A Genre In Retrospect: The War Film - Part 1

Samuel Fuller’s ‘The Steel Helmet’ (1951) is a riveting tale about one man’s journey through an existential hell that is the Korean War. This movie, though being over seventy years old, is just as impactful now, as I’m sure it was back then. The adventure foreground of the film helps mask a more sinister compilation of forces in the background. The bottom of this film really just chooses to show what the hatred and anguish of war truly is, and how nothing should be glorified. Even though for years after we would come to find a sense of excitement in war films, ‘The Steep Helmet’ (1951) stands resolute and vindicated in proving us wrong. 

There has just been an absolute bluster of Korean War films to have come out since the 1950’s. Titles include ‘The Hunters’ (1957), ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (1962), ‘M*A*S*H’ (1970), and ‘Heartbreak Ridge’ (1986). These types of films are multi decade spanning, and explore an abundance of different aspects of the war. ‘The Steel Helmet’ (1951) is an interesting one due to the fact it’s not bombastic and loud like the others. We have to endure the mental pain that comes with battle, and the honest tragedy of the circumstances. This is a more honest telling of a story like this, and renders a more impactful blow.

The casualties of war are often explored in films like this, and it can be exploited on all aspects. Civilization crumbles under the boot of war, and the term oil that commences is often more brutal than the fighting. Liquidation of a mental fragment conquers the screen, while we see the tragedy that unfolds. This antiwar film chooses to provide us with such excruciating imagery of fallen men and children, that unfortunately stays in our minds for some time. A city can fall as we see, but the casualties are often more heartbreaking than anything else. 

Samuel Fuller managed to master the Western genre, and the War Film genre in his time on this earth. ‘The Steel Helmet’ (1951) is obvious proof. Fuller would go on to make a few more classic war films like ‘Merrill’s Marauders’ (1962), and perhaps his best known work, ‘The Big Red One’ 1980). Of course, a history in the war helped provide the veteran knowledge of what to put on screen, and clearly it impacted him enough. His vision of ‘The Steel Helmet’ (1951) is not only foreboding to the war, but it’s also sensitive and compassionate to the soldiers. This being an anti-war film helps carry along a better message from a director who knew his facts. ‘The Steel Helmet’ (1951) is the movie to see if you’re a fan of the legendary Samuel Fuller. 

‘The Steel Helmet’ (1951) finds itself to be a film that might not be the most commonly heard in conversation, but quite often raves about once witnessing it. I’m here to tell you, that’s exactly what Fuller wanted. This is not a bombastic film, and sure the battle is important, but it’s truly about tragically over realized horror. Fuller had a real vision for this film, and it really made an impact. I was mesmerized at how my emotions could change through an early fifties war film like this, but that’s just goes to show how timeless this film truly is.