Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

rbrb Superb war film!A company of soldiers in the fore front of the American civil war are facing head-on combat battles with their enemy. One youthful soldier is terrified of his situation and the question is: how -if at all- will he handle his fears?Excellent atmospheric battle scenes. The viewer can taste and feel the blood and the dirt and the fear. Brilliant direction and camera work with a very intelligent script to match. Great in black and white but I wonder if this picture could be colorized. The cynical viewer might see in this movie lambs being manipulated and sent to the slaughter, but that said:More than 60 years old, why can't they make films like this nowadays???8/10

denis888 The US Civil War brought forth many great novels, treatises and good films. The Red Badge Of Courage depict as the war as it seems to be in real - dusty, horrifying, bloody, not picturesque, grim, deadly and painfully average. People on both sides murder one another at a steady pace, and this is shown very well. The battle scenes are very dry, as was intended, here lies no romanticism, no grandeur, no show - just a grim work of death, some hustle, some cowardice, some bravery as shown in the slow development of the main hero, The Youth. His slow growth from a cowardly youngster to a mature hero is so real, so painfully true. Deaths are all around, and bullets zip, and shells explode - he stands up and he becomes a man. This is shown very well, and this short, but great movie manages to show and deliver one main point - there is nothing beautiful in any war/ Recommended

zetes Civil War film based on the famed novel by Stephen Crane. It gets short shrift among John Huston's films because it's well known that Louis B. Mayer cut 26 minutes out of the film while Huston was away filming The African Queen. Still, what's left is hardly incoherent and works beautifully. It may have been a masterpiece in its 95 minute incarnation, but it's still great and one of Huston's best films in its 69 minute form. Audie Murphy stars as a young private facing his first fighting. The real value of this film is how it really feels like it's right there on the front lines of Civil War battles. It's vivid and frightening, and also quite gorgeously directed and shot. I perhaps would have liked to hear no narration, which comes directly from Crane's novel (and may or may not have been wanted by Huston). It's mostly unnecessary. It may have been confusing without it, but only as confusing as it is for the characters on screen.

Michael_Elliott Red Badge of Courage, The (1951) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Adaptation of Stephen Crane's novel has a Civil War soldier (Audie Murphy) running away from battle because he's scared but after wondering around for a bit he begins to become a man and prepares for his next battle. It's rather amazing to read about the history of this movie, which was pretty much a huge battle between director Huston and the studio. MGM would eventually take the film away from the director and cut a two-hour movie down to 69-minutes and with that in mind it's amazing at how well the film still holds up. I'm not sure what all was cut out but I'd love to see that version, which is apparently missing. That's a real shame considering both Huston and Murphy tried to buy the uncut version of the film back from the studio only to learn the additional footage had been thrown out. As for what's left, this is a very impressive little movie that I'm guessing was meant to show the fine line between being a hero and a coward and how circumstance can change a person. I thought the movie was extremely powerful in its message even though it never preaches or being over dramatic. The movie contains some wonderful battle scenes, which are among some of the best on ground footage since THE BIRTH OF A NATION. The battle scenes are certainly masterfully directed but so are the quieter scenes with the men marching and talking. Hearing them talk about various subjects including death was perfectly handled by the director. There's some terrific cinematography including a couple wonderful scenes showing the sun shining through some trees. Murphy gives a very strong performance as does the rest of the cast. Andy Devine has a small but important role in the film as well.