Escape the Covid lockdown with a Vietnam War film binge, courtesy Kubrick, Cimino, Coppola, Stone and others
Robert Duvall in the Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now. Photo: Handout
Something that will go well with an easy treat, like pizza, chicken wings or maybe a giant plate of nachos and cheese ordered from your local takeout establishment.
Well, look no further than the Vietnam War. Yes, the war that still fascinates and captivates us, and one that has been revisited by several great film directors, each having their take on one of the most complicated wars in modern history.
So, without further ado, Asia Times’ top ten Vietnam War flicks … and don’t forget the Tabasco sauce for the pizza.
- The Deer Hunter
Yes, only half of the film actually takes place in fictional Vietnam, but Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter remains one of the most touching takes on the gritty violence and senselessness of the Southeast Asian conflict, and how it affected ordinary Americans back home. The ethnic wedding scene is probably the highlight of the entire film, and following it we are quickly whisked to the heart of ultimate darkness – a vicious game of survival at the hands of Viet Cong, as they force terrified captives in a deadly game of Russian roulette. Actor Robert De Niro later claimed he was nearly killed in the helicopter drop scene, recalling it as a “hairy” experience. Look for amazing performances from De Niro, Chris Walken, John Cazale and Meryl Streep, in a film that holds up well to this day.
2. Apocalypse Now
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1, 2, 4, 6 and8 are BS films not worth watching, the others are ok.
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“Apocalypse Now” was sensationalist, based on the movie, “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad. It was a glitzy Hollywood movie that failed to capture the real story of Vietnam and the political reasons we were there. Having been in the 1st Cav as a UH-1 pilot, I resented the “cowboy” portrayal of the helicopter assault units. I would rate it at the bottom of the list and put “We Were Soldiers” at the top because it was a true story, written correctly by those who were there and did not lose sight of telling it like it was.
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Lanny, I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. I too was in the 1st Cav (1967-68) and I rated We Were Soldiers and Platoon as nos. 1 & 2, respectively. Took me back to my time in-country, and caused me to have serious flash-backs.
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Easily half of these are Hollywood crap, made for and by those who never served.
You’re also missing the movie, “Ride the Thunder” for some odd reason because it’s one of the best.
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Very good
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I would like to add one more to this list.
“Go Tell the Spartans”
The film is little known but deserves way more attention. It was set in 1964 during the advisory phase of the war, and starred Burt Lancaster , Marc Singer, Craig Wasson, and Evan Kim.
Based on the book “Incident at Muc Wa”, its a more low keyed production than most Vietnam themed movies, and was filmed in the Sacramento River Delta of Northern California, (Which stood in for the Mekong). One of the movie’s great pluses is that the production went to great lengths in accuracy as far as uniforms, weapons, and equipment go, including using a period UH 34 chopper in some scenes.
The headaches that advisors faced, both military and political, as well as the growing futility of American involvement, is well presented. In fact, the entire American commitment in Vietnam from beginning to end, is encapsulated in this one story.
One of the ironies about this picture is that ” Go Tell the Spartans ” was released in the summer of 1978, over a year before “The Deer Hunter”, and “Apocalypse Now” eclipsed all other Vietnam related movies.
From this veteran’s point of view, this film brilliantly uses allegory and historic fact to tell a brilliant piece of storytelling.
I do highly recommend it.
Official Trailer
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=go+tell+the+spartans&&view=detail&mid=105440E7F8DCCF6D2483105440E7F8DCCF6D2483&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dgo%2Btell%2Bthe%2Bspartans%26FORM%3DHDRSC3
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John, click on the link at the end of the article for the poll I conducted. Go Tell the Spartans is listed – see how many votes it received. / John
On Sun, Aug 9, 2020 at 2:25 PM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
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Made the Top Ten- Good!
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The best movie about the ‘Nam…period! Most of your top 10 are nothing but short stories wrapped up tp make a movie…
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When I saw Platoon, the scene where Charlie Sheen arrives in Vietnam was almost identical to when I arrived. Bedlam for sure. Perhaps I was somewhat lucky, I wasn’t out in the boonies looking and fighting the VC, but I was involved with too many a Dustoff and numerous rescues. The recent movie “Last Full Measure” pays tribute to ‘PJ’ Pittenberger.
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You forgot about “Go Tell the Spartans”. The BEST movie about the ‘Nam.
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Quite concur!
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Martin, check the poll at the end of the article and you’ll see how Go Tell the Spartans fared. / John
On Sun, Aug 9, 2020 at 3:48 PM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
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Green Berets and Rambo should be deep sixed. We Were Soldiers and Hamburger Hill are reality-based and deserving on the list, as are Go Tell the Spartans, Fourth of July and Bright Shining Lie. Platoon is OK. Apocalypse is a Hollywood fantasy and Coming Home lost me when the Marine officer husband pointed his M-16 at Fonda/Voight but didn’t shoot – – Basic Training taught us to never point our weapon unless we meant to use it and that was army. Surely, the Marines were just as focused.
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re “Coming Home”
Speaking as a former Marine myself, I walked out halfway through the film.
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I agree.
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Who did the rating ,we were soldiers is as close as you can get to being real 2,3,4,6,7,8,9 the rest was trash . I had 3 tours in Vietnam,66-67 69-70
71-72
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Jesse, please go back to the article and click on the link for the poll to see how your favorite movies fared. / John
On Sun, Aug 9, 2020 at 4:56 PM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
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I did 2 tours in Nam, 66-67 and 70-71. Platoon came really close to being spot on for guys in an Infantry unit, for me. I was with 1/12th Cav, 1st Cav, 11B2P. We were Soldiers was okay, but only focused on one event, so, yes, you got to see the madness of a fight to near death, but doesn’t scope the whole year, as Platoon attempts to. A Bright Shining Lie was also a good movie that dealt with the political spectrum, but wasn’t able to cram enough background into a movie to make it viewable to most audiences. If you want to know more in-depth info, read the book. Factual to a fault, but reads like a novel. I liked Full !etal Jacket, but there were some surreal moments in it. Rambo, Apocalypse, etc., Hollywood fluff. The Ugly American was another good movie about the US in SEA. My two cents.
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Awesome with some good feedback!!
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I was a Marine 0311 in RVN in the last 3 months of 67 until sept. of 68. We were overrun 2 times . When I saw Platoon it felt and looked real to a degree. “We were Soldiers” also was realistic. Hamburger Hill gets a strong “Maybe”. Ermey was dead on as a PI DI,as for the Battle of Hue…. nonsense and Joker was an allegory no shitbird as he would have existed in combat. I was at a Ukrainian wedding 2 weeks before Parris Island….. it brought back strong memories in the Deer Hunter, the rest of the movie was good drama but not the Real Nam. All the rest were movies that did not portray the reality of that suck hole of death. If you did not see “shit” over there, now in the twilight of our years is not the time to evaluate the “reality” of Viet Nam War movies. They are just “Movies” our memories sadly hold the reality of our experiences. I was in the Battle of Dai Do, over 100 dead Marines ( out of the 740 of us who started) and more than 330 wounded. You can’t make a movie about what happened those 3 days in 1968, it was even worse than the I Drang.
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‘Siege of Firebase Gloria’ – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098328/ – not too captivating as a whole, but what it makes stand out is the final battle: the base being overrun, human-wave attacks (like Korea etc.). It’s up close, you are in the trenches and you could get killed from any direction, in many different ways….
(and, watching scenes like that I always wonder how many people got shot by their own people (“friendly fire”, but that was mostly artillery, I would think?), as in the thick of the fight, one might shoot at anything that moves – if you had any bullets left, that is…..).
Anyway, it really shows you how it was (my take, as a non-vet), and how random survival was – yet if you did, it could happen all over again the next night. Nightmarish, PTSD for sure!
(bonus: Lee Ermey).
All the listed movies: ‘the usual suspects’: if they are anti-war, they are automatically ‘epic’… right? The Deer Hunter plays on (cheap) sentiments: the same movie could have been made about any other war – in ’53 people got married and drunk as well and then shipped to Korea. ‘Joker’ in FMJ was simply annoying (and over-acting), but it portrayed one incident only (the female sniper – there was a sniper in Private Ryan as well… like in any other war?) – so, not ‘Nam specific (but yes, deadly anyway).
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As an advisor, I would like to suggest Go Tell the Spartans with Burt Lancaster. Or the Australian themed, The Odd Angry Shot. I may be off on that title, but its close.
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Saw “The Odd Angry Shot” years ago on HBO. Very good production, especially showing how difficult it was to operate in a tropical triple canopy environment. Had a young Brian Brown in it if I recall. And a very humorous scene with the Padre and the “Wanking Device” !
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True name for operation is APACHESNOW !! When the battle was over and looking at the carnage that covered the area! Marines named it hamburger hill !
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As far as I am concerned there is no such thing as a “must see” movie; hell, I saw the real thing. I have seen only two of those movies and one, John Wayne’s Green Berets was done early on and reall y should not count for obvious reasons. I do not need to go to a movie to see a fake war on the screen – there is not way you can realistically do the Viet Nam war with movie actors. I do not need to go to a movie to get flashbacks; I do not go to movies to be brutalized – If I were to go to a movie it would be to see either comedy or sex or both. I do not need Viet Nam on the screen; I have enough drama in my life, past and present, to undergo sitting through one of these recreations. Screw the movies and Hollywood.
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Personally, I’d switch out numbers 7 & 8 for The Siege of Firebase Gloria and Casualties of War. But to each his own.
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War is not a Move. Its a Hell Men Die in 0326
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It’s a slap in the face to include any film by hanoi jane in the top ten. What a discrace.
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My 1-2-3 would be Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Forest Gump. Was with the 101st outside of Hue on Camp Eagle most all of ’71 coming home early ’72 as the division moved back to the Land of the Big PX. You should be ashamed of yourself if you voted for Coming Home with Hanoi Jane, the war criminal, or the Green Berets. John Wayne should never have made that movie. Bore no resemblance to the war; cartoonish for sure.
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Great article thank you
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