Category Archives: Vietnam

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Michael Cimino speaks about The Deer Hunter (1979)

The Deer Hunter will always be one of the most fascinating Vietnam war movies. It´s not an easy movie and it is one of those you have to watch again to truly understand it. I wanted to write a review of it many times but was never satisfied with what I came up with. While waiting for the ultimate inspiration  I found this video post of an interview with the director of the film, Michael Cimino.  I found it quite interesting, especially since the interview is interwoven with bits of the film. Really well done.

Hope you will like it too.

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10 Vietnam War Movies You Must See Before You Die

The following 10 Vietnam War Movies are the ones you absolutely must see. There are more. Many I have seen, some I have not. You may be astonished that one of the most famous ones, Apocalypse Now, is not among them… I wanted to stick to 10 and these are my 10 choices. I always found Apocalypse Now slightly dubious. Whatever.  The list is in chronological order. I did not want to weigh them against each other as they show quite different aspects of the same war.

The Deer Hunter (1978):  Young second generation Russian-Americans volunteer to prove themselves and serve their country. In Vietnam they are  captured and suffer as POWs and are forced to play Russian roulette. They come home disillusioned and physically and psychologically broken.

Platoon (1986): Infantry combat. A young man volunteers to go to Vietnam and soon sees his dreams shattered. He gets caught between two antagonistic officers, the ultimately good Sgt. Elias and the mean Sgt. Barnes.

Hamburger Hill (1987): No-nonsense infantry combat at its toughest. A group of soldiers of mixed social backgrounds and ethnic origins must fight a senseless battle for a hill.

Full Metal Jacket (1987): Artsy movie. First part is an unforgettable look at boot camp horrors. The second centers on  street fighting in Vietnam. Unusual setting. Vivid, haunting pictures.

Jacknife (1989): A brilliant De Niro in the role of a memorable Vietnam vet. (More details on this movie in my post).

Born on the 4th of July (1989): Maybe the ultimate anti-war statement and a in-depth exploration of masculinity. A movie that makes you cringe.

84 Charlie MoPic (1989): Documentary style but much better than the Iraq movie Redacted. Embedded journalists follow an infantry combat unit in the bush.

Heaven and Earth (1993): A look at the other side. What was the meaning of this war for  Vietnamese civilians?

Tigerland (2000): Boot camp. We see the soldiers train long before they are shipped out. Tensions rise until a drama unfolds.

We Were Soldiers (2002): The only Vietnam War Movie that truly attempts to show more than one side. Close look at the Vietnamese command. Heavy combat. Story switches between battle field and home front where the wives wait for the letters who will inform them they have become widows. Very emotional but not unproblematic movie. Too much trying to make us believe it was  a “good war”.

Maybe you disagree with this list. Let me know which ones you would choose. Which one do you really prefer?

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Oliver Stone: One of the Greatest Film and War Movie Directors

When I watched Savior the other day, knowing it was produced by Oliver Stone, I thought of all the outstanding anti- war movies this man has done. Many film directors have chosen to do war movies but there are just a few that we associate more with the genre than others.

His trilogy of Vietnam war movies is probably known by almost anyone. Platoon is one of my Top Ten favourite ones, but I think Born on the 4th of July is equally powerful. Heaven and Earth, the third one, may be a bit less accomplished but maybe we have to see them all together as three different points of view of one war.

His name stands for many other extremely good movies that often circle around the themes of war and violence. War movie purists would not mention Alexander when speaking about war movies, I think it is debatable. What is not debatable is that  Alexander is highly watchable.

Salvador is without any doubt a further war movie. The Doors has a look at  the Vietnam war, politicians like JFK and Nixon have to be associated with war. You could say that Wall Street is the war of the brokers and Natural Born Killers  a personal war.

And even World Trade Center could be called a war movie (actually the only one I have not seen because of the obnoxious Nicolas Cage).

For me The Doors is Oliver Stone´s only failure. As much as I normally like Val Kilmer, as Jimmy Morrison he was just sacrilegious.

Be it as it may, Oliver Stone is an interesting film director.

I posted two tributes to him, both from Film Festivals, one from Austin and the other one from Zürich.

They are a bit different in as much as the Zürich one also shows some bits of interviews with Oliver Stone whereas the Austin one is purely dedicated to his movies.

Do you have a favourite Oliver Stone movie? I must admit that apart from Platoon I have watched Alexander more than once.

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How to Kill the Reputation of a Genre or Rambo: First Blood Part II

I have gotten many negative reactions when I have told people that I am interested in war movies. There are many people who think a war movie will always glorify violence and favour supermacho heroes that are close to brainless machines using guns for fun and sport.

I was always reluctant to watch Rambo until I finally gave in. I don´t think that First Blood Part I is that bad. The depiction of a Vietnam vet with post-traumatic stress syndrome is quite OK. However, I don´t like Stallone. His facial expressions are far too limited.

But when it comes to First Blood Part II… That is another story. I truly believe that this movie damaged the reputation of the whole genre.

“Do we get to win this time…?” Now seriously… Do you not consider this to be totally tasteless?

Here is what the journalist James Mottram has to add:

If the original film suggests men like Rambo are still fighting the war back home, be it on the inside or in a mountain-town, its sequel took far greater liberties. By the early 1980s, after the dust had settled on grandiose epics like Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter, Hollywood saw the opportunity to rewrite the history of the Vietnam War. A film so guilty of this it should be court-martialled, Rambo: First Blood Part II recast its embittered lead –  jailed in a civilian maximum-security prison between the first two films – as a one-man wager of war. A pure “fighting machine”, as his mentor and father-figure Col. Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) dubs him, he is a nostalgic reflection of what Philip Caputo, in his 1977 book A Rumor of War , called “that savage, heroic time… before America became a land of salesmen and shopping-centres. (James Mottram in Under Fire: A Century of War Movies, p. 155)

What do you think? Did Rambo: First Blood Part II not have its part in killing the reputation of war movies?

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Vietnam War Movie Quotes Film Quiz 5

Here we go once more. Let´s test your Vietnam War Movie knowledge. This time I tried to find lesser known movies. Not all high quality, I agree. However one of them is a real insider´s tip. Here is your list in random order: Tigerland, Coming Home, Rambo First Blood, Green Berets, The Boys in Company C, Off Limits. The solution, as always, just below the movie.

“The reason why I’m here is because a buddy of mine who’d been in ‘Nam took his own life today. This is kind of a funeral service. And I’m here because I’m trying to tell people, man, if we want to commit suicide, we have plenty of reasons to do it right here at home. We don’t have to go to Vietnam to find reasons to kill ourselves. I just don’t think we should be over there.”

Solution 1

“It’s strange that we’ve never read of this in the newspapers.”
“Well… that’s newspapers for you, ma’am. You could fill volumes with what you don’t read in them.”

Solution 2

“You’re floatin’ in a big sea of shit and instead of just stayin’ in the boat, no, you reach out and you pick up this one little turd and you say “This turd, well THIS turd pisses me off. I’m gonna do somethin’ about THIS turd!”

Solution 3

“Hey goddamnit! You with the pretty face! What the hell are you spitting on the ground for, what is that shit in your mouth?”
“Chewing tobacco sir.”
“Its what?”
“Chewing tobacco sir!”
“What the hell are you chewing tobacco for!”
“I chew when I play baseball sir!”
“Does this look like a baseball stadium to you!”
“No Sir it doesn’t.”
“Then what the hell are you chewing tobacco for? Did you get on the wrong fucking train, or did they draft you!”
“I enlisted Sir!”
“You did what?”
“I enlisted in the Marines Sir!”
“What the hell would you do a crazy thing like that for?”
“…..”
“Answer me goddamn it!”
“I want to fight for my country sir.”
“Fucking TURD!”

Solution 4

“Are you telling me that 200 of our men against your boy is a no-win situation for us?”
“You send that many, don’t forget one thing.”
“What?”
“A good supply of body bags.”

Solution 5

“If I told you there was a bunch of people around here who could get us to Mexico, away from the war, would you go?”
“No… no I wouldn’t. I enlisted, so there is a place for me… and if I don’t go, somebody is gonna take that place. And if they die, they’re dying for me.”

Solution 6