in an uncredited cameo as a dude who drives an Army truck so it's actually four people who would go on to fame and fortune, and that's not even taking into considering the long career John Saxon has had and hadn't even been on screen for 10 years before this role and of course he also became more renowned after the fact.
The setting is the last days, the vestiges of the Korean War and a Private known as Loomis (Redford) joins a new regiment. There's a soldier known as Endore (John Saxon) who is feared by his fellow soldiers for being crazy and well, if he was out on the streets back in America rather than Korea, he'd be a dangerous criminal due to his love of killing; he does solo missions at night and well, him leaving a calling card (using his knife to draw a circle) around the bodies he kills is one of the signs presented that he could even be a serial killer. Obviously war has brought out a bad side of him, and yet his superiors enjoy his success, if not his awkwardness when it comes to military protocol.
Yet, he has a pal... a Korean orphan named Charlie. Sure, he was played by a little Japanese boy but this is a low-budget production so I am glad he was actually from the Pacific Rim. The conflict of the film is between Loomis and Endore and their interest in Charlie, and what will happen when the war ends.
The budget means that this was not an action-packed extravaganza. Rather, this is a drama-a character study-about the toll that war takes on young soldiers and how some have psychotic tendencies that are brought out in the setting. The movie is more than just the convergence of all that talent and yet it's managed to slip through the cracks. Even if the plot could be seen as a little wacky, this is a nicely-acted tale that states its anti-war message well. The wide-eyed neophyte quickly finds out that actual combat embitters people and these men are leading unpleasant lives, waiting until this futility is finally over with. The movie has quality acting-especially by Saxon as the unhinged soldier-and there are several tense scenes.
This quiet moody film does deserve more attention in the genre of anti-war than it has received. I understand it got some attention when it came out but since then... and it's unfortunate.
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