The Steel Helmet

1951

1 hr. 24 min.

War

List

100%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

85%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the early days of the Korean War, gruff U.S. Sgt. Zack (Gene Evans) is retreating to safety after an enemy attack wipes out his unit. Rescued and guided through the jungle by a friendly Korean orphan (William Chun), Zack runs into an African-American medic (James Edwards) and a platoon led by Lt. Driscoll (Steve Brodie), a by-the-book officer. Together, this unlikely band of brothers make their way to an abandoned Buddhist temple, where they stage a desperate attempt to fend off the enemy.

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Deborah S

With a nearly excellent and historically well-informed story line giving an authentic feel to the Korean War (complete with era-appropriate racial slurs), this film can be described as eye-opening with respect to the cultural clashes of the times. The intensity and closeness of the violent combat action lends additional authenticity. The actor ensemble puts in a worthy performance. When the G.I.s capture a a North Korean officer, several slightly surreal scenes ensue as the prisoner (who speaks surprisingly fluent English) attempts to convince first the Black medic and then the Japanese infantryman that they are the victims of American racism and have no reason to fight for the U.S. Both soldiers vehemently defend their choices by taking the long view of their eventual opportunities in American society. The brief diversion from normal reality is thought-provoking, particularly the Black medics view stated in 1951 without the foresight of the Civil Rights movement. The film is patriotic but also has its eyes wide open. It is hard to imagine what America felt in going from the trauma of WW2 straight into the Korean War barely six years later.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Director Sam Fuller loses the war in this battle picture that takes place during the Korean conflict in the 1950s. Fuller's attempt to address America's racist ways is daring for a film of its time, but ultimately its minority characters accept their country's original and constant sin without a fight. Fuller, though, deserves a salute for how he portrays a hardened, war weary sergeant played well by Gene Evans.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A gritty Korean War film from 1951 still holds up today as a surprisingly tough little film. Written and directed by WWII veteran Samuel Fuller ("Pickup on South Street" "The Big Red One" "Shock Corridor"), this film brings a level of realism missing from most jingoistic John Wayne "Sands of Iwo Jima" style war films of this era. Fuller refused to cast Wayne in the film and instead cast an unknown Gene Evens, who at his audition Fuller simply asked him about his World War II experience and threw him an M-1 across his desk and asked him to cock it. After the "interview" Evans got the part. Filmed only six months into the Korean War, "The Steel Helmet" is consistent with Fuller's characteristic ripped-from-the-headlines panache, following a group of soldiers separated from their units holding up in a Buddhist temple against superior numbers of attacking Communist North Korean troops. While the film does have some typical war film hokum (a young boy named "Short Round" who follows Evans everywhere, barking commanding officers, veterans versus newbies, and so on and so forth), the film also has a uncharacteristic amount of unheroic and non-jingoistic elements, such as a US officer shooting an unarmed prisoner or a Japanese American solider talking about interment camps, which gives the film a level of honesty missing from most war films. There's also an honesty to the battle scenes, which are not glamorous or especially heroic, but are more just soldiers simply trying to survive. Believe it or not, this led to calls for Fuller to be arrested for treason and hauled before Joseph McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee as a Communist sympathizer. Overall, "The Steel Helmet" is an unglamorous portrayal of men at war, much along the lines of "Saving Private Ryan" or "Paths of Glory," celebrating individual heroism while lamenting lasting impacts of war, long before it was acceptable to do so.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The best thrilling movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is the worst war movie that I have ever seen. The acting is really bad and it is obvious that most scenes were shot in a studio. The guns have no recoil. The script is incredibly racist, even for the time. The movie could be set in any war, since there is hardly any elaboration of the background, except that the enemies are communists. It is hard to find anything positive to say about this.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A very gritty and raw war film that has more on its mind than just action. The acting is pretty solid, the setting is interesting and the questions it asks are important. While it's a little more old school and low budget than some of the best war films it still ranks as an essential film in the genre. Give this a watch if you like war films!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Samuel Fuller

Director

Gene Evans

Sgt. Zack

Robert Hutton

Pvt. Bronte

Richard Loo

Sgt. Tanaka

Steve Brodie

Lt. Driscoll

James Edwards

Cpl. Thompson

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Keith Uhlich

House Next Door

The Steel Helmet (1951) is a fever dream of the Korean War, entirely possessed of its own unique, inimitable rhythms.

Aug 17, 2007

Full Review

Derek Adams

Time Out

The action scenes are terrific, belying the movie's very low budget.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

[Sam] Fuller's powerful direction turns a trite story into a vivid study of national and personal identity.

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

It may have a patriotic charge, but the anti-war speech imprisons me when it shows the dehumanization of war. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Jul 23, 2020

Full Review

Clyde Gilmour

Maclean's Magazine

This first Korean War movie didn't have a fancy budget to work with, and some of the economizing is left exposed where it shouldn't, but the result is still a better-than-average Gl melodrama.

Oct 24, 2019

Full Review

Daniel Barnes

Dare Daniel

There's nothing explicitly political here except for the odd reference to "commie bastards," and the films are mostly concerned with the incredibly difficult, dangerous and thankless life of the soldier.

Rated: 5/5

Jul 16, 2019

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Synopsis

In the early days of the Korean War, gruff U.S. Sgt. Zack (Gene Evans) is retreating to safety after an enemy attack wipes out his unit. Rescued and guided through the jungle by a friendly Korean orphan (William Chun), Zack runs into an African-American medic (James Edwards) and a platoon led by Lt. Driscoll (Steve Brodie), a by-the-book officer. Together, this unlikely band of brothers make their way to an abandoned Buddhist temple, where they stage a desperate attempt to fend off the enemy.

Director: Samuel Fuller
Production Co: Deputy Corporation
Genre: War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 17, 2017

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