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The Worst Film Ever

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Copyright August 1958 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Paramount: 26 August 1958. U.S. release: September 1958. U.K. release: 2 November 1958. Australian release: 16 October 1958. Sydney opening at the Regent. 9,679 feet. 108 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Air Force major promises his girlfriend that he will look after her pilot husband in the Korean War.NOTES: Filmed with the co-operation of the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force.COMMENT: Nobody realized it at the time, but "The Hunters" was to be Dick Powell's final movie. He then went into the TV series "Dick Powell Theater" (that's really stepping from the ultra-big screen to the ultra small). He died of cancer in his Hollywood home on the night of 2 January 1963. He was 58.One can forgive a silly, trite, conventional, Z-grade, dime-a-dozen story like "The Hunters" when at least it plays true to the viewer and doesn't raise expectations and issues which it hasn't the slightest intention of pursuing. This is the sort of cop-out script that wastes the talents of Bob Mitchum and May Britt here. If the story was just meant to serve as a peg on which to hang some high- flying action, why is there so much story and comparatively so little action? The only person to emerge with any credit from this film is surprisingly enough Robert Wagner who is reasonably effective in a standard war pictures role -- the one about the guy whose lack of team spirit causes... but who... Mitchum and Britt are wasted. This rubbish is right about the level of Richard Egan who is as ridiculous as the script here. Powell's direction is thoroughly routine on the ground. Admittedly there is some excitement in the aerial combat scenes -- but this is mainly thanks to CinemaScope.

***SPOILERS*** The tough as nails and cool as a cucumber Robert Mitchum plays the over the hill, at age 40, USAF jet fighter pilot Cleve Saville who gets himself involved with one his squadron pilot's wives. It's when Maj. Saville brought the out on his feet, from having one too many, 1st Let Carl Abbott, Lee Philips, home to his pretty Norwegian wife Kris, May Bitt, that sparks started to fly between the two. Kris has been suffering through her husbands bout with the bottle, with the bottle winning hands down, and the sight of the tall and sure of himself as well as sober Maj Saville was too much of a prize from her to turn down.Still having to be shipped to the Korean War zone Maj. Saville as well as the barley awake 1st Let. Abbott were flown from Koyto Japan to South Korea to fight the good fight against the commies in order to keep the entire Korean peninsular as well as Japan from falling into communists hands. If things weren't hot enough for the two, Maj. Saville & 1st. Let Abbott, in the skies over Korea they got a lot hotter on the ground. With Maj. Saville never missing a chance to get up close and personal with Kris while her husband was struggling to stay awake the the previous days hangover. It's brought out that 1st. Let. Abbott's bizarre behavior steams from him being on 30 combat missions and never having shot down a commie MIG to his credit. This had 1st Let Abbott feel as if he couldn't cut it as a USAF combat pilot as well as a husband to his by now, in him not paying attention to her, very frustrated wife Kris.The movie "The Hunters" is saved by it's breathtaking air to air combat scenes, mostly with model aircraft, that in-spite of their importance there were just too few of them in the film. Were instead overwhelmed with the love triangle between Saville Carl Abbott and his wife Kris that at times becomes almost unbearable to watch. There's a big build up for a showdown in the air between Maj. Saville and the Red Chinese top ace someone called Casey Jones, Leon Lontoc, that takes up over half of the movie. By the time it finally arrives it's so short that if you blinked or went to washroom you'd have missed the entire forgettable event! Were also introduced always half way through the movie to hot shot and hip talking USAF pilot Let. Ed Pell, Robert Wagner, who's cowboy like antics, in trying to be the top USAF ace in the war, ends up causing fellow pilot 1st. Lt. Corona, John Gabriel, to lose his life when Let. Pell broke formation in order to gun down an enemy MIG. Having no use for him at all Maj. Saville punches out Let. Pell at the very first opportunity after he was forced by his superior Col. Dutch Imil, Richard Egan, to have him as his wing man. ***SPOILERS*** It's later in the movie when Let. Pell came to Maj. Saville's rescue in helping him bring the always getting himself into trouble Let. Abbott, who was shot down, back home across enemy lines that the reluctant air force veteran changed his opinion about him. Maj. Saville also seemed to have change his opinion about Kris in leaving her with her on and off drunk husband Let. Abbott and getting back to his true love of flying into combat and gunning down Commie MIG 15's & later 17's jet fighters every chance he can.

Although James Salter's novel was the basis for the film The Hunters, the real inspiration dates much further back than that. In fact right back to the Old Testament where jet fighter ace Robert Mitchum faces the temptations of King David himself.This was the second of two films that Dick Powell directed starring Mitchum and the last big screen project Powell was ever involved in behind the camera. Mitchum, newly assigned to Korea and just checked out on the new jet fighters is assigned a squad with two big problems in it. The first is Lee Phillips who is drinking heavily and has brought his wife over to Japan where the squadron is based. The other problem is Robert Wagner, a would be Tom Cruise of his day with a smart mouth and a bad attitude.Bathsheba comes in the form of May Britt who is Phillips's wife and Mitchum falls hard for her. They call him the Ice Man because combat is just a game to him, but he's anything but ice around the curvaceous Britt.The troubles start when all three are downed over North Korea and have to get back to the South in which a wounded Phillips is a handicap. What happens to the trio making it back to their lines is what you see the film to find out.In Lee Server's book on Robert Mitchum it mentions that Mitchum originally signed on because he thought the film would be shot in the Orient and he would get a free trip there. Once signed sad to say the whole thing was shot stateside.The best thing about The Hunters are the aerial action sequences which aviation buffs should really like. The human performers are definitely outshone and outflown by the jet planes.

The first 2/3 of this film was very good. There were a lot of exceptional airplane flying sequences in the film--with lots of nice Technicolor and realism. I liked this, especially since there aren't that many films about the Korean War. The rest of this 2/3 was made up of a romance that was very soap opera-like. It wasn't bad, but also wasn't particularly necessary. I'd give this part of the film a 7 or even 8.The final 1/3 of the film is just stupid--which is amazing, as the film had been very realistic and believable up until then. However, in a dopey sequence, one fighter pilot is shot down behind enemy lines and his commander deliberately crashes his F-86 fighter in order to try to rescue this downed pilot (it's just them versus the combined North Korean and Chinese armies)!! This is insane to say the least and making such a belly landing was NOT easy like it looked in the film. Then, when a 3rd American fighter plane was shot down in this same sequence when it was making very low strafing runs (just to help save one pilot--and not a very good one at that!), I groaned with annoyance. Then, these 3 pilots trek across North Korea just as easy as can be!! Duh, this section of the film was just terrible and should earn a 2--at best.Overall, I'd give the film a 6. It could have been so much better and I was saddened that Robert Mitchum agreed to be in such a film! By the way, since I am a huge plane buff, here are some final technical comments. In one scene, an F-86 fighter plane is landing. Instead of showing an F-86 blowing up on landing, the plane instantly becomes an F-100--an entirely different plane. This is very sloppy and very noticeable. Did the film makers think the audience was THAT stupid?! However, the film makers using F-84s instead of Russian Mig-15 fighters is more forgivable--it isn't like Hollywood had modern Russian fighter planes sitting around waiting to be used in films!