Continuing it's cultural presence as "The Forgotten War", the Korean conflict remains under-covered in most western media. Honestly, even with my military service there and my minor in Asian Studies (including Korean Politics) - I've got a stack of references still on my must-read list on the subject. One reason I was really interested when I saw the excellent reviews posted for this Blu-Ray of a movie made during the war.
Frankly, although it largely plays out as a Marine recruiting film, this is a tight little number that does a really good job covering some of the first major marine actions involved in the war. Starting from the very beginning, we find the USMC is barely able to muster a full division of men at the start of hostilities even after calling up all the reserves, embassy security forces and embarked detachments - a bare 6 years following the end of WWII.
The story follows one understrength Marine battalion being augmented by reservists and green recruits, a short training period stateside at Camp Pendleton (where most of the film was shot) before showing them shipping out to Korea, participating in the Incheon amphibious assault and attack northwards, before eventually meeting up with the Chinese forces around the Chosin reservoir and being forced to fight their way out of enemy territory in the dead of winter.
The (somewhat awkward) title actually comes from a line uttered by the Battalion's commander when asked if they were retreating at Chosin: "Retreat, Hell! We're not retreating, we're advancing in a different direction." - a famous phrase actually spoken by the Marine Commanding General of the 1st Division during this battle. After a period of quiet....once the Chinese start attacking, it's a long, drawn-out, running battle.
Despite the focus on the Corps, the film actually does a pretty good job fitting all the characters together - between the grizzled vets, new recruits, bitter reservists and long-term professionals...everyone's pretty much pulling their weight. They have their kinks to work out but they pull together the way folks do....even if not everyone makes it home.
The Blu-Ray is a pretty tight little package...other than the absence of a single special feature. Seriously...not even subtitles here. Mono audio is fine, picture looks really tight most of the time. The dirtier aspects are generally in the file footage taken from actual wartime correspondents (some may be from WWII) - although there are some stunning shots of the inside (and operation) of a 16" turret when the battleships get ready to shell the beach-head - never seen any shots like that before.
Really though, this is a good movie - a little pricy for a barebones disc - but a great flick of a period not enough people understand.
Highly Recommended.
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