Vietnam movies

mikhail

One of the longest-serving critics on the internet is Mark R. Leeper. I came across an observation from his review of Full Metal Jacket recently:

FULL METAL JACKET is not the Vietnam War the grunts saw. That was PLATOON. It isn't the war the Cambodians saw. That was THE KILLING FIELDS. The Vietnam War the middle-aged right wing saw was THE GREEN BERETS. If I ever figure out from whose viewpoint the was was seen in THE DEER HUNTER or APOCALYPSE NOW, I'll let you know. FULL METAL JACKET is the Vietnam War that the college kids who didn't go (and a few who did) saw.

I thought that might be an interesting starting off point for a discussion about Vietnam films.

I was suddenly stuck by just how many high-quality Vietnam movies there were. The six films Leeper mentions won 14 Oscars, most notably The Deer Hunter and Platoon's pair of Best Picture and Best Director wins. Unsurprisingly, the leper of the bunch is Green Berets, which I've never seen, but appears to be a John Wayne vehicle and an early-war propaganda flick, but did you know that Full Metal Jacket was snubbed too? It was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, and didn't even win that.

I've seen four of the above (haven't caught Green Berets and The Killing Fields), and it's a credit to their complexity in theme and narrative that I think I'd need to watch them all again before really passing judgement. (But don't let that stop you!)

I wondered if there was a thread discussing Vietnam movies, and found this one where someone asked for recommendations. The balance of the recommendations is as follows:
Air America
Born on the 4th of July
The Boys in Company C.
Casualties of War
Coming Home
First Blood (& the other Rambo movies)
Good Morning Vietnam
Hamburger Hill
Heaven and Earth
Rescue Dawn
Tigerland
We Were Soldiers

And the TV show Tour of Duty, though it seems the original soundtrack was not licensed for the DVD release.

I also found someone praising Go Tell the Spartans.

Do you have a favourite Nam movie? Think the Deer Hunter was an extended wedding video with a couple of tacked on scenes to get in the blokes? Or just want to rave about how Agent Orange is the only product you use on your athlete's foot? Here's the place.

indough

what about 'aliens'

do movies like 'rolling thunder' count? i suppose its a nam movie in the same way that first blood is

i liked 'dead presidents' as well

MagicMarker

The first half of FMJ is great, I turn the channel when they actually get to 'nam.

I'd probably say Platoon is my favourite 'nam movie, also Casualties of War would be up there.

indough

MagicMarker wrote: »

The first half of FMJ is great, I turn the channel when they actually get to 'nam.

i sort of agree, just not to the same degree maybe. the first half is really good, the second half not so much, but id still watch it

afrodub

MagicMarker wrote: »

The first half of FMJ is great, I turn the channel when they actually get to 'nam.

I'd probably say Platoon is my favourite 'nam movie, also Casualties of War would be up there.

Platoon is up their alright,one of the best and Charlie Sheen in a great role,doing what he does best, acting !!

Sasquatch76

84 Charlie Mopic wasn't bad from what I remember of it. Very low budget though, and filmed in very non-Vietnamese looking California, but a different take on the usual fare.

ChunkyLover_53

Surely you all forget Apocalypse Now?

It sets the bar for Vietnam movies. Altough I'm sure the reality for most was extremely different AN attempts to mix the dark side of 60s culture with the Vietnam War. I pressume its what many an Anti War Protestor imagined was happening at the time in Vietnam.

Also I remember I enjoyed BAT21 with Gene Hackman & Flight of The Intruder with Willem Defoe, but it has been years since I have watched either.

Mr. Denton

Don't forget Return of the Jedi. One of the best films made about the Vietnam war.

two wheels good

I saw a very good documentary on Mai Lai a year or so ago; Maybe that's the most accurate representation of the viewpoint of the Vietnamese. And it made the point that there were Mai Lai's

rednik

Apocalypse Now is the best Vietnam movie but it is probably the best movie ever made. Platoon is Oliver Stone's own story on film and is a brilliant war movie with Tom Berrenger never better. Full metal jacket is also a great movie based on a short novel, the short timers and hard to believe it was filmed on the london docklands. An unforgettable scene with a vietnamese sniper.

What surprises me is the there has never been a film based on the tunnels of cu chi or even a decent movie on the tunnel rats but maybe someday.

Marty McFly

I think Apocalypse Now is way over rated as a war film really, now I love Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and Casualties of War while taking a different approach than the typical war film is still just as powerful.

Also We Were Soldiers is a great film that seems to be very under rated.

mikhail

indough wrote: »

what about 'aliens'

It's certainly an anti-war movie, but is it really specifically a Vietnam allegory?

luvbulmers01 wrote: »

I think Apocalypse Now is way over rated as a war film really...

Interesting perspective. Is it because its focus is so often on just one guy? I always thought of those parts of the film as a metaphor for the psychological journey the soldiers there underwent.

paky

born on the fourth of july is a very inspiring movie. great soundtrack too. up there with platoon

newmug

From a military point of view, the first half of FMJ is bang on!

ziedth

I liked we were soldiers but I still think full metal jacket is my fav Nam film.

Mickeroo

What about Jacobs Ladder? It has supernatural overtones but when you realise what's really going on it kind of actually does have some truth to it.

I've never actually wtched The Deer Hunter of Platoon, so must get round to that! My favourite 'nam movie is probably Full Metal Jacket out of what I've seen I suppose. I guess I'd consider Forest Gump to me a 'nam movie to a certain extent too, but nowhere near the level of the films mentioned on this thread so far.

Mindkiller

Mickeroo wrote: »

I've never actually wtched The Deer Hunter of Platoon, so must get round to that!

The Deer Hunter is probably one of my favourite movies. It's about much more than 'war'. At the risk of making it sound incredibly hackneyed, it's about the emotional burden that each of the three main characters have to bear. In fact, the Vietnam portion of the film is only something like 30 minutes if I recall.

I watched Platoon for the first time recently. I don't think it's aged very well. I found it crap if I'm honest.

paulosham

The Killing Fields is set in Cambodia not Vietnam.

Mickeroo

Mindkiller wrote: »

The Deer Hunter is probably one of my favourite movies. It's about much more than 'war'. At the risk of making it sound incredibly hackneyed, it's about the emotional burden that each of the three main characters have to bear. In fact, the Vietnam portion of the film is only something like 30 minutes if I recall.

I watched Platoon for the first time recently. I don't think it's aged very well. I found it crap if I'm honest.

I did sit down to watch The Deer Hunter a good while ago but I never made it through the wedding. I wasn't in the right frame of mind for it at the time though. Definitely on my to do list.

arsenallegend

A good Korean film called R-point was set in vietnam.

There was another film shown on RTE a few years back about Australian soilders in Vietnam with Bryan Brown (of F/X and Cocktail fame) and the guy who played Alf Roberts in Home and Away called The Odd Angry Shot. Well worth checking out.

mikhail

paulosham wrote: »

The Killing Fields is set in Cambodia not Vietnam.

Yes, but I understand that the civil war it is set during was caused by the overspill of the Vietcong into Cambodia.

indough

mikhail wrote: »

It's certainly an anti-war movie, but is it really specifically a Vietnam allegory?

it is supposed to be anyway

pixelburp

indough wrote: »

it is supposed to be anyway

Vietnam movies - ha; now there's a sub-genre I've simply never got into. The themes, imagery, hell even the music - they've all left me cold, especially as they often seem so damn interchangeable. War is hell, to the tune of Pink Floyd? Thanks but no thanks; it feels like if I've seen one Vietnam movie featuring shellshocked GI troops losing their humanity, I've seen them all. I just can't connect with the movies on any level. Maybe it's a personal prejudice, I don't know, but classics like FMJ or Apocalypse Now simply leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Mike Litoris

pixelburp wrote: »

Maybe it's a personal prejudice, I don't know, but classics like FMJ or Apocalypse Now simply leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I understand what you're saying as I'm that way with any type of Western movie, except Blazing Saddles, but I've always thought FMJ could have been about a bunch of feckin bus drivers and Kubric still would have made it magic.

Nolanger

RopeDrink wrote: »

Ultimately I have to say Platoon is still top dollar and despite it's age, it still packs a whallop.

But not as much wallop as this!

Mike Litoris

Nolanger wrote: »

But not as much wallop as this!

AWE-SOME:D

WatchWolf

I enjoyed Apocalypse Now, but the biblical metaphors got annoying after awhile.