Customer Reviews

One Minute to Zero [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a retired Army officer, I can honestly say that this is one of the best renditions of war, while also covering our continued lack of preparation for sudden conflict. I can also relate to the waiting wives, their losses and love for the spouse who must leave to fight. The Korean War was sudden. Robert Mitchum and William Talman (DA off old Perry Mason) with Ann Blyth provide powerful performances. Very factual of how the few military personnel in Korea at the time, fought for "time" till more help could come. A lot of actual war footage included. The scene of being forced to take action on the refugees is just part of the harsh but required reality of this excellent film. This is based on a true story, KOREA!!!

The movie begins in Korea, 1950, right before the war begins. Col. Steve Janowski (Robert Mitchum), Col. Joe Parker (William Talman), and Sgt. Baker (Charles McGraw) are well aware of the inevitable war, but can do little to prepare for the coming North Korean invasion. Mrs. Landa Day (Ann Blyth), a war widow and dedicated UN official, refuses to believe that war is about to begin, and soon after meeting Col. Janowski their views on war cause an argument. War breaks out just as Janowski had predicted, and he is ordered to evacuate all U.S. civilians, including Landa. Landa refuses to leave and is forcibly carried by Janowski and put on the last plane leaving. Yeah, their relationship is off to a rocky start, but by now you already know that they are very much attracted to one another, in spite of their almost constant bickering.

Col. Janowski, Col. Parker, and Sgt. Baker gather all the U.S. troops they can and organize a defense against the North Korean advance, trying to slow them down until reinforcements can arrive. This is the way they fight constantly for the next few weeks, barely holding their own against overwhelming odds. During an ambush by the North Koreans, he is wounded and sent to a hospital to recover. Landa Day shows up and visits him, and as Janowski recovers his health he spends more and more time with her. Before you know it, they're talking about marriage! Janowski's superiors take notice of his brave leadership in combat and he is soon promoted to general. With his loyal friend Sgt. Baker by his side at all times, and with his close friend Col. Parker organizing the air force support for Janowski and his men, Gen. Janowski tries his best to slow the North Koreans' advance.

"One Minute to Zero" certainly has its share of clichés, but overall it's a very entertaining war film with an exceptional cast. It makes frequent but great use of actual footage, and has some truly memorable moments, like when Janowski is forced to order an artillery barrage on a huge crowd of South Korean refugees that has armed North Korean infiltrators mixed in with the civilians. Very few war movies back then showed this side of war, where innocent civilians found themselves targets of both armies. Ann Blyth and Robert Mitchum were great together, but the scene where he sings to her in Japanese was a little too much to take! Anyway, Charles McGraw and William Talman were equally great in supporting roles. Unfortunately a forgotten movie of the forgotten Korean War, "One Minute to Zero" is definitely an underated gem worth searching for. Hopefully, a DVD release is not too far away. Highly recommended for war movie fans.

This seems to be an honest effort to depict what happened in the early stages of the Korean War. It depicts the warfare taking place from the first days until the Inchon Landing had successfully taken place (October 1950).

The film was made in the throes of the war and could only look forward with faith and optimism to a positive outcome. Portrayed are the attempts to train the South Korean troops in modern warfare, the arrival of the Royal Australian Airforce to assist the efforts of the Americans and South Koreans, the arrival of British Army troops, the use, by the North Koreans of Russian tanks, and aircraft, and the talk of the North Koreans being directed from Moscow.

Diverse military actions are shown from the method of disabling a tank at the outset, to dealing with guerrilla warfare, combined land and air actions, disrupting of enemy supply lines etc, along with a frank look at the suffering and hell of war itself.

This film does use actual footage from the War and it is skilfully and seamlessly woven into the fabric of the film. It is a memorial of the times, a veritable time capsule from 1950. It also indicates strongly that a substantial portion of the Hollywood crowd were certainly not Communist sympathisers.

Although the film print is good, the audio is horrific. Within two (2) seconds as the music swells under the titles, there is distortion. You also have to pump up the volume of your device on this transfer. The audio throughout the film is all over the place, worse with music, sometimes with explosions (its war), and a bit ugly with dialogue and music under.

No one at Warners took the time to Q.C. this. I assume it was farmed out. Of course, "they" may say it is/was the best print available. Perhaps I just got a terrible copy since these are "allegedly" made to order.

Also, the original price was $15.99, not $19.99 (as of this writing).

At the onset of the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, an Army Colonel (Robert Mitchum) and a U.N. worker (Ann Blyth) clash. But when the Colonel is wounded in battle and sent to Japan to recuperate, he and she renew their relationship but this time romantically rather than hostile. Surprisingly, Mitchum and Blyth have a very nice on screen chemistry together. While the film itself is decent enough, it's really not more than a WWII propaganda war film but this time with the "Commies" substituting for the Nazis. The aerial sequences are quite good (which is no surprise since aerial enthusiast Howard Hughes was a co-producer) but where the film is really strong is in its almost throwaway portrait of the waiting wives and the emotional stress they go through. The film utilizes documentary footage interspersed with filmed footage without much effect. Directed by Tay Garnett (THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE). The score is by Victor Young and his love theme for the film became a hit song once words were added, When We Fall In Love became a pop standard. With Richard Egan, William Talman, Margaret Sheridan (THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, Roy Roberts, Eduard Franz and Charles McGraw.

The Warner Archives MOD DVD is a nice B&W transfer in its appropriate 1.33 aspect ratio but the audio which lacks clarity could have been tweaked a little.

I REALLY ENJOYED THIS MOVIE ALOT. I AM INTO HISTORICAL AND MILITARY MOVIES. THEY FASCINATE ME. THE MOVIE IS WHAT I WANTED.

One Minute to Zero has been one of my favorites always. This story covers the earliest days of the Korean War until the breakout from Pusan and the landings at Inchon (only referred too). For me what makes this story so good is the reality given to each of the main characters. Real people in real situations. The producers courage to show an attack against civilian refugees being used to infiltrate our lines by the North Koreans to kill our soldiers was so totally out of line with the usual white wash given to any subject which would make our troops look bad. Howard Hughes stood his ground to the DOD and left it in to show the horror of war but also how because of war, good men must make terrible decisions that kill the innocent along with the enemy in order to save their mens lives. As Robert Mitchum's character pointed out "Decisions that should be left alone to God". A pulsating and action packed but thoughtful picture.

I alwayes liked Robert Mitchum, what ever he was in. I had never heard of this picture but was very pleased when I saw it. it is a good picture dealing with the Korean War and not to many films did that. Excellent intermingling of combat footage with Hollywood and the only false section of the picture in my opinion is the obligatory romance between Ann Blyth and Mitchum....They didn't need it. The story stands well without it and it distracts from the rest of the picture, in my opinion

I had remembered seeing this Korean War film on TV many years ago and wondered why it was never on since so many war films are played repeatedly. It contains a massacre scene in which a US commander orders fire on mixed combatants who are using refugees as human shields. Obviously it was a look at things to come, a future many were afraid to reveal.