A ragtag group of American stragglers battles against superior Communist troops in an abandoned Buddhist temple during the Korean War.
During the Korean War, after being wounded in a skirmish, strong battle-worn and cantankerous Sergeant Zack is rescued by a young orphaned South Korean boy. Together they encounter and join a squad of American soldiers. The group stumbles upon a Buddhist temple where they decide to set up an operating post, believing it to be empty.—Karl Engel Hans Delbruck
A hard-bitten, cynical veteran sergeant, the lone survivor of an ambushed patrol, joins up with a South Korean orphan, a black medic, a Japanese-American, a former conscientious objector, and other ragtag stragglers and leads them to an abandoned Buddhist temple. They resist the efforts of a captured North Korean major to divide them along ethnic lines and use their strategically important location to direct American artillery fire onto Communist positions.—duke1029
Stark portrait of G.I.'s at war, this time in Korea. Sgt. Zack has managed to escape after being taken prisoner by the North Koreans and along the way meets up with a young Korean boy, who he nicknames Short Round, and a medic, Cpl. Thompson. They eventually meet up with some men from Zack's unit and set up a forward observation post there to guide artillery fire. They are ordered to get a prisoner for interrogation and capture an English-speaking North Korean Major who does his best to create animosity among the Americans. They soon come under attack, vastly out-numbered and out-gunned.—garykmcd
In the Korean War, the prisoner of war Sergeant Zack and only survivor of his company is released by the South-Korean boy Short Round. The walk together trying to reach the American lines, and they stumble with other survivors, forming a ragtag platoon. When they reach a Buddhist temple, they learn that it is abandoned and they camp there, transforming it in an observation outpost. When they realize that they are under siege of the communist army, they have to battle to survive.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The film opens in Korea as Sgt. Zack (Gene Evans) crawls up out of a killing pit after an enemy bullet has passed through his helmet without killing him. He is aided by a young Korean boy he nicknames "Short Round" (William Chun) as he tries to get back to American troops. Zack meets a Thompson (James Edwards) a Medic who has escaped from the Koreans like Zack and the trio travel until they meet a platoon lead by Lt. Driscoll (Steve Brodie) who commands with a rigid inflexibility. The group moves to what they think is an abandoned Buddhist temple to set up a command post. During their process of establishing occupation of the countryside they realize many things about their differences and likenesses as men and as soldiers and find that they continue to be challenged by the Korean Army and themselves.
