stooey4 Certainly the best film that I've ever seen. Have watched it a few times and never get tired of it. Superb performances from all with Sean Connery the busted NCO, Harry Andrews - a throw back to greater army times, Ian Bannen - the good guy, Ian Hendry as the sadistic RSM and Roy Kinnear as the wimp are simply brilliant. Stark effect amplified by cracking black and white cinematography. They don't make films like this anymore, sadly.

slightlymad22 The Hill (1965)Plot In A Paragraph: In a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards.The Hill, was a man made pyramid, 35 feet high, rising at a 60° angle, it was used as an instrument of torture. Prisoners were made to double up and down the hill, in the blazing sun, carry on to Phil and the park until they collapsed.Personally, I think this is the strongest Connery performance to date. Without a hair piece and sporting a moustache Connery is superb as a tough, rugged warrant officer, who had been court martialled for alleged cowardice under fire and hitting an officer. This isn't just Connery's movie though. It's a true ensemble piece. Filmed in black and white it is a very powerful movie about the abuse of authority and military justice. A few people have complained to me, that not a lot happens in The Hill, but I think they are missing the point of the movie, it's a character study. And a brilliant one at that.Of the rest of the cast Ossie Davis (Co Star in so many Burt Reynolds movies) and his one man mutiny in his underpants stands out, as does Harry Andrews and Ian Hendry. But it's an injustice to the other members of the cast to single some of For praise when they are all superb. The Hill won joint first prize at The Cannes Film Festival for best screenplay. Amazingly, despite strong reviews and Connery's star power The Hill sank without a trace at the Box Office.

sandnair87 Sidney Lumet's The Hill is a stark, uncompromising look at the inside of a British military prison in North Africa during WW II. The all-male film, based on Ray Rigby's autobiographical play, is about the brutal mistreatment of prisoners by the screws at a stockade for court-martialed British soldiers.The titular 'hill' is a monstrous man-made pile of sand seared by the blazing sun, to be used as a means of punishment in the blistering heat. A sadistic martinet Major Bert Wilson (Harry Andrews) runs the show here with an aim to break the soldier-prisoners down and then build them up to return as soldiers. His fascist method of discipline is to have the inmates clambering with full kit in the heat up and down the dreaded hill even if they are exhausted, as part of a punishment designed more to break a man's spirit rather than provide corrective treatment. The screenplay puts the spotlight on a new bunch of five new prisoners, one of whom is the hard-mouthed tank-man Roberts (Sean Connery). Together, they form an eclectic mix but all have one thing in common: they are terrorized by Sergeant Williams (Ian Hendry), a particularly sadistic new guard chosen by Major Wilson, who relishes the task of marching the men up and down the hill and watching them suffer. When Williams goes too far and causes the death of on the five men due to heat stroke, it sparks off a mutiny and Roberts decides to lodge a charge of murder against Williams. The stage is thus set for a dramatic and riveting confrontation, thrusting the drama to its bruising, ironic end.In this long and unrelenting documentation of life in a military stockade, Sidney Lumet comes up with the sobering revelation that inhumanity is not unique with the enemy, in his own inimitable style. The cinematography is superlative as Oswald Morris shoots the film in monochromatic hues, making you feel parched from minute one. The acting is also top-notch. Harry Andrews is devastating as the sergeant major that runs the camp - a taut, controlled administrator who is a professional military man and Ian Hendry is brilliantly sinister as the evil sergeant who precipitates the crisis. Connery tears up the screen as the rebellious inmate, giving an intelligently restrained performance, carefully avoiding forced histrionics. Ossie Davis gets some of the best scenes and plays them superbly.'The Hill' is a harsh, sadistic and brutal entertainment, made without any concessions to officialdom - among the best of the sub-genre has to offer.

graham-turner One of the best movies ever made. Compelling story of inmates in a army prison during World War 2. New arrivals have to deal with the heat, a rigid regime and a new Staff guard eager to make a name for himself. A masterclass in character driven drama that makes all action driven, over the top, stunt laden, explosion filled, car-chasing, fight filled flicks pale into insignificance. Sean Connery's best with Ian Bannen, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry et al all on top notch form. Special mention to Ossie Davis with a sparkling performance. Some people may be put off by the Britishness of it all, but the conflict and the tension is multi-lingual in its hostility of human discord.