User reviews

If you're a fan of Mr. Agar, you might derive some small enjoyment out of his leading man role in this film and his character's (an all American pilot named Captain Tom Arnett) unlikely on-screen romance with Audrey Totter's Russian double agent character named Tanya Nikova. Also there a few amusing scenes featuring Nickly Balir as Radioman Chick 'Meathead' Lane.

Aside from that, this is a very disappointing Korean war film with an unlikely premise - one in which far too many people are killed to try and save one man.

This movie could have been done a lot better if someone had actually paid attention to the rather obvious details.

The heroes are dropped into North Korea, from there we see the Russians using US jeeps, and "woodies" as vehicles. The "Migs" are obviously F-86's. A rescue helicopter is allowed to land without air cover(?) something that never would have been done for real.

Cheaply made, supposedly Korean war, WWII stock films used. Example a F-86 shoots down a Mitsubishi A5 during the rescue.

Here's yet another AIP quickie from the fast working hands of Edward L. Cahn. Someday I hope someone makes a film about him, or at least writes a book, because his prodigious output in 1958 and 1959 has never been outdone. Perhaps I'm not giving William Beaudine the credit he deserves...at any rate, this grade Z Korean war 'thriller' stars Audrey Totter as a Russian nurse in love with handsome John Agar. Ms. Totter was fine in her element---film noir---but as a Soviet double agent she just doesn't make the grade. Add in the California locations (complete with a Woody with a Soviet star painted on its side), the world's least convincing set of South Korean partisans (including what appear to be Polynesian dancing girls), and a preposterous finale involving stolen MiGs, and you have a turkey of Ed Woodian proportions.

Jet Attack (1958)

** (out of 4)

Ultra-cheap and ultra-stupid but mildly entertaining action pic from AIP has John Agar playing a hot shot pilot who crosses enemy lines to try and determine if an important scientist was killed a week earlier when his plane was shot down. Along with the help of two of his men, Korean rebels and a Russian spy (Audrey Totter) he must try and locate the scientist without getting caught. The Medved brothers included this film in their "Fifty Worst Films of All Time) book but of course we know that they hadn't seen everything they put in the book. This film is no where near the worst ever made but it might be among the dumbest out there. There isn't a single scene in this film that contains a bit of logic as one dumb thing after another happens. We're on this important mission yet Agar and Totter have time to build their relationship up. We're on this important mission yet the enemy never seems to realize that Totter is gone. One silly sequence after another happens but this badness makes the film rather lovable if you don't mind bad "B" movies. Director Cahn is best known for films like THE GIANT CLAW but this one here doesn't reach that level of entertainment. What this one does offer is a decent "B" cast doing silly things that will make you smile. Thankfully this just runs 69-minutes so there's no too much plot or dialogue that gets in the way of it being over. Agar gives the type of performance we'd expect from him and Totter is pretty bland of the love interest. George Walcott of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE fame plays one of the soldiers here. Again, there are countless war/action pictures out there that are great and obviously this isn't one of them. Those wanting greatness should certainly look else where but those just wanting some cheap entertainment will get a few kicks out of this thing.

Real life war hero John Agar stars in this ridiculous D picture from American-International about a rescue mission during the Korean War. For reasons I cannot fathom after watching this film, radioman Joseph Hamilton who is captured in North Korea is one very valuable asset. In fact the USA and the ROK forces lead an all out effort to rescue him, topped off with a Jet Attack.

John Agar leads the rescue team that is composed of Americans and Koreans both ROK regular forces and guerrillas. Helping out is a Russian double agent played by Audrey Totter. Both Agar and Totter and the whole cast in fact have that look of anxiety throughout like their paychecks for this double gobbler might not clear.

Rescuing this radioman in Jet Attack turns out to be very costly. And in the end you won't really care why it was so important.

Not the worst Korean war film I have seen, but Jet Attack / Through Hell to Glory is a strong contender. A forgettable old war film that is only memorable for the amount of stock footage used within it (mostly of American aircraft flying) and some laughably bad Russian accents. The film has numerous equipment and hardware inaccuracies to annoy the military enthusiasts among us, and so is not enjoyable from that perspective. If you like to see bad acting, a ridiculous plot, and some slightly interesting stock footage of flying aircraft (and crucially have time to waste) this might be the film for you. If not, watch something better. Some really good Korean War films have come out of South Korea - such as Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War. Watch that instead if you want to see a great film about the war.

This film is regarded as one of the 50 worst films of all time. Its a quickly shot, cheaply made film with lots of stock footage and a dicey story which makes little sense. However you cannot doubt its sincerity or its workmanlike pretension.

A scientist who has developed a special type of radar is testing it on a plane and the plane has been shot down. Despite the crash looks fatal it seems the scientist has survived and there is a rescue mission behind enemy lines in Korea.

The reason is that the scientist did not leave detailed plans of his invention behind and therefore they need to retrieve him. Why would a scientist be allowed out on such tests near Korea when its all in his head, I have no idea.

John Agar leads a crack team to rescue the pilot after they have had a wild night partying in Seoul or from the scenes of the stock footage, Tokyo.

They must get help from a Russian double agent and Korean rebels and to escape they might have to fly some Russian MIGs.

The film is not as bad as Plan 9 from Outer Space but despite its low budget, so-so acting, dismal action sequences and nonsensical plotting it will at least keep you entertained and has a weird charm of its own.

Although billed second and playing a blonde action girl in the thick of things who (SPOILER COMING:) dies nobly, former forties bad girl Audrey Totter by now looked far too grown-up for such shenanigans as a Russian medical aide in beret and boots batting for Uncle Sam in this Korean War potboiler teaming her with the leads of 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' and 'Plan Nine from Outer Space'.

During the Korean War, a US plane testing a new radar system is shot down by the North along with scientist inventor Dean Olmstead. With reports of Dean being taken prisoner, a rescue team led by pilot Capt. Tom Arnett is sent in. He had earlier been shot down and rescued by Soviet nurse Tanya Nikova working with Korean rebels.

The best scenes are the mismatched stock footage of fighter planes including one shocking crash. The story is non-sense. The rebels and the Russian nurse come from the imagination of clueless Hollywood producers and wishful American militarists. The story is little more than a joke. It's unrealistic in every way. There is some nice equipment on display in real life and in stock footage. If it could cut out every else, this wouldn't be half bad.

The one-star is for the 15-minute version of this film. Yes, for some unknown reason, Jet Attack was edited down from 69 minutes to 15. I just watched the short version on AMC. Continuity, which apparently was a problem in the full version, is practically non-existent in the short version, and most of the actors, including Gregory Walcott, one of my favorite actors and a fellow Tar Heel, doesn't appear at all. I can't imagine why AIP, or whoever, felt the need to chop this turkey down into a "short feature", but if there's a list of the "50 worst short movies of all time", this one should be on it. If anyone knows the reason why the owners of this film went to the trouble and expense to create a mystifyingly-chopped short version, please post it in the Trivia or Reviews section.

This film has a bad rep, mostly because it was included in a well-known book documenting the supposed '50 Worst Films Ever'. But this movie ain't half bad.

John Agar still cannot act, Greg Walcott always could, and Audrey Totter.... well, chicks can do no wrong, so her presence is fine. There is an actually intriguing plot concerning espionage. Agar certainly doesn't help to bring any credibility to the story, but Audrey does, and if you go into this with an open mind, the results will entertain you.

Recommended for two reasons: to see what all the critical hub-bub is about, and to see a tame, but solid war film.

I had wanted to see this movie for years, after reading about it in the notorious book "The Fifty Worst Films Of All Time" - it sounded like it was hilariously inept. It recently played on AMC, so I finally got to see it. Is it as hilariously inept as I imagined it to be? It certainly has its share of unintended laughs. There's a LOT of obvious stock footage, the funniest being when we see the neon nightlife of Tokyo - when the scene is taking place in Seoul, Korea! There's also a plane that crashes into flames at high speed, and there's a survivor. The wilderness doesn't look anything like Korea. There's comic relief that fails so badly it becomes funny, and there are other script-written ineptness like jet pilots recruited for a commando performance and scientific talk that makes no sense.

Clearly, the movie has its share of unintended laughs. But is it one of the worst movies of all time? Of course not. It's not inept enough. Much of the movie is mediocre tedium, not inspired enough for laughs or to be considered a movie that's so bad it's BAD. While I guess I'm glad I finally saw it (I'm trying to watch all 50 movies from that book), I don't think other viewers will find enough to entertain them, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Poor acting from the supporting cast throughout the entire picture and footage of Tokyo at night meant to be Seoul (two quick cuts at the beginning) make it quickly apparent how this one was made on the cheap. Taped this off of AMC and thought about keeping it just for Cold War culture kitsch value, but it's so bad that I think I'm not going to even keep it for that.