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Posted on 8/19/22 at 8:13 am to Zap Rowsdower
Rescue Dawn. Got full synopsis/true story during SERE.
Posted on 8/19/22 at 8:42 am to gameovergt
Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket
Posted on 8/19/22 at 8:46 am to theantiquetiger
Best Story-
Apocalypse Now
Best Fighting-
The Siege of Firebase Gloria
Best Overall-
Full Metal Jacket
Apocalypse Now
Best Fighting-
The Siege of Firebase Gloria
Best Overall-
Full Metal Jacket
Posted on 8/19/22 at 8:52 am to GetCocky11
quote:
that charge up that hill at the end of the movie was a bit much
It was a great movie, sticking to the facts of Hal Moore's book, and then they ruined it with the "Final Victory Scene". I was so bummed, because it had be a great movie until then.
The charge out of the trenches, the pregnant pause as they see the NVA rise up, and then Greg Kinnear rises into the scene in his ONE Huey gunship to save the day. Brutal, Hollywood ending to what previously been a fine film.
Posted on 8/19/22 at 8:56 am to theantiquetiger
Apocalypse Now is one of the three or four best movies ever made. Realistic depictions of what the war in Vietnam was actually like aren't its strong suit, though. It focuses more on what war actually is (uncivilized brutality) versus what Americans think it ought to be (civilized brutality, which is an oxymoron if ever there was one). It takes some liberties in the name of making its point.
Full Metal Jacket is a good candidate, although the weaker half of the movie is the one that deals directly with the war.
Platoon is also quite good.
Honestly, though, the Vietnam War has yet to get its Saving Private Ryan treatment, or at least if it has I haven't found it yet. Filmmakers always seem to want to make a statement about the war, rather than just portraying what it was like for the men that fought it.
Full Metal Jacket is a good candidate, although the weaker half of the movie is the one that deals directly with the war.
Platoon is also quite good.
Honestly, though, the Vietnam War has yet to get its Saving Private Ryan treatment, or at least if it has I haven't found it yet. Filmmakers always seem to want to make a statement about the war, rather than just portraying what it was like for the men that fought it.
Posted on 8/19/22 at 9:18 am to nwacajun
That is incorrect. Apocalypse Now is the very best thing ever put to film.
Posted on 8/19/22 at 9:22 am to Shingo
Can't put it above 2001 and would have to think for a long while before deciding whether to rank it just above or just below The Godfather. Not much else I would consider putting above it though.
Posted on 8/19/22 at 9:35 am to theantiquetiger
FMJ isn’t necessarily the best Vietnam movie (closer to a series of vignettes than a cohesive film) but it is the most original.
Showing boot camp and then the urban fighting of the Battle of Hue during the Tet Offensive was definitely a different tactic than the typical “searching the jungles for Charlie” film typified by Platoon.
As far as We Were Soldiers goes, I read the book as part of a history class on the war and the movie of it just felt off when I watched it, which was years after reading the book. That makes me feel the problem was the direction and editing rather than the writing.
It isn’t like Hollywood couldn’t do similar films. Black Hawk Down by Ridley Scott was made around the same time and did an excellent job of converting a book about a real battle into a film that could be watched and make sense.
Showing boot camp and then the urban fighting of the Battle of Hue during the Tet Offensive was definitely a different tactic than the typical “searching the jungles for Charlie” film typified by Platoon.
As far as We Were Soldiers goes, I read the book as part of a history class on the war and the movie of it just felt off when I watched it, which was years after reading the book. That makes me feel the problem was the direction and editing rather than the writing.
It isn’t like Hollywood couldn’t do similar films. Black Hawk Down by Ridley Scott was made around the same time and did an excellent job of converting a book about a real battle into a film that could be watched and make sense.
Posted on 8/19/22 at 9:36 am to TheTideMustRoll
Born on the Fourth of July is a great one though it focused on the post war aspect which usually gets overlooked or forgotten.
Posted on 8/19/22 at 9:39 am to TheTideMustRoll
Part of the problem of portraying Vietnam, IMHO, is that there really isn’t an overarching story that can be told because the strategy was such shite.
You can tell WWII stories about either front. You can tell stories about the Battle Of Mogadishu. You can tell stories about Gulf War 1 or 2.
Vietnam? Doesn’t easily fit into anything simply because the experiences were very different depending on where you ended up and when you were there.
Also did not help that people were constantly rotating in and out, as opposed to most other battles or wars where you were either in service until the end or until your entire unit got rotated back to the world.
You can tell WWII stories about either front. You can tell stories about the Battle Of Mogadishu. You can tell stories about Gulf War 1 or 2.
Vietnam? Doesn’t easily fit into anything simply because the experiences were very different depending on where you ended up and when you were there.
Also did not help that people were constantly rotating in and out, as opposed to most other battles or wars where you were either in service until the end or until your entire unit got rotated back to the world.
Posted on 8/19/22 at 9:42 am to teke184
quote:
Showing boot camp and then the urban fighting of the Battle of Hue during the Tet Offensive was definitely a different tactic than the typical “searching the jungles for Charlie” film typified by Platoon.
they pretty much had to do that because kubrick was a shut in and filmed a Vietnam movie in England.
that said, the second half of FMJ doesn't get enough credit. It is brutal in the way a war movie should be
This post was edited on 8/19/22 at 9:43 am
Posted on 8/19/22 at 9:44 am to Dire Wolf
I’m not arguing about why they did it, but them doing it made it very distinctive in comparison to every other movie on the war.
As far as the two halves of the movie, the second half suffers mainly because the first half was that damn good. Following up something like that is a losing battle unless you can find a way to match or top it.
As far as the two halves of the movie, the second half suffers mainly because the first half was that damn good. Following up something like that is a losing battle unless you can find a way to match or top it.
Posted on 8/19/22 at 9:49 am to Dire Wolf
quote:
that said, the second half of FMJ doesn't get enough credit. It is brutal in the way a war movie should be
Agreed. The only problem with FMJ's great second act is that it was upstaged by an even more incredible first act.
One of my favorite under the radar Vietnam movies is Tigerland
How about Chuck Norris' "Missing In Action" series?
Posted on 8/19/22 at 10:04 am to theantiquetiger
forrest Gump
Posted on 8/19/22 at 10:04 am to Tigeralum2008
Posted on 8/19/22 at 10:20 am to theantiquetiger
quote:
“We We’re Soldiers” is a great movie, and a true story, but it’s one off to me. I’m not sure why, I think the story’s too many holes in it.
Some of the scenes were stupid enough to pull me out of the movie. Like Barry Pepper's photographer taking pictures so aggressively that must have thought his camera could kill NVA soldiers and that his pictures would singlehandedly end the war
Or the wives receiving the "We Regret to Inform You" letters while the battle was still going on. Did it really happen like that? I don't know. But it was farfetched enough.
Or the Chinese guy bragging that his wife just gave birth to a son, so you just know something awful is going to happen to him. And sure enough, a few scenes later, he's turned into a fried eggroll.
This post was edited on 8/19/22 at 10:34 am
Posted on 8/19/22 at 10:28 am to nwacajun
“He was with Kurtz”
Posted on 8/19/22 at 10:44 am to TheTideMustRoll
quote:
although the weaker half of the movie is the one that deals directly with the war.
If by weaker you mean the better half.
Posted on 8/19/22 at 10:47 am to ManBearTiger
quote:
Platoon end of discussion
I would think Platoon would be the start of the discussion because it's basically a thick Oliver Stone slant movie.
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