A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

For those curious to view this early effort from Kubrick, a beautiful print can now be streamed via Amazon Prime. I can understand why Kubrick wanted to destroy any prints of this -- it's an amateurish effort that doesn't begin to hint at the great films to come. Still, for film freaks, it's a curiosity that's hard to resist.By the way -- that exploitive pink poster image attached to this page is amazing in its lack of any accurate sense of the film!

Stanley Kubrick's first film was shot for a few thousand dollars in a California forest with a no-name cast when he was 24 years old!! Under the circumstances, I think it is a remarkable film. A little crude at times, and perhaps with a tendency towards purple prose, but a stark, powerful anti-war indictment, with some otherworldly images and characters who are not easy to pigeonhole (the civilized leader of the group is the first to make suggestive remarks about the female captive, the "gentle" young man is the first to go completely bonkers, etc.). You can tell, even by this first feature, that Kubrick is something special; most directors, even the established ones, would never even attempt an abstract film like this in 1953. **1/2 out of 4.

"Fear and Desire", just got a wonderful home release after being somewhat absent for the longest time. I've got to be honest with you right now, this movie is nothing special. It doesn't really show the beginnings of Kubrick's talents, and unfortunately never becomes engaging during its running time. I recommend it to his most devoted fans, because I think it remains a relic and in Kubrick's own words he describes it as: "A bumbling amateur film exercise"."There is a War in this forest. Not a War that has been fought, nor one that will be, but any War. And the enemies who struggle here do not exist unless we call them into being. This forest then, and all that happens now is outside history".The level of effort Kubrick went into making it is to be admired, using whatever means possible regardless how unintentionally deadly the possible side effects were (For fog Kubrick used a crop sprayer, but the cast and crew were nearly asphyxiated because the machinery still contained the insecticide used for its agricultural work). The acting is nothing special, and what was originally planned as a silent picture doesn't really earn any points for the addition of music (Though it would be interesting to see all this without the sound).Final Verdict: Nothing special from the master film-maker, don't rush yourself to see it. 4/10.

Fear And Desire (from 1953) is the low-budget, first feature-film directed by legendary movie-maker, Stanley Kubrick, who was but a budding, young film student at the time.Containing some striking camera-work and intense character interaction, this marginally violent War picture tells the tale of 4 soldiers who, after their plane crash-lands, find themselves stranded in a forested region behind the lines of an unnamed enemy in an unidentified country.In order to rejoin their unit, these 4 G.I.s must cautiously make their way downriver without being detected by their foe.Before embarking on their treacherous journey, these tired and weary young men must formulate a workable plan to locate the enemy's headquarters and, thus, assassinate its commanding officer.Filmed in stark b&w, this somewhat intriguing picture has a brief running time of only 60 minutes.