The Hunters

Good war movie

This movie has always been one of my favorite Korean War films. There were not too many Korean War films that depicted the air war in Korea: 'The McConnell Story'(an 'OK' movie), 'The Bridges at Toko-Ri'; (an EXCELLENT movie), 'Men of the Fighting Lady' (a VERY GOOD movie), 'Battle Hymn', and so on. Aside from the 'love triangle' between Major Saville (Robert Mitchum), Lt. Abbot (Lee Philips) and his wife Chris (May Britt), the story as an Air Force documentary is quite a bit off the mark, but still very entertaining. First off, when Lt. Corona can't drop his external tanks before going into combat, he would have been ordered to return to base, with the 'extra' flyer used as a spare. Then, Lt. Pell (Robert Wagner) gets off on the wrong foot by not flying his wing position correctly (the pilot who couldn't drop his wing tanks) as he leaves his position as wingman of the element leader to 'encroach' another MiG that Saville had 'staked out'. After the mission, he would have been immediately grounded, no questions asked. The wingman's only job was to 'shadow' and 'protect' the element leader, or the 'shooter'. The air combat scenes were superb- much like the fiasco movie 'Jet Pilot' produced and directed by Howard Hughes where he insisted that the sky and cloud formation had to be 'just right'. Another 'glitch' in the movie; after the first encounter with the MiG's, almost all of them exploded in a fireball. Anybody who's familiar with air warfare history in Korea knows that MiG's very seldom exploded, but rather smoked badly before spinning out of control and crashing, but it was a good movie effect. Also, it was interesting that the MiG's (actually Republic F-84F Thundrstreaks, a fighter-bomber) were painted that blue color. From what I've read, most of the MiG's were in the original natural aluminum finish, with some 'honchos' having their crates painted in various 'personal' schemes, and as was discovered years later, were Soviet pilots assigned to Korea to help train Chinese and North Korean air crews. Also, aerial combat between the Sabre and the MiG was 'usually' at least hundreds, if not thousands of yards apart, unlike the movie where air to air combat was virtually, it seemed, only a handful of yards or less distant, let alone when Maj. Saville chased 'Casey Jones', the MiG pilot down to ground level. The MiG's best performance was at high altitude- over 30,000 ft, and could not hold it's own against the Sabre at low altitudes. The flying sequence between Saville and Lt. Col. Moncavage was interesting; tail to tail at hundreds of MPH- sure could tell it was choreographed! But superb 'flying for effect cinematography' none the less. The markings on the film's Sabre's were essentially correct; the checkered tail of the 51st Fighter Wing. The yellow stripe on the tail indicated the Squadron (either red, blue or yellow). Also, Capt. Joseph McConnell's squadron had the yellow stripe, as in the movie, but he supposedly didn't get to Korea until 'after' the events in this movie took place. Don't know for sure what 'models' of the Sabre were used in the film, but most likely the 'F' version, as I caught a glimpse of the stenciling in one of the closeups that showed 'F86F-25-NA', the last version produced during the Korean War, that by the time of the movie had been relegated to ANG units or over-seas sales. In conclusion- sort of an early version of 'Top Gun'? Certainly a Cold War '50's classic. Loved it back in 1957 as a teen-ager into building model kits! Loved the move years ago and still do, even with all it's warts! It's hard to believe that this flick is soon to be 50 years old, and some of those '86 Sabre's are STILL flying somewhere in the world! What a 'crate'!

Pre Top GunRobert Mitchum never disappoints

Very good movie!

"The Hunters" is a well-made, exciting Korean war drama, with the accent on aviation. It has an above-average plot for this type of film, and the whole movie, particularly the aerial sequences, is expertly directed by Dick Powell. If you are interested in combat aircraft, there are many scenes of F-86 Sabre Jets engaging MIGs in dogfight battles to the death.While the planes are great to watch, this film is primarily about human beings caught up in war. It stars Robert Mitchum, and he is terrific--his fighter pilot character is a born leader, yet he also suspects there is something important missing in his life. He enters into a guilt-ridden relationship with the wife of another pilot, played by lovely May Britt. When there's a war on though, the feelings of two people aren't worth--as someone once said--"a hill of beans". Mr. Mitchum's main job is to lead a fighter squadron, and satisfy his boss on the ground--Richard Egan in a strong performance, knowing that every day he may be sending a man to his death.Just to make things even more interesting for Mr. Mitchum, his squadron includes Ms. Britt's husband ( a paranoid, self-doubting Lee Philips ) and a cocky, young "hotshot" who doesn't like "rules" ( a young, excellent Robert Wagner ). It would be unfair to reveal more of the plot, but the film is consistently interesting and exciting.The DVD is full screen on one side, and wide-screen on the other. The colour is very good for a 46-year old film. It does not have "surround sound", of course, unlike that 1986 aviation hit, "Top Gun"--then again, "Top Gun" didn't have Robert Mitchum ! Tom Cruise has a nice smile--but, for leadership and grit, I'd follow Robert Mitchum through the gates of hell !Actually, I'll give "The Hunters" 4 1/2 stars. Action--suspense--romance--Sabre Jets--Robert Mitchum--what more do you want ? Thanks, Fox--a very nice disc !

This 1958 film stars Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner as F-86 fighter pilots during the Korean War. The air sequences are stunning and the photography is beautiful (the crisp blue skies are faithful to author James Salter's descriptions). Excellent combat shots and low level high speed sequences, not seen in other films, including modern works where so much action is "faked".The story is engaging enough, but in a typical '50's fashion, things are a bit too neat . . . whether war or extra-marital affairs. Robert Mitchum is Robert Mitchum. The young Robert Wagner turns in a good performance as a rather unlikeable know-it-all. The unknown May Britt is an 8 on the 0-10 "hot scale".A fun film, and probably a must for jet fighter buffs. By the way, if you are a reader, do not let watching this film (even if the story disappoints you) discourage you from reading Salter's quasi-autobiographical novel, The Hunters. Set in the same place and with generally the same characters, the story runs differently and the ending is COMPLETELY different. The little known James Salter is arguably one of the best novelists of the 20th century.5 stars for the uniquely stunning aerial sequences. Recommended (both the film and the book).

This is a quite nice little war movie about a group of American fighter pilots during Korean War, adapted from a novel, "The Hunters" by James Salter. I admit that I didn't read the book, but it has very good reviews - and most people seem to consider that it is much better than this film.The story begins when somewhere in 1952 a renowned fighter pilot, World War II ace and instructor (we know he spend years as member of US military mission to Greece, training local pilots), major Cleve Saville (Robert Mitchum), is affected to a squadron of F-86 Sabres in Korea. He is part of a wave of reinforcements destined to "harden" fighter units, after the Chinese send to the front improved versions of MiG-15, manned by pilots who recently underwent an intensive upgrading training in Soviet Union (in the real Korean War most of elite communist fighters pilots were in fact Soviet, not Chinese). Major Saville will command a flight of four F-86. His three subalterns are: Lieutenant Corona (John Gabriel), an almost supernaturally calm young pilot; Lieutenant Abbott (Lee Philips), a courageous man but with quite serious issues; and finally Lieutenant Pell (Robert Wagner), an amazingly skilled and brave pilot, but also an absolute "pain in the neck" in every other aspect, who would not recognize the word "discipline" even if he stepped in it...The day of his arrival in Japan, just before being shipped to Korea, major Saville meets a somehow mysterious young Norwegian woman and becomes instantly fascinated by her - and the attraction is mutual, at least to some extent. And then, just before things go too far, he learns, that this young woman is actually the wife of his wingman, Lt. Abbott...All of that happens in the first minutes of the film - and from that moment on, the story progresses on two fronts (sorry, I couldn't resist). First, there is the war in the airs in the "MiG Alley", with the F-86 keeping watch over the bombing and close-support missions in support of United Nations troops in the peninsula. And then there is a much subtler (but almost as dangerous) game of attraction/rejection, suggestion/manipulation, seduction/transaction, "catch me if you can", etc., between major Saville and Kristina Abbott...The character of "Kriss" Abbott is a very, very interesting one. Swedish actress May Britt (she later married Sammy Davis Jr, after converting to Judaism) plays her with great skill - and she also gives her character a very special accent (supposedly Norwegian), which makes things even MORE interesting! It is a special charm of those older films, that women often played dangerous, mysterious, almost snakelike vixens, when in the same time maintaining on the surface the demeanor of modest housewives and perfect ladies... The tensions rising around the triangle "Saville/Abbott/his wife" are a very interesting thing to watch.As you can see by simply looking at the cover of the DVD, things will finally have to land somewhere - and it will be a very harsh landing for some... I will not provide spoilers here, but the second part of the film is quite surprising - and no, it is not by mistake, that in a film about fighter pilots one of the characters is shown in dirty infantry winter clothing, holding a Soviet-made PPSh-41 sub-machine gun (weapon used in Korean war by many North Korean and Chinese soldiers...). The ending is not easy and not exactly as we could expect it - and I will say nothing more about it.The success of the film was probably helped by a good working relation between Mitchum and the director, Dick Powell. For most of his career an actor in musicals, Powell started directing only in the middle of the 50s and in 1957 he and Robert Mitchum made together "The enemy below", one of the best and most tense war films about submarines. This complicity certainly helped them to make "The hunters" into a fairly good film. Sadly, their cooperation ended soon after, as Powell felt grievously ill and finally after a courageous battle died from cancer in 1963.A special mention goes to the images of air combats - they are quite well done, for a film made in 1958. For lack of genuine MiG-15 fighters, the director used Republic F-84 Thunderstreaks, American fighters looking a little like those famous Soviet planes, which missed the Korean War by a couple of months. Multinational character of United Nations troops is underlined - and the images of Japan in the Year of Grace 1952 are also quite interesting.So all in all, although not really an immortal masterpiece, this is a very honest, quite interesting war film. I spend a nice evening watching it - and it is a MUST for all fans of Robert Mitchum! Enjoy!

I read James Salter's novel "The Hunters" upon which this is based before seeing the film and was mesmerised. It is an incredible novel, beautifully written and some of the best descriptions of flight and air combat put to paper. This film adaptation however bears only a vague resemblance to the book and in truth is no great work of filmmaking, acting or storytelling. But it just happens to have some of the best 50s jet flying footage put to film and that is really where its worth is. It's by no means a bad film per se, Mitchum, May and Wagner are all passable in their roles but the real star of the show are the F-86 Sabres which are an absolute joy to behold in the aerial sequences. My advice - read the book but do get the dvd if only to see those Sabres flying in all their glory.

To be perfectly honest the best bits in this film are the shots of the F86 Sabres. The aerial photography is stunning and what you see are real aircraft - no CGI. The special effects are pretty average for the Fifties. My suspension of disbelief (which one must have to really enjoy a work of fiction) was severely tested when the hero deliberatley carries out a wheels up landing in enemy territory and gets away with it. I don't think an old pilot or a bold pilot would have considered it. Otherwise it's not bad. The romantic angle is there to keep the women happy.

Great film of the 1950s with a superb performance by the great Robert Mitchum and good direction by actor-turned-director Dick Powell. If you like action films about the Korean War, you'll enjoy this one. Gung-ho US-style all the way!! Just wish someone would put Mitchum's other Korean War film 'One Minute to Zero' on a decently priced Region 2 DVD, instead of an expensive Japanese import version. Never really trust the imports and the claims that come with them, but perhaps that just me being cautious - having been caught out several times in the past!

Great movie as i luv Bob Mitchum. Enjoyed this film, there were great flying scenes but personally, as so realistic, the aerial shots made me feel kinda 'air sick' !!! Yet another good addition to my Mitchum collection.