Your favourite Vietnam War film?

[Carson Dyle]

The first, and perhaps best, "Vietnam War" film is Robert Altman's M*A*S*H.

Yeah, I know the story is set during the Korean conflict, but the movie was, is, and forever will be about Vietnam, addressing the subject more intelligently, artfully and subversively than most of the films mentioned here.

 

[ReaverReject]

I'm not sure if that's meant to be an insult? I've seen it, many times. I like it, but I don't love it, is all.

NOT AT ALL - sorry if it came off that way!!! I should have phrased it differently. I was just very surprised that a Best Picture film about the Vietnam War (ok, 10% war, 90% before & after character development) was left off the list. It seemed the thread had become a 3-way race between Platoon, Apocalypse Now, and Full Metal Jacket when there were many other worthy players yet to be considered.

Point of fact, 1978 was the first year a film about Vietnam was even nominated, let alone gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar. Coming Home was also a nominee that year, and a very deserving one, as has been pointed out. How ironic that it co-starred Hanoi Jane... :thumbsdown

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture

Here's a list of all the Academy Award nominated Vietnam War (and aftermath) themed movies to follow:

1979 - Apocalypse Now
1984 - The Killing Fields
1986 - Platoon (won)
1989 - Born on the Fourth of July
1994 - Forest Gump

I definitely would include Forest Gump in the list because the war protest movement plays a pivotal role in the plot and in the character development of Forest, Jenny, and Lieutenant Dan. In fact, much of the movie is about the loss of America's innocence, and a snapshot of how America dealt at the time with mental & physical disabilities, sexual abuse & sexually transmitted diseases, consumerism, political expression, civil disobedience, and drug abuse - pretty much encapsulating my earlier analysis of the various cultural & societal changes that accompanied the shift in attitude toward wars of intervention.

RR

 

[agent5]

I definitely would include Forest Gump in the list because the war protest movement plays a pivotal role in the plot and in the character development of Forest, Jenny, and Lieutenant Dan. In fact, much of the movie is about the loss of America's innocence, and a snapshot of how America dealt at the time with mental & physical disabilities, sexual abuse & sexually transmitted diseases, consumerism, political expression, civil disobedience, and drug abuse - pretty much encapsulating my earlier analysis of the various cultural & societal changes that accompanied the shift in attitude toward wars of intervention.

I just think its cool. :thumbsup

 

[CTF]

I think that The Shawshank Redemption was robbed.

But so was Pulp Fiction.

 

[Pauleysolo]

Platoon

 

[ReaverReject]

I think that The Shawshank Redemption was robbed.

But so was Pulp Fiction.

No kidding... Just as The English Patient robbed Fargo & Shakespeare in Love robbed, raped, & mutilated Saving Private Ryan...:angry

RR

 

[El Duderino]

Full Metal Jacket with Platoon in second. The only thing I didn't like about Platoon was Charlie Sheen, I can't stand that guy.

 

[gavidoc]

I remember about 10 years ago going through a Banes and Nobles in the history section looking for a new book to read and came across "We Were Soldiers Once and Young" and went ahead and bought it. Fantastic book that reminded me of E.B. Sledge's With the Old Breed (highly recommend this book and it is one of the books Spielberg is basing his new "Pacific" on).

So, when I saw the actual movie in the theater I was honestly pretty impressed with the fact that they were able to match the actors to the characters well and showed what these guys "really" did. It was just a shame that the movie only focuses on the FIRST part of the book and completely leaves the other half of the battle out.

So for me, WE WERE SOLDIERS has got to be the best Vietnam movie. Yes, Platoon, FMJ, Apoc Now are great and I really like them (as well as Green Berets) but all of them are fiction that is an interpretation of what actually happened. Yes, some of them get certain aspects of the military culture at the time but again, they are works of fiction.

What makes We Were Soldiers stand out IMO is the fact that these were real men. Real volunteers who knew they had a job, were honorable in attempting to accomplish their job and the acts of bravery that were exhibited by the men in the fighting were not idealizations of acts of bravery that a screen writer made up, but real acts of heroism and sacrifice. On top of that, while showing the need to accomplish the mission, the movie does a fantastic job of getting you to "connect" with the characters who have to accomplish the task. I felt sad for Lt. Geoghegan when he dies while trying to rescue his soldier (even though it was Hollywoodized for the movie) and the sacrifice his platoon made to hold the perimeter (all but 3 of his men died in the attack).

While Charlie Sheen and Berenger's characters in Platoon are based on certain types of soldiers, the hard nose Cmd Sgt. Mjr Plumbly that Sam Elliot portrays was a REAL person who really was like that. You watch this movie and the men in it and you see the basis for so many fictional "war" movie characters in them.

on a side note, another really great war movie that I highly recommend deals with a very little documented war, ie: The Korean War. IT isn't told from a US perspective but from a Korean perspective and is subtitled. It is viewed as the "Saving Private Ryan" of the Korean War. I am partial to it as I had famliy that lived in Seol that lost their lives during the war but still, it is a fantastic piece of work. It's called Tae Guk Gi.

 

[ReaverReject]

on a side note, another really great war movie that I highly recommend deals with a very little documented war, ie: The Korean War. IT isn't told from a US perspective but from a Korean perspective and is subtitled. It is viewed as the "Saving Private Ryan" of the Korean War. I am partial to it as I had famliy that lived in Seol that lost their lives during the war but still, it is a fantastic piece of work. It's called Tae Guk Gi.

Just added it to my Netflix Queue, thanks!

RR

 

[CTF]

While Charlie Sheen and Berenger's characters in Platoon are based on certain types of soldiers

While Barnes was a composite, the other two leads -- Chris and Elias -- were based on actual people... Chris was Oliver Stone, no less.

I get what you're saying, but I still thought I'd point it out.

 

[nightrider]

I remember about 10 years ago going through a Banes and Nobles in the history section looking for a new book to read and came across "We Were Soldiers Once and Young" and went ahead and bought it. Fantastic book that reminded me of E.B. Sledge's With the Old Breed (highly recommend this book and it is one of the books Spielberg is basing his new "Pacific" on).

So, when I saw the actual movie in the theater I was honestly pretty impressed with the fact that they were able to match the actors to the characters well and showed what these guys "really" did. It was just a shame that the movie only focuses on the FIRST part of the book and completely leaves the other half of the battle out.

So for me, WE WERE SOLDIERS has got to be the best Vietnam movie. Yes, Platoon, FMJ, Apoc Now are great and I really like them (as well as Green Berets) but all of them are fiction that is an interpretation of what actually happened. Yes, some of them get certain aspects of the military culture at the time but again, they are works of fiction.

What makes We Were Soldiers stand out IMO is the fact that these were real men. Real volunteers who knew they had a job, were honorable in attempting to accomplish their job and the acts of bravery that were exhibited by the men in the fighting were not idealizations of acts of bravery that a screen writer made up, but real acts of heroism and sacrifice. On top of that, while showing the need to accomplish the mission, the movie does a fantastic job of getting you to "connect" with the characters who have to accomplish the task. I felt sad for Lt. Geoghegan when he dies while trying to rescue his soldier (even though it was Hollywoodized for the movie) and the sacrifice his platoon made to hold the perimeter (all but 3 of his men died in the attack).

While Charlie Sheen and Berenger's characters in Platoon are based on certain types of soldiers, the hard nose Cmd Sgt. Mjr Plumbly that Sam Elliot portrays was a REAL person who really was like that. You watch this movie and the men in it and you see the basis for so many fictional "war" movie characters in them.

on a side note, another really great war movie that I highly recommend deals with a very little documented war, ie: The Korean War. IT isn't told from a US perspective but from a Korean perspective and is subtitled. It is viewed as the "Saving Private Ryan" of the Korean War. I am partial to it as I had famliy that lived in Seol that lost their lives during the war but still, it is a fantastic piece of work. It's called Tae Guk Gi.

Totally agree. I like many of the films mentioned, but We Were Soldiers is definitely my favorite Vietnam war film by a large margin for the very reasons you listed.:thumbsup

 

[Ttaskmaster]

Sounds as if he wants a documentary.
First, give me characters, story, then the rest will fall into place.

Nothing wrong with a documentary style movie.
I felt the Thin Red Line was similar. You don't really get to know the characters that much, because there are so many people with their own individual stories, all equally valid and important.

What you can get is an overall picture that speaks for the majority.
Also, with things like this, sometimes "a good story" is not as important as the truth of what happened. I'm sure with an army of Animal Mothers and John Waynes, the various wars would have been over in weeks. But however interesting and dynamic a character is, they are the rare exceptions and the stories that need telling are those of the everyman.

 

[Solo4114]

The first, and perhaps best, "Vietnam War" film is Robert Altman's M*A*S*H.

Yeah, I know the story is set during the Korean conflict, but the movie was, is, and forever will be about Vietnam, addressing the subject more intelligently, artfully and subversively than most of the films mentioned here.

Truth. And I can't BELIEVE I forgot to add that one to the list. Such an awesome film.

 

[cayman shen]

No kidding... Just as The English Patient robbed Fargo & Shakespeare in Love robbed, raped, & mutilated Saving Private Ryan...:angry

RR

I think Ryan is a hokey piece of flag waving nostalgia cheese. The falling to the knees at the end actually made me roll my eyes.

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

I think Ryan is a hokey piece of flag waving nostalgia cheese. The falling to the knees at the end actually made me roll my eyes.

It's amazing how Spiel can take one of the greatest achievements in all war cinema history, that is: most of Ryan, and then turn it into the hokey cheese you mention...

 

[Carson Dyle]

How much we begrudge "Ryan" its flaws depends in part on how greedy we are for perfection.

When Spielberg is on his game his mastery of narrative is damn near unsurpassed. Both the sappy sentiment noticeable in the cheesy framing story, as well as the annoying over-reliance on trite "war movie" conventions, are part of the deal, part of what Spielberg needs for security in order to push mainstream filmmaking into uncharted directions.

At the end of the day it's a trade I can live with.

 

[Solo4114]

Yeah, I have to agree. Much as Spielberg can skew towards the hokey, he also does some really impressive stuff and still manages to make the hokey work....in the right setting. In Saving Pvt. Ryan, I thought he did a fantastic job. In Minority Report and War of the Worlds? Not so much. Not even close. But I don't think those were the right kind of films for him, really.

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

How much we begrudge "Ryan" its flaws depends in part on how greedy we are for perfection.

When Spielberg is on his game his mastery of narrative is damn near unsurpassed. Both the sappy sentiment noticeable in the cheesy framing story, as well as the annoying over-reliance on trite "war movie" conventions, are part of the deal, part of what Spielberg needs for security in order to push mainstream filmmaking into uncharted directions.

At the end of the day it's a trade I can live with.

That's a good way of looking at it.

And the power of the uncharted stuff he achieved in Ryan is such that I actually can't bring myself to watch it any more. And I mean that as a serious compliment.

 

[cayman shen]

I guess I'm a little less forgiving...I see a once great, lean and mean and clever, but populist, filmmaker growing into an old man with a soft spot for sentimental pap. Don't even start me on War of the Worlds and the whole unlikely reunion at the end. Jeez Louise was that corny, stoneless, crowd pleasing goofiness. Where's the guy who gave us Empire of the Sun?

Sorry though, I digress: Vietnam films...

 

[Birdie]

The script of SPR has no bookends of Ryan as the old guy, and has Miller survive at the end.

The beard's weakness for the schmaltz is undoubtedly his achilles heel.

And I nominate the Nam sequence in Meet the Feebles.