1980s Vietnam films and the like

But what do you REALLY think?

I liked the Michael J Fox one, no sugar coating in that at all.

Don't recall a lot of movies like the op claimed to have seen in video shops ,
Bar Rambo 2 and the several missing in action movies most were fairly decent considering the Vietnam war was a sore point for most in the 70's and early 80s and the on going cold war which was at its height during the 70s and 80s ,
They were mostly cheap popcorn movies nothing more than didn't take a whole lot to make ,

I do agree with the op. I remember one film that I think was called War Bus, the cover really appealed to my 8 year old self.

Edit, actually i read the op wrong. I was thinking mid-late 80s

How Sleep The Brave 1982

The speech by the Captain was epic.
Not a bad little movie


_______________________________________________

Go Tell The Spartans 1978

Burt Lancaster delivers one of his finest performance of his illustrious career as a hardboiled major in command

Definately worth a watch

Quite enjoyed Red Scorpion, Dolph Lungren versus the commies. Production supported by the Apartheid era South African defence forces.

Uncommon Valour with Gene Hackman and Patrick Swaze was pretty decent from what I remember. It was also about rescuing American MIAs.

Ralf and Florian wrote: »

How Sleep The Brave was a low budget British movie shot in England, wouldn't think it watching it.

Well worth a watch imo.

Just because it was low budget and shot in england is not the way to judge a movie.

It may not have all the bells and whistles of a major studeo behind it but the lack of this, lends to the raw reality of war in all it's graphic ugliness.

One of ny favourites

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

I think there were 2 types of Vietnam films: the Chuck Norris type and the intelligent type. The latter would be good films like Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter and Casualties of War. They are very far removed from the Norris, etc. junk. The first Rambo was a good film too.

The best Vietnam war film, over all, is 'Platoon'. While it does have its share of problems, mostly to do with its story elements, its grunts eye view presents the war pretty close to how things actually were.

'Full Metal Jacket' and 'Apocalypse Now' are probably the more entertaining films, over all. But they lack that straight edge, no nonsense, this is how it really was in the field, feel that Stone's film had. Oliver Stone, unlike Kubrick and Coppola, served in the war, so much of that look and feel comes directly from his personally experiences and it isn't lost on anyone who has a bit of knowledge on the subject.

'Casualties of War' is a straight up atrocity film that's very difficult to look at and is more worthy to watch because of Sean Penn's excelent performance (one of the greatest actors of his generation AFAIC). But, it's overwrought and suffers from an ending that is so bad it has to be seen to be believed. That's mostly to do with De Palma though, who's a director that I've never rated personally.

'The Deer Hunter' is a curious entry. It's depiction of the Vietnamese is a sticking point, its opening is far too long, it gets messy in the last third and it's jump cut to the actual war has always bothered me. It's far more entertaining when it's dealing with the characters back home. In saying that, it's still a must see film (at least once) for cinema fans. But, it's more a comment on post war than the actual war itself.

They all have their merits, but they are still all about America's "tragedy" - a tragedy it dragged itself into - and focused on what the war meant to the US, while reducing the Vietnamese to mere targets or cyphers. In that respect 'We were Soldiers' did a respectable job in humanising the Vietnamese, but suffers unbelievably from some terrible jingoism at the same time, that in the end it cancels out any real worth it may have had.

A final mention should go to 'Hamburger Hill', which is often overlooked when talking about Vietnam war films. Like 'Platoon' is does very well in its depiction of the grunts eye view of life in the field. But, it's a very dry film, absent of heroics and any kind of story other than the taking of Hill 937 in 1969. I've always loved it, precisely because it didn't put the men into any kind of Hollywood "story". It just focused on the operation and what had to be done to achieve it. 'Hamburger Hill' takes the viewer and drops them into the Vitenam war in a way that no other does. But, it might not be enough for a lot of people.

Aye. If I recall correctly, it was the first film to actually do that boot camp thing, which become a bit of a hollywood cliche now.

I remember all the actors saying they were covered in bites from everything that could crawl or fly.

I agree with the above regarding "Hamburger Hill" Brilliant Movie






and lets not forget this one" We Were Soldiers


Anothe one to look at was "The Boys In Company C"

'Born on the Fourth of July' is very good alright. But, again, it's more of a post war film and hasn't much to do with the actual war.

I could never get into 'Heaven and Earth' though. Unsure why.