Product Details

• Format: Black & White
• Studio: Burbank Video
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000EGI46W
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,857 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The classic Korean War film

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The lucky helmet, March 20, 2009

By	Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

There are few contemporary Korean War movies. Samuel Fuller's THE STEEL HELMET is by far the finest of a miniscule lot.

"Helmet" is a gritty little indie effort that deftly mixes beauty and horror with a persistent air of foreboding. The tragedy of war is well-depicted, from the destruction of a lovely pagoda-like Buddhist temple, to a soldier blown to bits when he touches a boobytrapped body, to the murder of a child-- an act we antiseptically call "collateral damage." Heavy stuff for any era; quite remarkable for 1951.

It's the story of infantry Sgt. Zach (Evans), an escapee from execution by North Koreans who is helped by a South Korean boy he calls "Short Round." The two encounter a remnant of an American patrol that includes a black medic, a Japanese-American sergeant, a private who never talks, a priest-trainee, a young fellow obsessed with regrowing his lost hair, a "conscie" (conscientious objector) lieutenant, and so on. This collection of oddities find their way to a majestic temple in the middle of nowhere that is later attacked by hundreds of enemy troops.

Producer/writer/director Fuller is best remembered by modern audiences for THE BIG RED ONE (VHS) (DVD) from 1980. The noirish 1953 spy thriller PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (VHS) (DVD) however is considered his masterpiece.

As a WWII infantryman, Sam Fuller saw much action in the ETO, where he ultimately earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He later drew on these experiences for the realism that permeates his war films.

In one of his only two screen appearances, Lynn Stalmaster here portrays a second looey. He is best known as casting director on almost 400 movies (many quite famous) from 1950 to the present.


"Steel Helmet" is available on a DVD multi-film pack.

Related item:
Sam Fuller directed an episode of the 1990 anthology thriller series CHILLERS called "The Day of Reckoning." (DVD only)


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

The Steel Helmet (1951) - Gene Evans/Robert Hutton/Steve Brodie/James Edwards/Richard Loo/Sid Melton/Richard Monahan/Richard Chun/Harold Fong/Neyle Morrow/Lynn Stalmaster