hyped garbage

Don't Believe the Hype

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

I never saw this film in full until today and was mesmerized by it. Cruelty inflicted by prison guards is nothing new in the movies, but in military prisons it is an eye opener. Great acting all around particularly by Harry Andrews and Sean Connery. There must have been a lot of crime in the British army for there were enough prisoners in the camp to fill out a battalion.It has been commented that there were no profanity here. Not that I think it would have added anything, but having been around soldiers for some years, it was unrealistic. Orders were not given here but barked and shrieked to the face.Ossie Davis provided one the few lighter moments with his Tarzanic renditions, and Jack Weston's shoe heel must have been refrigerated to keep citrus slices. Perhaps I would have liked to have scene Sean Connery pitch into the final fight scene instead of observing it.l Highly enjoyable and most unusual to see a military film without battle scenes.

My opinion---With "12 angry men" and "The Hill" Sidney Lumet once again demonstrates the exceptional talent that he has and a filmography to make more than one. Here he has made his movie in a magisterial way, a movie punch showing the absurdity of wars, this movie is to be classified among the movies of anthology of world cinema. There is no need for cells or bars to intensify the pressure and psychological action that oppressed all these prisoners, with "The Hill" S. Lumet denounces this abuse of power and the so-called "therapy" to which the soldiers rebellious to the military hierarchy (whose organization is also denounced). This movie is effective and without concessions, it gives Sean Connery a role to the antipodes of its contemporary James Bond, and that it interpreted in a masterful way. A striking movie that will mark and mark all minds. It is as hallucinating as S.Lumet was able to demonstrate all the power of his movie with a handful of men a hill, sand and more or less two hundred extras, to arrive at a powerful movie, a little in the same reflection as The masterly movie "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo who also denounced the absurdity of the wars and all his calamities. "The Hill" is a pure masterpiece, a movie that will never be forgotten: A Movie Cult. Thank you, Mr. Lumet.

Having scanned through a few reviews,i can only agree 100% with them. This work is often praised because of Connery, but that is not the true picture. The real star of this low budget film, is the script, and the actors relish in their performances. A magnificent piece of work, and clear evidence of just how important the direction and screenplay are in cinema.

First of all, this film simply isn't for everyone (my friend once told me that he felt claustrophobic watching it, and so turned it off). For me, however, it grabs me somewhere where most other films simply don't. It penetrates me deeper and draws me in further than most other films could ever dream of.Other reviewers have touched on the plot, which is quite subtle compared to many films really, but I think the genius of this film lies in the very-much 3D characters, the intensity of the camera work, the razor sharp dialogue (which is often cruel, hateful and witty), but perhaps most of all, the acting. There are essentially 8 main characters and every single one of them plays his part flawlessly. Anyone of the main characters' acting would be worthy of a lead role in almost any film I can think of.Even the peripheral characters give a 3D feeling to their performances (the camp commandant, the medical officer, for instance).To help understand how good the characters, the acting and the cameras work together, consider how many films you can think of which don't have a musical score but still generate an atmosphere which grips you - The Hill's 'musical score' is the background shouting from other prisoners in the prison camp as well as the sheer air of intensity throughout the entire film.Additonal hats of to Lumet for really allowing the British regional dialects free rein throughout the entire cast, although many viewers, including Brits, will have to pay close attention to what is being said, especially when military phrases, acronyms and slang are thrown in.Watch it, it's up there with the best of them!