Jock Mahoney plays Nick, an American war correspondent in South Vietnam, who catches up with a young Nurse Young Hi Park (Pat Yi) in a hospital ward where she relates her tragic story about her escapades as a young orphan girl who survived the blood soaked fighting during the amphibious invasion Inchon and became a good luck mascot of sorts for a South Korean Marine platoon.
"Marine Battleground" opens with footage of the South Korean Marines landing on the beach at Inchon. They arrive in armored personnel carriers that disperses troops from the rear of the vehicle. During the merciless combat which ensues, a courageous Marine platoon rescues an adolescent girl Young-hui (Jeon Young-sun) after they watch as her poor mother is riddled by enemy gunfire. The intrepid Marines ignore gunfire galore to rescue the little waif, and then conceal her within their ranks from their officers as they march off into one hard-fought engagement after another.
These 'war as hell' flashback scenes constitute the bulk of this gritty, black & white film about tenacious but outnumbered South Korean soldiers. At one point, Yi's platoon of 'uncles' are sacrificed by their commanders to halt an invasion of Red Chinese soldiers. The enemy swarm like a veritable tidal wave of insurgents from the mountains down into a valley and eventually overrun the stoutly defended South Korean position. Basically, these brave soldiers are whittled down to a mere handful of men as they put stiff resistance. A veteran of the Korean War himself, director Lee Man-hee stages some fierce combat scenes, but characterization remains sketchy at best, with only few of the soldiers fleshed out as characters that we cannot identify with their plight. By the time this war epic concludes, Nick understands why.
"Marine Battleground" opens with footage of the South Korean Marines landing on the beach at Inchon. They arrive in armored personnel carriers that disperses troops from the rear of the vehicle. During the merciless combat which ensues, a courageous Marine platoon rescues an adolescent girl Young-hui (Jeon Young-sun) after they watch as her poor mother is riddled by enemy gunfire. The intrepid Marines ignore gunfire galore to rescue the little waif, and then conceal her within their ranks from their officers as they march off into one hard-fought engagement after another.
These 'war as hell' flashback scenes constitute the bulk of this gritty, black & white film about tenacious but outnumbered South Korean soldiers. At one point, Yi's platoon of 'uncles' are sacrificed by their commanders to halt an invasion of Red Chinese soldiers. The enemy swarm like a veritable tidal wave of insurgents from the mountains down into a valley and eventually overrun the stoutly defended South Korean position. Basically, these brave soldiers are whittled down to a mere handful of men as they put stiff resistance. A veteran of the Korean War himself, director Lee Man-hee stages some fierce combat scenes, but characterization remains sketchy at best, with only few of the soldiers fleshed out as characters that we cannot identify with their plight. By the time this war epic concludes, Nick understands why.
