The Hunters (1958) User Reviews (51)

Good air-combat scenes that still hold the attention of the audience, Mitchum and Wagner shine, also.

[Mickey-2 · 7/10 · 19 September 2004]

"The Hunters", released in 1958, showed the so-called forgotten air war from the Korean War. Robert Mitchum portrays an aging air pilot from WWII who manages to find one more war to find some success in. He lands command of an air squadron led by Richard Egan, who was his leader during WWII. Mitchum puts together a wing squadron and starts out on hunting missions. His squadron consists of a nice guy, a loud-mouth guy, and a lush whose wife Mitchum falls for. However, the squadron does come together, and manages to down quite a few enemy planes, including a Korean ace nicknamed K C Jones.

The film focuses on electrifying flight sequences that hold the attention of the viewing audience, and the cast delivers performances that do carry the story. This film has been finally released in DVD by 20th Century Fox, and I have replaced my taped VHS version with the DVD. It's very watchable, and the flying sequences still hold their own. 7/10, but a strong entry in this genre.

Morphing an excellent airplane film with a soap and then ruining it in the final third.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 27 August 2009]

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!

The DVD Release is Here At Last!!!

[Gavno · 7/10 · 28 May 2004]

Within the last week, Fox FINALLY released a DVD version of the VERY seldom seen Robert Mitchum aviation classic, THE HUNTERS. My advance ordered copy from Amazon just arrived.

This is one of two war films Mitchum made for Dick Powell. The other one, the submariner classic THE ENEMY BELOW, has been widely available for the last 10 years at least. I don't understand why the long delay in releasing THE HUNTERS... but finally, the wait is over.

The Korean War has long been a forgotten conflict in American history, and the air war there has been almost completely ignored by Hollywood.

That's a shame. Fighter combat in Korea marked a significant transition period in air warfare.

The Korean War fighter pilots were the last of the old Stick and Rudder fliers. They were the last generation of knights of the sky who fought with gallantry and a respect for the skills and courage of their opponents. Even tho they were officially enemies, wearing the uniforms of different nations, the unspoken truth was that every pilot was the brother of everyone else who flew. In common they'd shared the thrill of flight, and the dangers that came along with it. They might fight to the death in the skies, but these warriors understood and respected each other.

After Korea, the airplanes became technologically advanced and ended the old ways of thinking. It was no longer a man to man confrontation; air combat became a matter of triggering a missile that killed your enemy 30 miles away, and you often never even saw your foe or his airplane. Air warfare became impersonal and detached.

In Korea, combat flying was still a very personal matter. The PILOT still flew, and FOUGHT, the AIRPLANE. After that, speeds increased and things in combat happened so quickly that men couldn't control them directly anymore... the old piloting skills were replaced by electronics, and the pilot became a mere backup system in case a fuse blew, and in reality the AIRPLANE flew the PILOT. He was just a piece of hardware... the Nut that held the stick and throttle!

There's a big difference between the men in THE HUNTERS and those in TOP GUN. I have my doubts that Maverick would have acquitted himself very well over Korea. Mitchum as Cleve Seville is a direct descendant of Flynn and Niven in THE DAWN PATROL, and Cruise in TOP GUN is a very different animal.

As far as the CD production is concerned... I'm surprised that they were able to find as good a print of the movie as they did for the DVD transfer. It appears to me that it's been digitally cleaned up; it was almost certainly computer processed to take care of color shift in the '50s vintage single strip Technicolor.

What was VERY surprising to me was the extra features. I was astonished that the teaser and trailer both feature a vocal theme song by Frankie Lane, the guy who did all those vocals for '50's westerns! You probably remember him best for his vocal on the theme of Mel Brooks' BLAZING SADDLES.

I always thought that the music for THE HUNTERS was badly overblown, but after hearing the ill conceived Frankie Lane theme song, I can now appreciate the film's score as VASTLY preferable... I like Lane, but THIS effort definitely STINKS, and invokes little more than shocked laughter.

Well, fellow airplane nuts, the waiting is over. GET YOUR COPY NOW of one of the most sought after aviation films ever made.

A "must see" for jet air-to-air combat enthusiasts

[ntgus · 12 April 2004]

First, a bit of history: James Horowitz, West Point class of 1945, shot down a MiG-15 on July 4th, 1952, while flying an F-86E with the 335th FIS, 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing in Korea, and used a typewriter equally as effective as his Sabre. Under the pen name (and later changed his name to)James Salter, he published a novel, "The Hunters," about Sabre pilots fighting in Korea. 4th Wing 2nd Lt. James F. "Dad" Low became America`s 17th and most junior jet ace with his fifth MiG kill on June 15, 1952, just six months out of flight school.Unlike the older pilots, many of them WWII veterans, Low became proficient in the use of the new A-4 automatic ranging gunsights on the E and F models of the F-86 Sabre. The novel and movie`s "bad guy," Lt. Pell, is a defiant, risk taking junior fighter jock, played in the movie by Robert Wagner (I`m a killer man! I cut em up,you know!)Both Low and Salter acknowledge that the "Pell" character is, in fact, James F. Low. Korean War historians speculate that Robert Mitchum`s character, Major Cleveland Saville, is based on one or two of the four USAF Medal of Honor recipients from the Korean War: either Maj. Louis J. Sebille, who died in his F-51 as commander of the 67th FBS, 18th FBW, or double ace Maj. George A. Davis, shot down in his F-86 as commander of the 334th FIS, 4th FIW. James Salter is pretty much of a recluse, but was interviewed by Tom Brokaw for NBC Nightly News three years ago. The movie`s 54th Fighter Group is apparently a contraction of the actual 4th and 51st F-86 Fighter Interceptor Wings from Korea. The F-86F30 Sabres in the movie were painted with the distinctive yellow band and checkered tail markings of the 51st FIW, but with yellow noses much like the Sabres of the 12th FBS of the 18th Fighter Bomber Wing, and with post-Korean War anti-glare panels. A major technical flaw is an insertion shot of a crashing "Sabre dancing" F-100 Super Sabre in place of an F-86. American F-84F Thunderchiefs were painted up and used for the Russian-built MiG-15 in both "The Hunters" and "The McConnell Story." If you look closely, not all of the F-84Fs are painted like MiGs in "The Hunters." The movie`s top MiG pilot is "Casey Jones" (7-11, the Crapshooter,)shown to be Chinese. We now know that virtually all the top MiG pilots were Russian. There were many "Casey Joneses" flying for North Korea. When bandit trains (an actual phrase used in allied radio jargon and used in the movie script) took off from Antung Airfield in Manchuria, the real or mythical flight wing leaders were dubbed "Casey Jones." A 4th Wing F-86 Korean War veteran told me that Salter`s book was "too close to the way the 4th Wing really was in Korea," and that the Air Force wanted the script changed if they were to cooperate in the making of the movie. Even though a big budgeted movie, budget restrictions prevented producer-director Dick Powell (my mother grew up with him in Mountain View, Arkansas) from filming oversees, preferable in Japan. According to Robert J. Lentz`s excellent book, "Korean War Filmography," "The Hunters" combines Korean War aerial drama-in beautiful DeLuxe color and widescreen CinemaScope photography-with more turgid human drama on the ground involving sexual desire and fears of inadequacy. Only a few Korean War films actively depicted the sky battles in "MiG Alley" and "The Hunters" does so with better aesthetics and greater excitement than "Sabre Jet" or "The McConnell Story." Until the advent of "Top Gun" and its imitators, "The Hunters" remained the premier jet air-to-air combat film in terms of its aerial proficiency." I loved the book and the movie as a 12 year old kid in 1958, and have always remembered the tune to Paul Sawtell`s theme music march. For years I searched nationwide for a video of this movie, with no success. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine noticed "The Hunters" was on Cinemax at 2 AM and taped it for me. Hopefully, 20th Century Fox will release "The Hunters" on VCR or DVD, or, better yet, produce a new Korean War movie involving the legendary air battles between the F-86 Sabre and the MiG-15!!

How NOT to adapt a novel to film, but still fun to watch

[gmasher · 7/10 · 19 February 2005]

If you've never read the book, watch the movie first - then go find the novel for the real story. It could be categorized as "autobiographical fiction" as the author, James Salter (nom de plum) flew as a pilot with the 335th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 4th FIW at Suwon, Korea during the war. Robert Wagner's character is a thinly veiled caricature of ace Jim Low. Mitchum is typically laconic (and I do enjoy him in this role, in spite of, or including, the schlocky love story) and the F-86s are fun to watch. Richard Egan plays well as the retread group commander who pairs Mitchum and Wagner, much to Mitchum's initial distaste. The DVD in widescreen is the best way to go, and while a far cry from "The Bridges at Toko-Ri," it's still a keeper in my book.

Bathsheba In Korea

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 17 June 2010]

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.

Great aerial sequences for its day.

[LoneStar-15 · 7/10 · 27 October 1999]

Not a bad war movie for the fifties. The aerial sequences are exciting and well done (pre-computer). Mitchum is his usual entertaining, stoic self, and Robert Wagner has an especially amusing role as a young, "hipster/hotshot" pilot, that takes after Mitchum.

It's on TV every once in a while. Catch it!

Worth seeing for the combat scenes.

[gordonl56 · 7/10 · 10 April 2016]

THE HUNTERS 1958

This 20th Century Fox Cinemascope production was director Dick Powell's follow up to the excellent 1957 war film, THE ENEMY BELOW. This one also stars Robert Mitchum in the lead role. This time however the action takes place in the air over Korea in 1952. Also in the cast are, Richard Egan, Lee Phillips, May Britt and Robert Wagner.

This one starts at an Air base in Japan. Personal are off loaded from the States, then, transferred to their units in South Korea. Mitchum plays a World War Two veteran pilot with the nickname, "Ice Man". He is one cool and deadly pilot. This will be his first action flying jets (F-86) in combat. Commanding his unit is another WW2 vet, Richard Egan. Also in the squadron is Lee Phillips, who has an over fondness for beverages of the alcohol variety. Staying in Japan is the pretty wife of Phillips, May Britt.

The men end up at a base in Korea and are assigned to fly patrols in "Mig Alley", an area just south of the border with Red China. This is where the various Red Air forces are trying to gain the upper hand. Each side is out to eliminate the other using ambush tactics and flying skill. At the moment, the Americans have the upper hand, but not without losses on their part. There are several Red pilots making a name for themselves, particularly one who goes by the handle, Casey Jones.

Of course Phillips' wife, May Britt and Mitchum are soon locking lips every time Mitchum is in Tokyo. But, as much as Mitchum would like to step up the action, he can see that Britt is still in love with Phillips. He makes it his mission to whip the drunk into a first rate pilot. Now enters hotshot jet jockey, Robert Wagner fresh from the States. The kid can fly, and after a rough start with Mitchum, is soon knocking Reds out of the sky at a fast rate.

While on a patrol over Mig Alley, there is a nasty round of combat between the Americans and the Reds. Phillips is shot up and takes to his chute. Mitchum gets some payback by finally getting the best of the Red Ace, Casey Jones. He then decides to see where Phillips had bailed out.

Mitchum spots Phillips hanging from a tree, and decides to crash land his Sabre nearby. He feels obligated to help Phillips. There is soon a squad of North Korean infantry closing in. Said infantry are shot up by Robert Wagner who is then shot down by ground fire.

Mitchum and Wagner are now hauling the badly wounded Phillips towards the United Nations lines. They tackle a couple of North Korean soldiers at a guard post and arm themselves with several burp guns. Then they run into a family of refugees also heading south. Another squad of North Korean types show and liquidate the civilians. Wagner and Mitch step up and pay the Red swine in kind.

Taking the dead civilians cart, they load up Phillips and continue south. They are soon grabbed up by a U.N. unit of Greeks and sent back for medical attention. Phillips is patched up and will be sent back to the States. Britt and Mitchum say their goodbyes as Britt thanks Mitch for saving her husband.

For the most part, the film works quite well with some nicely handled action sequences. The film however slows to a snail's pace every time Miss Britt is on screen. The love triangle bit is just not needed, or should have been trimmed by a good 15 minutes. Still, it is a great looking Cinemascope production with excellent color.

Powell does good work as the helmsman, while four time, Oscar nominated, Charles G Clarke, handles the cinematography duties.

May Britt was another of a string of Swedish actresses who were to be the next, Ingrid Bergman. The list would include, Marta Toren, Viveca Lindfors, Signe Hasso and Inger Stevens. None of them were.

Excellent, although dated aviation-romance.

[BobNis · 10/10 · 15 March 2004]

Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner team up with May Britt to provide aviation enthusiasts a 1950's era movie filled with exciting combat, while Mitchum romances May Britt on the ground.

The enemy flies F-84's (not exactly Mig 15's) while the good guys fight with F-86's, but the action shots are good. Aviation art buffs will smile at the Kacee Jones "The Crapshooter" who has 7 & 11 dice painted on his aircraft nose.

If you like aviation movies, this is one to see.

You will recognize some other actors as well.

It is the superb aviation footage which makes "The Hunters" memorable

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 8 January 2006]

North American's F-86 Sabre was the West's premier fighter aircraft during the early 1950s, and superior to any fighter aircraft in the eastern part of the world… The F-86 scored consistent victories over Russian-built MiG fighters during the Korean War…Hollywood didn't make nearly enough movies about it, but in "The Hunters," we have the opportunity to admire this graceful and agile subsonic equipped with more powerful engines and armament systems that ranged from bombs and rockets to machine guns and cannons…

Robert Mitchum portrays the big hunter, the 'Iceman.' Maj. Cleve Saville was like death: no feelings, no nerves, no fear… In Japan, on his way to his first posting in Korea, he meets Lt. Carl Abbott (Lee Philips), a young pilot who thinks he is a bad flier… Too much booze was the sign… With 30 missions Abbott failed to get any enemy planes… His wife Chris (May Britt) doesn't know what to do with him… She asks Maj. Saville to look out for him and help him… Saville finds himself falling in love with her, with some response from her…

Filling out the story when they finally reach Korea are the first of the jet pilots, Col. Dutch Emil (Richard Egan), and Lt. Ed Pell (Robert Wagner), a rude young guy with big cigars in his face, considered as a 'little stinker who can get MiGs.' Their common enemy is the Chinese ace Casey Jones (Leon Lontoc). His plane has the numbers 7-11 on his fuselage…

The MiGs are based in Red China, across the Yalu River

Planes, Yes, And a Battle Between Two Wars

[secondtake · 5/10 · 25 June 2009]

The Hunters (1958)

Planes, Yes, And a Battle Between Two Wars

The provocatively titled The Hunters is mostly routine, patriotic stuff with some small twists of plot and motivation to keep it interesting. The general tone and the general outcome are givens. There are two halves to the movie. The air-to-air combat, which is exciting if you like that kind of action, and well filmed, and a human plot which lopes along with little consequence. This human half is is filmed so well, you can watch it all and soak up the sets and framing and the gently moving camera scene after scene. It's a good example of a CinemaScope production using the wide wide look, edge to edge.

The most beautiful sections are set in civilian Japan, which is an interesting emphasis for a Korean War movie. There are some pretty night shots that have great atmosphere, filled more with charcoal colors than inky black shadows. The brighter interior sets are really stunning in their horizontal sweep and photographed with a kind of professionalism that's easy to take for granted--conservative, beautiful camera-work. Add a little moment here and there, like the longing in the woman's look after she moves to the door 14 minutes in, and you have a hint of missed opportunity. And I don't just mean Mitchum's. I know other people will like the dogfights and military stuff, and if you do, check this out. It's not at all corny or clumsy, but it all looks too much same to me, even if I worry a little about who will get shot down next. A little. Notice how the movie gets far more compelling in the last half hour of fighting on the ground, looking more like WWII. And still filmed beautifully.

Significance? Actually, yes. One serious theme throughout is weighing the small Korean Conflict against World War II. Mitchum, a grave, no-nonsense veteran from the earlier war, is not only older and more experienced, he has the credentials of the real thing. He's fighting in Korea because it's the only war going on, and he's a soldier. He has the nickname the Ice Man, but the name feels patched on so the movie can show he really has a heart underneath his steely reserve. It's a paradigm for a great kind of man, I think, and an attractive one even when oversimplified. By contrast, the young pilots are casual and wisecracking, lacking discipline and any sense of commitment, mostly because their war doesn't demand it. One of them (played by Robert Wagner) is so cocky we know he's covering his cowardice. Another is an alcoholic, and his beautiful, lonely wife gets a little quality time with Mitchum, who isn't above sneaking something past one of his young colleagues (she's the little known Swedish actress, May Britt, who later married Sammy Davis, Jr.).

Anyway, Mitchum makes good in the end. They all do, those still alive.

Underlying all this is the way the Korean War in its dubiousness made these men less substantial, somehow, compared to the men formed by WWII. It's a kind of Generation X syndrome, and it feels real, these Korean War Americans driven mostly by indifference, ultimately distorted by the weird fact that they needed something bigger and more meaningful to react to. It's only after some thinking about it do you realize that Mitchum's strength of character might not be a result of WWII, after all, but of some innate sense of being a fighter. He's not looking for a cause, but for a war. In this movie, he gets a little of both.

Great Action Movie !!

[irishbob500 · 10/10 · 30 March 2004]

Somewhat dated BUT...and not filmed in Korea (probably Southern Calif.)...this is one of the better movies about the Korean War and just plain fun to watch......there is all the ingredients...a "love" triangle.....a hot shot pilot....the old war horse who still can show up the kids....a "coward" who still flys...and a CO who is real jerk (he's only in the movie for a few sequences, fortunately)..a "bad guy" North Korean pilot....good flying sequences to rival Top Gun using the F86 Sabre Jet....pilots getting shot down and E&E'ing behind Korean lines.....NOT for the Artsy-Craftsy Set who tend to snub their collective noses at anything pertaining to war and kicking butt..!!! If you like action/war stories don't miss it....!!!

***

[edwagreen · 7/10 · 7 June 2015]

Interesting film but you would think that there would be more action in the first hour.

We're faced with a usual theme of one guy falling for another guy's girl, in this case a married girl, during war.

Lee Philips really stole the acting here. Remember him as the soft-spoken principal in "Peyton Place?" He had all the answers in that film and his persona changes drastically here as an alcoholic pilot, unsure of himself and whose wife soon lands in the hands of Robert Mitchum.

Robert Wagner co-stars as a young cocky pilot whose resolve is soon tested.

The film takes off when all 3 land in a North Korean infested place as Mitchum and Wagner take care of a badly wounded Philips.

The film shows the brutality of the Communists when a poor oriental farming family are machine gunned for hiding the 3 guys.

In typical Hollywood fashion, the film shows dedication, duty and resolve of our fighting men and that marriage is still a sacred institution.

Don't expect too much

[Luigi Di Pilla · 5/10 · 18 July 2005]

I expected more action in the THE HUNTERS but I have to admit that the battle scenes were well shot and very realistic. I wanted to see also more adventure instead a lost love story that was too slow paced. Watch this movie only if you are not too tired. As in the other war movie with Bob Mitchum "THE ENEMY BELOW" the color was really de luxe and Robert Mitchum made a again a solid job. The enemies in the film didn't scary me at all. What I missed too were some important details about the Korea war.

I recommend it only to war planes lovers otherwise stay away. Vote therefore is 5/10.

Aerial sequences give a good look at the Korean War

[BigBobFoonman · 27 March 2011]

This is a pilot's movie--better yet, a pilot with a sense of history and a love of European blondes.....

Even sexier than the redoubtable May Britt, the F-86 is given great coverage and detail in what is generally a good war film. The F-86 arrived just in time to save the U.S. Air Force and Naval Air Force from the Mig 15 and 17, probably the most dangerous aircraft faced by the U.S. up to that time.

The Migs were chewing up the old straight wing fighters the Navy and Air Force were using, and taking a huge, and strangely under-reported toll on the B-29s that were bombing North Korea. Their losses were so bad that the missions were ended until a viable U.S. jet could be mounted against the Mig. The F-86 was that jet.

I was amazed at the number of jet fighters arrayed in the skies above California for the battle sequences. A large contingent of Republic F-84Fs were painted green and sported the red star of the North Korean Air Force. Anybody who knew airplanes saw this inaccuracy, but it did little to detract from the generally very good combat scenes. That is the prime advantage of CGI, today.....they can create a squadron of Mig 15s for a fraction of the cost to attempt to field analog substitutes.

The only problem with CGI is the movement of the CGI generated airplanes---it is too stiff, and the turns they show these planes making, especially the prop fighters created in Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor", the turns and the speeds are way too steep and fast, and have no liquidity of actual movement. Thus the analog dogfights in "The Hunters" were mesmerizing, and quite beautiful.

"The Hunters" is a fine piece of aviation history, of a little-known and understood war. It was the first all jet war of our time.....fast and very deadly. I continue to wonder, as Fredric March does at the end of a better Korean War movie, "The Bridges at Toko-Ri", ....Where do we get such men....?"

Love tryst and thundering planes.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 11 February 2009]

Set during the Korean War, this picture features the fine talent of Robert Mitchum as Major Cleve Saville and a young fresh faced Robert Wagner as the cocksure Lt Ed Pell. As the war rages, and the airmen deal with the pressures that come with the service, Saville starts to fall in love with the wife (a very weak May Britt) of one of his men, thus adding further pressures to a company growing weary by the day. The Hunters, based on the novel written by James Salter, is a very solid picture, perhaps bogged down by it's determination to give the picture emotional heart, it never the less thrills with its aerial sequences and is awash with glorious colour that new televisual technology can enhance, it's also a film that definitely needs to be seen in widescreen.

By not outstaying its welcome, The Hunters is the perfect film for genre fans who find themselves stuck in the house on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Though Mitchum of course oozes his usual screen presence here, he is playing second fiddle to the F-86 Sabres that are swishing about the bright blue sky, dog fighting with the Migs (well F-84 Thunders cunningly disguised as Migs) and thus giving the picture the necessary action quotient. Films set in the Korean War are few and far between, so to at least have a film like The Hunters to view when in the mood is surely a really good thing. 6/10

Enjoyable and spectacular melodrama set during the Korean war with incredible aerial scenes

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 27 December 2020]

A nice film dealing with with an aerial unit in Japan , boasting some spectacular flying sequences breathtakingly captured in sunny color , though dialogue is less credible . Concerning a motley crew of pilots from a Special Jet Fighter Squadron learning about each other and themselves in this melodrama set during Korean War. Regarding a Major: Robert Mitchum arriving in Tokyo , Japan , and an officer pilot : Lee Philips contend for a deep love, turning into implacable rivals over the same woman : May Britt. Along the way they are confronting by deadly and powerful Chinese MIG fighters in battles and including a young hotshot top-gun : Robert Wagner who doesn't follows the superior orders . Mightiest thrill-shocked adventure spectacle of the super-sonic age !

Breathtaking and impressive aerial cinematography sets this apart from other films of the genre , these scenes were particularly made during shooting , exception for some stock footage from an unfortunate landing where blowing up an airplane . Filmmaker Powell inserts a backbone of steel with some of loving drama into this strong aerial/thriller/warlike movie . Main and support cast are pretty good . Robert Mitchum gives acceptable acting in his usual style . Along with May Britt as the beautiful wife , Robert Wagner, and Lee Philips. And other notorious secondaries as John Gabriel, John Doucette , Stacy Harris , Robert Reed , Richard Egan as Commander-in-chief who is thoroughly convincing as the squadron's commandant , among others .

It packs a colorful cinematography in brilliant Technicolor by Charles Clarke . As well as evocative and adequate musical score by Paul Sawtel. This noise-filled motion picture was well directed by Dick Powell , though he enhances the melodramatic elements at times. Dick Powell was a prestigious actor , a previous song-and-dance and tough guy star , who eventually made some decent movies, such as : Enemy Below, The Conqueror , You can't run away from it , Split Second and this The Hunters . Rating 6.5/10 . Worthwhile watching . The flick will appeal to Robert Mitchum fans .

Mitchum takes to the skies

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 16 August 2015]

This was Dick Powell's last directorial assignment for 20th Century Fox, as it fulfilled his contract.

The Hunters is a big, sprawling color film from 1958 about fighting the Korean War from the air. Robert Mitchum, Richard Egan, Lee Phillips, Robert Wagner, and May Britt star.

Mitchum plays Ceve Saville, an older pilot looking to fly again. He becomes commander of an air squadron led by his old WWII leader, Dutch Imil (Egan).

Ceve forms his squadron with a young, hep, hotshot pilot, Lt. Pell (Wagner), a gentler type, Corona (John Gabriel), an alcoholic, Carl Abbott (Phillips) and a more brazen type (Stacy Harris). Somehow they are successful in their missions.

Meanwhile, Ceve falls for Abbott's beautiful and unhappy wife (Britt), and she with him.

The flying sequences are wonderful, filmed over the southwest U.S., and one gets the idea of great speed. Very few models were used; it was mostly real jets. Very exciting.

The rest of the film is fairly derivative. The acting was good, with Robert Wagner injecting some verve into the proceedings with his "mans" and "daddy-os." The last mission is especially poignant and involving.

Not bad

[tgrills · 6/10 · 19 December 2005]

I've read some of the other comments on this film and mostly agree. The glitches are hilarious, especially the stock footage of the F100 floating on its engine power before crashing. Yes, there are artistic flaws here, and yes it's a love story more than simply a war story. However, we can glean a lot more from these older movies by looking at some of the behavior that is special to the time. For example, who knew that the Joe College lingo would call something George for good and Tom for bad. And "Koo Koo Daddyo!" That's early fifties and I was around 2 and 3 when the war was on and 8 when the movie was made. The philosophy of Saville saying he kills planes. You ask any fighter pilot and he will tell you that in the final analysis, that's what establishes air superiority. You get a real feel for the times when you apply observation and reflection (that's why I love the WWII movies). So...there's a lot more to these movies, even the flawed ones, than just the story. But I don't have to tell any of you that. You know.

Well, what do you know, . . Saville, . . The Ice Man Commeth "

[thinker1691 · 8/10 · 19 November 2008]

Back in the days when Hollywood was looking to emphasize it's virility, they selected a West Point novelist named James Salter. His book, 'The Hunters' was published in 1957, which became a movie in 1958. The book was not given its due share of attention and neither was the movie. Yet it became a high school assignment which mutated into a book report. Although, grudgingly accepted, I hated it before I read the first page. However, as Study hall was boring, I opened the cover and began to read. Surprisingly, not only did I find the novel interesting and exciting, I got an 'A' and low and behold, I found I could scribble well enough to later write my own books. When the movie came out I had to go see it and the three movie stars, Robert Mitchum as Major Cleve Saville, Robert Wagner as Lt. Ed Pell and Richard Egan, (Colonel Dutch Imil) became my favorite actors. The movie is an exceptional story of American pilots flying combat missions during the Korean War. The subject of their peril concerns a Korean Air Ace, nicknamed 'Casey Jones (Leon Lontoc).' This enemy is credited with bringing down a dozen American fliers and is the best the enemy has. Enter, Cleve Saville, so cool at his job, they call him 'The Iceman." To help him in his squadron is none other than cocky Robert Wagner, a "hip" pilot, with so many first, he hopes to bring down, 'jones' before Seville does. May Britt, plays Kristina Abbott, the love interest and the human aspect of the story. An excellent movie, so well done, you could write a book report on it. ****

You didn't changer with age you only got older

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 24 June 2010]

***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.

Very disappointing!

[JohnHowardReid · 4/10 · 19 June 2017]

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.

Very good air-war drama - but a trite romance.

[sabre86f · 9/10 · 25 April 2005]

I've been waiting for this film to be released on Video/DVD for a LONG time. I first saw it in the theater when I was nine, and it has been many years since I last saw it - as it was seldom if ever shown over the past 20-30 years.

It has some of the very best aerial photography ever filmed - groundbreaking for its day. Beautiful shots of F-86 Sabres and F-84 Thunderjets (subbing for "Migs") in air-to-air combat.

As a war film, it is one of the best - but it is lessened by a rather trite "romantic triangle" subplot.

Nevertheless, it is well worth owning and watching for any aviation buff who wants an insight as to what the first true "jet war" was all about.

Aided by an ample love story and some relatively effective rivalry within the ranks, this wartime air force centralising yarn holds water, despite its propagandist tendencies.

[johnnyboyz · 6/10 · 5 May 2011]

If The Hunters were as in love with certain other aspects of film-making as much as it was with its jets and its coverage of its jets, we might have ended up with a more rounded film. As it happens, it's a perfectly able enough little number about the ties that bind amidst the pilots at the forefront of some rather important missions during wartime; a film which isn't quite on a par with something like Anthony Asquith's The Way to the Stars in its depiction of airbase-set life complete with the romances and complications that spawn as a result of this group of men, and often women, occupying the same space in and around a base, but suffices. By the time the film's final act has kicked in, we've pretty much gone with it; a somewhat maddening and out of place adventure sequence which stretches out to encompass ground action, gun fights and rescue missions formulating into revenge set pieces; sequences which attempt to derail most of what good preceded it, but loosely holds together.

Robert Mitchum plays the lead, the film beginning with a triumphant burst of orchestral music during the opening credits as the name of each performer pops up on screen inviting a rousing reaction from that of whomever is watching. The credits play over that of an extended shot of a large plane, the first of many examples of the film lending ample time to shots of aircraft, as it rolls along a taxiway; Mitchum's flight major Cleve Saville eventually stepping off and treading foot on the soil of Japan, in this, 1952. The reason for his being there is more broadly linked to that of The Korean War, a stretch of warfare which ran from 1950 to 53; a conflict born out of the opposing Communist and Capitalist ideals which erupted post-Second World War, the film itself very much coming to represent a part of that war of words in terms of its propagandist tendencies.

Saville is assigned to an Ameircan squadron utilising Allied Japanese bases in the country for raids on the Communist North Koreans who are fighting the South, he arrives with many-a medal insignia upon on his coat breast and the verbal confirmation of having operated out of the unforgiving conditions of London during World War II implies qualification. His assigning to 54th squadron, a "rough" group of men it seems are very much in need of Saville's expertise, sees him come into contact with an existing higher-up in that platoon named Carl Abbott (Philips) – his Norwegian, of all nationalities, wife Kristina, played by the Swedish born May Britt, arriving in tow. A further, brief history lesson on The Korean War uncovers the fact that it was, at least to my knowledge, the first conflict to have utilised aircraft not driven by propellers; the jet engines which overtook that of the old technology here used for the first time in warfare. The film is aware of this; produced nary many-a year post-conflict, and so with the innovation still somewhat fresh, it goes out of its way to encompass the jets as as much-a character or item of importance as anything else. Carl himself even complains at the difficulties faced in getting to grips with the things, citing headaches and such despite his problem with alcohol; they're new, and problematic – few have fought with such exposure to such things, whereas the film even has Saville pause to take in a proverbial 'view' upon arrival as they hare off overhead.

Saville's integration with the squadron is often put aside for his interactions with Carl's wife, the aforementioned Kristina most call Kris. His altercations with Kris are born out her own concerns and rather wavering feelings towards her husband, for whom she is worried; their coming together eventually giving way to a mutual fondness not glossed over with a montage or what-not but allowed to develop naturally as they interact: an amusing incident highlighting changing feelings occurring when the proclaimed "Iceman of the sky" Saville looses his cool, calm and laid back persona whilst in a post office and in Kris' presence by dropping several items he was carrying.

The whole thing builds to what we presume to be some sort of 'big battle'; a 'final showdown' in the skies between those dastardly Commies and the all-Americans, whom its already been suggested via a montage have superiority anyway, involving Saville and Abbott and a chief threat in the form of an unspecific North Korean pilot doing all sorts in a Soviet-made plane. When the time for that sequence comes, the proof in the pudding is in the film granting the Commies their own takeoff sequence, a blood red flume of smoke from a flair gun overbearing proceedings as each of the enemy leaves the base for the field of combat. As it happens, the dog-fight is just the starter to a more unpredictable main course; the cocktail of a man in Abbott on the edge going hand in hand with Saville, his ties to Kris and Abbott's knowledge of this on top of American pilot-hungry ground Commie troops looking to execute all manner of nastiness on anybody even remotely not attuned to their cause disparately combining and working at once. Ultimately a bit of a propaganda piece, a slice of unabashed flag waving which enjoys the company of its stars and the latest and greatest in innovation of the United States armed forces, The Hunters is a wobbly effort but dimly enjoyable in its own right.

Why changed?

[robert48-1 · 4/10 · 10 July 2006]

I read that the book on which this movie is based was one of the best to portray combat pilots. So I rented it last year from Netflix and enjoyed the photography of classic 50's era fighters and watching Robert Wagner act like a 50's rebel. Today I finally got around to reading James Salter's book, The Hunters, on which the movie is based. The book is actually about the tension between Cleve (the Robert Mitchum Character) and Pell (the Robert Wagner character)and it has an extraordinarily dramatic climactic battle and an ending that brought tears to my eyes. But virtually nothing in the book is in the movie! This is a classic case of Hollywood raping a serious book thinking they would clean up at the box office. If they had stayed true to Salter's novel, the movie would be a classic instead of a curio that we watch for a Technicolor thrill.