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Best historical film about the Vietnamwar

Discussion in 'History Forum' started by mioque, Oct 23, 2004.

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What is the best historical film about the Vietnamwar?

  1. Born on the 4th of July

    1 vote(s)
    7.7%

  2. Bullet in the head

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%

  3. The deerhunter

    3 vote(s)
    23.1%

  4. Full metal jacket

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%

  5. Operation Dumbo Drop

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%

  6. Platoon

    9 vote(s)
    69.2%

  7. We were soldiers

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
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  1. mioque

    mioque New Member

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    Just saw this theft of honor documentary that is making the rounds.
    It made me think about all those vietnammovies.
     
    #1 mioque, Oct 23, 2004
  2. mioque

    mioque New Member

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    #2 mioque, Oct 23, 2004
  3. Stratiotes

    Stratiotes New Member

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    Hmmm... I don't know if I like any of those more than "Path to War" - which is more of the political side of the war than the combat movie side. I thought Deer Hunter, Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket a little too nihilist for my tastes. We Were Soldiers is one of my favorites and probably my favorite out of the choices given here.
     
    #3 Stratiotes, Oct 23, 2004
  4. mioque

    mioque New Member

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    The problem with most American Vietnam cinema is that usually it doesn't truly take place in Vietnam.
    All we ever see is generic jungle, generic ricefields, generic Buddhist monks, generic Asian farmers (generic Asian villages included) and generic soldier's hangouts (with generic Asian prostitutes).
    One of the things I liked about Bullet in the head (although I will make certain that I will never see it again) is that it makes an Effort to make Vietnam look distinctively Vietnamese, for example by showing that it is a former French colony.
     
    #4 mioque, Oct 23, 2004
  5. rsr

    rsr <b> 7,000 posts club</b>
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    Truthfully, I haven't seen any of them (or can't remember if I did.) I would add "The Killing Fields" to your list.
     
    #5 rsr, Oct 23, 2004
  6. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    I have not watched any of those movies. I did like to watch the TV series "Tour of Duty".
     
    #6 KenH, Oct 23, 2004
  7. mioque

    mioque New Member

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    The Killing Fields takes place next door in Cambodja. It's not truly about the Vietnamwar, although the Killing Fields might not have happened without it.

    To be honest my experience with Vietnamwar movies is completely the product of 3 long days of helping an old friend of mine (who is the manager of an arthouse cinema) picking films to be shown in a retrospective of vietnamwar cinematography. I spend quite a lot of time watching with my eyes closed (and not because of sleepdeprivation).
     
    #7 mioque, Oct 23, 2004
  8. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    Apocalypse Now (1979):

    Kilgore: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."
     
    #8 Dr. Bob, Oct 23, 2004
  9. rsr

    rsr <b> 7,000 posts club</b>
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    You mean you've actually sat through the whole thing?

    I tried to read "Heart of Darkness" (which is the original "Apocalypse Now" story) and frankly couldn't make it past the first few dozen pages. Same with the movie.
     
    #9 rsr, Oct 23, 2004
  10. Bethany

    Bethany New Member

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    "We Were Soldiers" is a great movie. After seeing this movie I went and read the book. Wow. The leadership demonstrated by Col. Hal Moore is incredible. This is based on a true story of courage and heroism.

    One of the men described in in the book was a Brit named Rick Rescorla. He was an adventurer, but believed in the cause of freedom that the Americans were fighting for. He was a great leader, and an inspiration to his men.

    Rick Rescorla died on Sept. 11, 2001 in the attack on the Twin Towers. He was in charge of security for Morgan Stanley, and evacuated everyone in his offices after the first tower was hit and were told it was "safe" to stay where they were. His response? "BS!" He made sure everyone got out safely, and was making a final sweep of the offices to make sure everyone was out when the tower collapsed.
     
    #10 Bethany, Oct 24, 2004
  11. fromtheright

    fromtheright <img src =/2844.JPG>

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    One of the things that most impressed me about the movie ("We Were Soldiers") was a History Channel "History vs. Hollywood" show about it, which included a panel of 8-10 men who were there, and, as I recall, when asked how close the movie was to the reality, the lowest percentage was eighty percent real history.
     
    #11 fromtheright, Oct 24, 2004
  12. Stratiotes

    Stratiotes New Member

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    OK Dr. Bob, I liked "Apocolypse Now" too...but I think the question was what was the best "historical" movie ;) .

    For history channel movies - another one that got very high scores for historical accuracy (though about another era) was one of my favorite films: "Ride With the Devil." If you haven't had the chance, you owe it to yourself to rent it.
     
    #12 Stratiotes, Oct 25, 2004
  13. PastorGreg

    PastorGreg Member
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    "We Were Soldiers" without a doubt. Rivaled only by "The Hanoi Hilton."
     
    #13 PastorGreg, Oct 25, 2004
  14. CoachC

    CoachC New Member

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    I like many of the movies I have heard discussed here.

    I think Full Metal Jacket being broken down into two parts shows the changes that marines must have really felt going from Parris Island to 'the Nam'. The drill seargeant is one of the most interesting performances I have ever seen. A very dark movie.

    We were soldiers is a great movie. I love how well Mel Gibson's wife in the movie played the part of taking the letters herself.

    The training scenes are great and I have stolen some of the dialog from Mel for real life.
    "You must learn to deal with crying and screaming these are the natural sounds that a baby makes."

    Apocalypse Now definitely wins for best dialogue. Any movie that has the line "Charlie don't surf." has to be a classic.
     
    #14 CoachC, Oct 25, 2004
  15. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    Hal Moore was (and still is) a professor at Auburn University when I was there. I knew of him but didn't actually know him and I don't think that I really appreciated his accomplishments then.
     
    #15 Mike McK, Nov 8, 2004
  16. Plain Old Bill

    Plain Old Bill New Member

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    I was in nam when that battle took place.Saw the movie, it generally got it about right(WE WERE SOLDIERS).Although every one of those guys were heroes that was a colossal mistake made by the boys back in Siagon.They dropped 1 battalion in on a NVA division HQ.
     
    #16 Plain Old Bill, Nov 19, 2004
  17. blackbird

    blackbird Active Member

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    We were Soldiers----hands down over the rest of 'um!

    Sorry, Dr. Bob---Apocalypse is too full of what the war would have been like if everybody was "smokin'" weed---just too "hippie" for me! Too unrealistic!

    Plain Ole Bill---according to battle history---that battalion that was dropped on NVA HQ's?? Didn't they wind up "kickin' some fanny" anyway??
     
    #17 blackbird, Nov 19, 2004
  18. Plain Old Bill

    Plain Old Bill New Member

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    Ya but they got tore up pretty bad. I met one of they guys that was in that battle (the guys who got ahead of the others)he took seven hits and was all tore up only 3 guys made it out of his group.
    Kicken fanny is a hard way to look at things when your trapped and all tore up.Yes they kicked but but they paid a hard price.
     
    #18 Plain Old Bill, Nov 19, 2004
  19. blackbird

    blackbird Active Member

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    I believe over 200 US KIA's---most likely over 800 enemy KIA's

    But wasn't that battle one of the first AND last of the Battalion sized encounters??
     
    #19 blackbird, Nov 20, 2004
  20. Bro. Curtis

    Bro. Curtis <img src =/curtis.gif>
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    #20 Bro. Curtis, Nov 20, 2004
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