Absolutely the worst movie.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Rescued by a young South Korean lad, the sole survivor of a massacred platoon huddles with other stranded soldiers at an abandoned Buddhist temple behind enemy lines in this powerful Korean War drama directed by Samuel Fuller. The film is gripping right from the opening close-up shots of lead actor Gene Evans cautiously looking over a bunker while 'the enemy', viewed only from the waste-down, approaches. Fuller does a great job visualising the film throughout though. Especially notable is how low camera angles are initially used to portray the temple as a mystic place of wonder when Evans and his fellow soldiers first arrive -- shots that have an eerie contrast against the daunting high camera angles Fullers later opts for when it is revealed that there is a sniper hiding there. With less dialogue (and none of that haunting voice-over), 'The Steel Helmet' is less philosophical that Fuller's follow-up Korean War pic 'Fixed Bayonets!', however, the sparse dialogue still amply portrays the mood and unease of the soldiers as they contemplate why they are fighting and dissociate dead bodies from those who were only recently alive. Evans is remarkable in the lead role too; initially he seems cynical and hateful towards everyone, but as the film progresses, we see beneath his thick skin. War truly affects even the more hardened men out there. It is thoughtful stuff, and the fact that the majority of the grisly action occurs at a place of worship is a bitter irony if there ever was one. Nothing is sacred in war and there is no sanctuary for those fighting.

At first this seems like its going to be just another uber-manly war movie, but gradually it does indeed seem like vintage Fuller. An ethnically diverse platoon, including an African American doctor and a Japanese-American soldier, try to survive the Korean War. I imagine Oliver Stone studied this film, as much of it reminded me of the battle scenes in Platoon. Shot in just a few days on a tiny budget in Griffith Park, Fuller manages to create a singularly grim and brutal atmosphere very unlike Hollywood war movies of the era. The soldiers' conversations about life back home lead to discussions of race relations in the US that are far more blunt than one is used to hearing in most Hollywood movies of any era, much less a film from 1951. The still-recent Japanese internment camps are mentioned, and not in an apologetic tone. As one expects from a Fuller movie, its fervently anti-communist, but not nearly as hysterically so as Pickup On South Street. Indeed, the only North Korean character is an intelligent, committed warrior who asks questions that a communist would, indeed, pose to their American captors. When the North Korean asks the Black and Japanese characters why they fight for a country that oppresses them, they basically respond with "Cuz I'm an American!" Intentionally or not, the film makes the commie seem like the most inquiring mind.

Sgt.Zack (played memorably by Gene Evans) is the only survivor of his platoon after a mass execution by N.Korean soldiers. Rescued by a Korean boy they hook up with other stragglers caught behind enemy lines and take refuge in a Buddist Temple where an enemy major also hides. From here the story plays out as the soldiers battle both enemy and themselves in the ironic setting of a temple occupied by a towering icon of a peaceful Buddha.Shot in ten days on a meager budget Steel Helmet is a remarkably powerful and audacious treatise on war and other hot issues America faced in 1951. Independently produced, written and directed by Sam Fuller it does not shy away from topics on race, atrocity or the futility of war as it cynically eviscerates notions of glory found in the propaganda driven war films of WW 2. Fuller, a decorated veteran who landed on Normandy Beach in the first wave displayed the same type of courage during the McCarthy era by venting against the inequity faced by minorities at home willing to die for their country. No other major filmmaker had dared (before or since) to make an anti-war movie while the specific conflict raged. All Quiet on the Western Front, Paths of Glory, Apocalypse, Now and Platoon were all made after hostilities subsided. Altman's Mash was made during Viet Nam but in a Korean Conflict setting. Even the Wild West was employed (Soldier Blue, Little Big Man) as metaphor for the SEA theater. Fuller never blinked, he called it as he saw it and made no apologies. None needed when it comes to Steel Helmet. It only deserves praise.

Ah, the Fifties. A time when America embraced racism like a badge of honor. Hoover and his FBI investigates writer/director Fuller for communist tendencies because he dared expose the fact that we use people as soldiers when they have to ride the back of the bus at home.It is a film that tries to present realism in war on a low budget. Even the North Korean tank was obviously made out of plywood. But that is not important.We see real soldiers, not pretty boys from the WB. They have real prejudices that they manage to overcome to some extent. It is a ragtag group that presents many faces and backgrounds all united in a common purpose - freedom. They even have a Korean boy tagging along, and they are surprised to learn when they are playing Auld Lang Syne on an organ that it is just like the Korean National Anthem as he starts singing.It all takes place in a Buddhist temple - a symbol of peace, that becomes a place of death.Gritty realism in this first Koren War film, and a message to all Americans that is still relevant today.