Target Zero

It's Korea 1952. The war has descended into a grinding morass. There are various soldiers and non-coms of the coalition trying to survive the unrelenting death machine. Ann Galloway's car gets blown off a ridge. She's picked up by a British tank crew driving an American Sherman. They encounter a squad of American soldiers led by Lt. Tom Flagler who aims to head for a hill which has been surrounded after the push by the Chinese.

The dialogue is stale and the actors don't always help. Peggie Castle is more notable for her perfect hair and beautiful face. She has an overly dramatic breakdown scene. Charles Bronson has a minor role but at least, he delivers his self-contained brute. The filming and the acting are all pretty flat. There is some real action with real machinery. It's not exciting due to its old filming techniques. Mowing down the enemy is done with the old style dying. It's all rather old fashion.

Target Zero is your typical war film, this one set in Korea and it gave some due to one other nation present on the peninsula. Richard Conte leading an American squad finds themselves a 3 man British tank crew headed by Richard Stapley. That tank prove to be essential though there is one rather unreal scene where the tank should have been blown up.

Shapley doesn't like Americans he saw his sister ravaged by one during the last war. You know that British saying about the Yanks, "overpaid, oversexed, and over here". Words he lives by.

And there is a woman in the mix. Peggie Castle and Angela Loo UN health workers also stuck behind the lines. Loo is killed and Castle gets both Conte and Shapley's mojo going.

They're trying to reach the rest of Conte's company. What happens when they do is one nasty climatic battle.

One scene I thought rather stupid. The group uses the protection of the tank to clear a path through a mine field. I have to think in real life the tank would have been crippled and useless trying it. Could not buy that at all.

The film is rich in character players though. Charles Bronson is Conte's sergeant and he's got such people as L.Q. Jones, Strother Martin and Chuck Connors among the troops.

An average war film, nothing special.

Usually Leonard Maltin and I agree on movies....

Not this one. I have seen it perhaps four or five times. An American unit, sitting astride a strategic hilltop, plugging the Main Line of Resistance, is over-run and wiped out. Only a patrol and some stragglers picked up along the way are able to reach the now-undefended hilltop in time.

I found this story to ring true....with good characterizations and plot developments. Sure, the enemy is the two-dimensional Yellow Menace....that's standard with fifties-era movies.....but the mix of up-and-coming young actors is in itself worth the time to view this film.

A good story, well-acted, worthy of a look. And quite useful to someone trying to get a real look at war in Korea after the conflict settled into a stalemate. I recommend it.

I disagree with the negative reviews. Obviously, it's beyond unusual to have a beautiful woman in combat with a platoon. Other than that, the lieutenant (I was one) examines the terrain, makes decisions on the disposition of the troops, encourages them and doesn't ask them to do anything he wouldn't do. He knows details about each of his men. We were required to carry a small notebook at all times with data on each Marine in our platoons, including blood type, boot size, family, etc. I thought Conte and Bronson, the senior sergeant, were much more realistic than most movies. The brief discussion and mutual understanding of the tactical situation are real. I only question why the Korean and the Apache were always on point. Why not rotate such a dangerous role? One review felt there was too much joking around but so many Irish wakes I've attended have more laughter than tears. Probably a way to release tension.

Small point but when they saved the North Korean trucks to get fuel and searched American dead for weapons and ammo, I thought that they must have had a good military advisor's help on the movie. Well done.

Good depiction of the Korean war. Desperate, cut-off UN troops must fight their back to a strategic hill where they hope to be relieved. The action is good with all the elements of the war, a fanatical enemy, little support for UN forces, and freezing winter conditions. Though the love interest may have been unnecessary the film is realistic, especially depicting the plight of civilians and well acted. Surprising that there is no DVD/VHS release as other Korean war films are available. The naval gunfire support using real footage is good though the accuracy achieved somewhat imaginary. The tone of the film is grim and gritty throughout. Reminiscent of "Combat" in look and feel. Highly Recommended.