The Reluctant Heroes

November. 23,1971      
Rating:
7.1
Trailer Synopsis Cast

An army tale about an egghead ninety-day-wonder who relies on ancient tactics he remembers from the history books to save his beleaguered squad on an important mission in Korea.

Ken Berry as  Lt. Parnell Murphy
Jim Hutton as  Cpl. Bill Lukens
Trini López as  Pvt. Sam Rivera
Don Marshall as  Pvt. Carver LeMoyne
Ralph Meeker as  Capt. Luke Danvers
Cameron Mitchell as  Sgt. Marion Bryce
Warren Oates as  Cpl. Leroy Sprague
Richard Young as  Pvt. Golden
Soon-Tek Oh as  Korean Officer

Reviews

Alicia
1971/11/23

I love this movie so much

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Salubfoto
1971/11/24

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

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Kien Navarro
1971/11/25

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

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Kaelan Mccaffrey
1971/11/26

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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GUENOT PHILIPPE
1971/11/27

I expected far better than this MASH like crap. I don't speak of the story of course, because it is not a question of a hospital here, but I talk about the overall atmosphere. A light heartened one, that's just the problem with it. The movies made during the late sixties and early seventies were far more pessimistic and dark than this crap. The common war movie with super heroes fighting against evil enemies. with the happy ending. Forget this non sense garbage and Watch CROSS OF IRON instead. don't lose your time with this feature.

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lawtk
1971/11/28

I remember seeing this movie just before I enlisted in 1972. The story is about leadership and the traditions of the military that make it great. Whether the technical aspects of the movie are correct, as with the weapons carried etc., is not important to the central theme.........the military is made up of strangers thrown together by circumstance who are required to do very simple things under the most extreme of conditions. Technology is merely a tool the essence of the job has not changed in hundreds, if not thousands of years.This story follows a small group of American soldiers who are cut off from friendly lines during an attack by hostile forces while in Korea.The viewer learns that the military, on the "boots on the ground" level, is made up of Non Commissioned Officers who have all the practical knowledge and junior officers who know the "book." Many times a junior leader finds himself assigned to a group that have worked together for a significant period of time under the NCO and the officer is the outsider with a set of rules that don't seem to comply with the teaching of the practical NCO leadership.This is the essence of the story, when the "book" meets the "practical knowledge" magic is made. In the case of the story, the magic is the soldiers safe return to friendly lines after a harrowing move through enemy territory. The young LT with "book knowledge" is the designated leader, the "crusty" NCO distrustful at first applies his knowledge to the plan and magic. Then in what can only be classified as a shot across the bow of any who would scoff at what the military does............Ken Berry sums up in a short entry for the unit history the soldiers' ordeal that the viewer has seen for the last hour.The sum and substance of the entry is "unit broke contact with the enemy, conducted a move at night through enemy lines, and rejoin friendly forces." Fiction yes, but anyone who has done some sort of time in the military will recognize the dynamic.

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David Edward Martin
1971/11/29

The ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week strikes again. I loved that series as a teen. The demand for 30 original movies a year (double that when the WEDNESDAY Movie of the Week came online) meant a lot of actors got work in ways they might not have before. Ken Berry was best known for F TROOP and MAYBERRY RFD. Who knew he had the potential for a war movie too? Yes, the film is a bit lightweight but so what? The MotW format was not intended to give us epics (which it sometimes did, anyway). The cast does a decent job, the production is pretty good for something shot in the hills outside LA, and anything with Soon-Tek Oh in it-- I'm there!

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pertti.jarla
1971/11/30

This is a pretty cheap and unspectacular made-for-television war adventure. Some lame "intellectual talk", long hairs and false military equipment on the North Korean side. Ralph Meeker seems drugged or something. There is, however, something to keep this thing bearable from beginning to end, if you are into war films. The plot is pretty clear and tight and there are no dead moments (well, it´s only 73 minutes). It feels just like watching an episode of an entertaining early 70´s war series. That´s not necessarily a bad way to spend some time. Don´t expect too much, though.

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