One Minute To Zero - Reception

Reception

Although considered standard fare for war films, even tinged with propaganda, One Minute to Zero received notice because of one controversial scene showing the mortar attack on refugees being forced through U.N. lines by North Korean infiltrators. Bosley Crowther of the The New York Times dismissed most of the action-based story in a review that noted, "Like a great many war pictures, this one is patly contrived with elements not only of romance but also of melodrama, comedy and tears. There is the usual amount of jaw-jutting by angry and earnest G. I.'s who find themselves caught in situations from which salvation seems beyond hope. ... Plainly, "One Minute to Zero" is a ripely synthetic affair, arranged to arouse emotions with the most easy and obvious clichés. And, although some of the battle talk sounds faithful and the inter-cut news shots are sincere, neither the story nor the performances of the actors, including Miss Blyth and Mr. Mitchum, rings true. Here is another war picture that smells of grease paint and studios."

The intercutting of stock footage of USAF Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, Royal Australian Air Force North American P-51 Mustang fighter-bombers, along with other aerial sequences has made One Minute to Zero an aviation film buff's favorite.