jarrodmcdonald-1 The Korean war had already found its way on to American movie screens when BATTLE CIRCUS came along. And some of those other films, like FIXED BAYONETS! and THE STEEL HELMET, are infinitely better. But this slick MGM production has its merits and should be watched, if anything for the script and direction by Richard Brooks.Less convincing, though, is the casting of June Allyson and Humphrey Bogart in the lead roles. Does anyone really think they have much chemistry? I will concede there is a slightly romantic scene where they run through the rain and fall in the mud. But eventually, that gets gooey (in more ways than one). And how does this make us relate to these characters and the deeply personal bond they have managed to forge given the circumstances of their immediate situation? What helps us temporarily forget the more inane aspects of their relationship are the key action sequences depicted in the story. And those moments convey a great deal of tension and are very well staged. The movie also gets points for knowing that the 'M' in M*A*S*H stands for mobile. We see the main characters uproot and move around to administer to the injured and dying like they would be required to do in such a dangerous environment.

tieman64 A precursor to Robert Altman's "MASH", Richard Brooks' "Battle Circus" stars the inimitable Humphrey Bogart as a world-weary surgeon in the middle of war-torn Korea. Bogart is as watchable as always, but much of the film consists of a by-the-numbers romantic subplot in which he romances a new nurse (June Allyson, always miscast).As with most films set during the Korean War, "Battle Circus" entirely ignores politics. Elsewhere Brooks serves up a number of mildly tense sequences, like one in which nurses talk a wounded Korean soldier out of detonating a live grenade. Brooks would go on to direct a number of superior films, one of his best being "Elmer Gantry".Today, the US' bloody occupation of Korea has all but been erased from history. After WW2, the US hastily separated Korea (Roosevelt would suggest the separation to Stalin without even consulting the Koreans), essentially splitting it in two and giving the North to Russia whilst keeping the South for itself. This was meant to be a temporary division, but as was in the case in Vietnam (another country arbitrarily cut in half by the US), the US soon freaked out when it learnt that the Koreans wanted independence and were unanimously backing the Republican Party. Refusing to allow genuine self-determination to take root in Korea, and determined to destroy the majority supported Korean People's Republic party, the US hastily began scuttling all attempts at unifying the north and south, backed dictators in the south (some descendants of the old aristocracy), began supporting the local land-owning elite, outlawed the KPR and set about murdering "dissidents". On the Island of Cheju alone, as many as 60,000 of its 300,000 residents were murdered. South Korea, assisted by US forces, then conducted a ruthless campaign of cleansing the south of all dissidents, usually identifying them as "communists". Estimates of murdered civilians range anywhere from 400,000 to 800,000 by the time the hot war "officially" broke out in June 1950. The message was clear: you can have self-determination, but only if you do what we say.5/10 – For Bogart fans only. See "To Have and Have Not".

basilisksamuk I always hated MASH - it is a film full of unpleasant people and a very nasty line in misogyny. It was interesting then to see this much earlier film featuring a MASH unit during the Korean war. The soldiers depicted here are much more believable, at least in terms of having a command structure and enough discipline to function in a theatre of war.Unfortunately, over fifty per cent of the movie concentrates on the romance between Humphrey Bogart and June Allyson. I'm sure it reflects the time it was made but Bogart's character would be on a charge for sexual harassment in the modern age and he comes over as rather creepy in this role though this clearly wasn't intended.There are a couple of set pieces that are first rate and stand comparison with much better-known war movies but the ongoing romance just undermines the drama of the piece.Definitely worth a look for the MASH elements though clearly somewhat sanitised for audiences of the day.

bigjime I have the VHS edition, but would like to see it in DVD!!! I'm trying to convert all my VHS to DVD. I was stationed at Osan AB and had several good friends that were in the medics. So I am very aware of all the hazards and deadly confrontations that occurred during this "police action". I was an Aircraft Maintenance Tech. and was involved in many flights to and from forward M A S H sites, and saw with my own eyes some of the heroic actions that these people went through. There can never be enough said about the horrors of war and what some of those medics went through, in my opinion they should all be given M O H's (Medal of Honor) As I stated at the beginning of this comment I would like to see this film brought out in DVD!!!