Brilliant and touching

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Copyright 31 December 1962 by Perlberg-Seaton Productions. Released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. U.S. release: 16 January 1963. New York opening simultaneously at the Embassy 46th Street and the Kips Bay theaters: 15 February 1963. U.K. release: 9 June 1963. 5 reels. 8,794 feet. 98 minutes.SYNOPSIS: To transport a dangerously high-octane plane fuel from an abandoned airstrip on a Korean island, is the mission of a four-man navy team, whose base is low on fuel. COMMENT: An unusually talkative and pretentious film from M-G-M, usually the home of slap-happy escapist entertainment. There's hardly enough action for a half-hour TV serial. For the rest of the time, the three principals, led by Kirk Douglas, who is the chief culprit, just stand about yakking on the moral dilemmas of war. True, the few action spots are excitingly handled, but the rest of the film is both stupefying and routine. It is also cluttered with lots of unnecessary close-ups — especially of Mr. Douglas. A bit of location filming helps, but otherwise production values and credits are well below M-G-M's usual slick standard.

The intro to this film indicates that this story is universal and could apply to any war...or any country...and this is quite true. And, this universality of the story make this an exceptional war film.When the story begins, some American soldiers are loading trucks with airplane fuel which will soon be transported to the front. However, during this process, a North Korean plane attacks...killing one of the men. The plane soon crashes and a lone man bails out of the craft. Now when the surviving three American soldiers enter the ship, they have a prisoner.Once aboard the ship, the men contact headquarters and are told that they were NOT to bring the prisoner in with them. In other words, they were to kill him! This is clearly a war crime...and is against the articles of war. The sergeant (Kirk Douglas) clearly seems to LIKE this order...one of the men, one of the privates (Robert Walker Jr.) thinks the order is monstrous and refuses to do it. The sergeant takes delight in goading this private but despite this, he will NOT kill the man. So, the sadistic sergeant then tries to get the other private to do it...The story is a great look at human nature...the good as well as the bad. And, it reminds us that the German soldiers of WWII were not the only ones who murdered and chalked it all up to 'just following orders'. A very strong film whose only shortcoming is its pacing (it could have been shortened a bit and that would have made a stronger picture).

I didn't make it through to the end, beckoned instead to the comforting embrace of Morpheus. From the one hour that I saw, there was little evidence that I'd missed much. If you take away the name stars, what you wind up with is an inexpensive and very talky B feature.Kirk Douglas is Master Sergeant Briscoe, in command of two enlisted men, the erratic but compliant PFC Nick Adams, and the humanitarian youngster, Robert Walker Jr. They are the last men to leave a post in Korea, aboard a UN-chartered freighter, captained by Nehemia Persoff. As they leave, they pick up a downed North Korean aviator, half drowned. The Republic of Korea is in charge of the operation and over the radio the commander orders Douglas to kill the prisoner.There are some nice touches. Persoff runs a practical ship, full of highly explosive gasoline, under a neutral Finnish flag. Ordinarily a situation like this calls for a ship crawling with rats and manned by greasy, scarred, and rebellious lascars. Not in this case. Persoff's ship is tidy and he has a French cook who serves up beef Bourguignon, petite pois, and a robust and determined French wine with a fine nose.There are very few action scenes, not particularly well done but a welcome interruption to the drama taking place aboard the vessel.That's about it. The characters argue mostly, but not exclusively, over who is going to shoot and kill the friendly prisoner, Kim, with that .45. Each role is as subtle as a truck. Not even the banter sounds quite right. I suspect the novel might have been better than this adaptation.Most of the time it resembles a staged play. The three soldiers and their prisoner sit in their cabin and argue. Occasionally there is a visit from the captain or the steward. The men are groomed not like grunts who have been in a combat zone but rather like Hollywood stars. Douglas' moussed hair hasn't a strand out of place. All three were shaved that morning by the studio barber.Douglas does all right by the role of the sarcastic and ruthless sergeant, tormented by memories of child abuse. You see, that's why he's so tough on his men, especially the boyish non-actor Robert Walker Jr. Douglas is reenacting the role of his brutal father. (Ho hum.) I hope the Korean kid made it to the end of the movie. That's more than I could do.

It's 1953 in the wee small hours of the Korean War winding down. While the peace talks proceed slowly at Panmunjom, the UN forces are evacuating their positions as the truce lines come into being. But the fighting still goes on. Another Korean War film, Pork Chop Hill, also dealt with this time of the war which President Truman called a police action.A Korean pilot in a MIG Jet attacks some US soldiers who are loading supplies on a freighter and only three of them survive, Kirk Douglas, Robert Walker, Jr., and Nick Adams. Later on the pilot of the MIG is shot down and he's picked up by the freighter that the three soldiers are on with the supplies which includes a lot of barrels of oil. Radioing for instructions, Kirk Douglas is told by a South Korean major to kill the North Korean pilot. He's certainly up for it, he's a veteran from this war and World War II. Walker doesn't want to and Adams is kind of on the fence because he's personally loyal to Douglas who got him out of a jam once.The majority of The Hook is spent on the conflict between the three GIs. It's a rather unreal story because these three would be up for war crimes charges, Walker realizes this best. But two wars against oriental people have given Douglas some pronounced views on the subject. The holes in the script are covered up by the performances of the cast.Nehemiah Persoff turns in a fine performance as the ship's captain who on his ship is the one in charge. But the best acting is done by Filipino player Enrique Magalona as the confused and frightened North Korean prisoner.Pork Chop Hill is a better film, but The Hook is not a bad one. The ending is ironic to say the least.