Nam!

This week marks 50 years since the start of the Vietnam war. A war that divided a nation in a decade famous for revolutions, protests and anachy. Since the end of the war there have been numerous Vietnam movies that attempted to capture the true nature of the conflict. Many died and many who were their suffer today as a consequence of what they experianced in the jungles of Vietnam.

In honor of all that died or are suffering on both side I would like to know your prefered Vietnam movie. Mine will always be Platoon. Filmed from the view of a fresh army recruit, Platoon was the first movie that I can remember seeing about the war back in the 80's. I did not know anything about the war itself but there was guns and explosions and I was just a kid but looking back on it I liked the way Oliver Stone weaved the sights and sounds of the 60's in a very well made movie.

The scene where Wilem Defoe is double crossed by Tom Berenger and shot down while trying to escape is one that I will remember, also the main charactor being taken away from what must have been hell on earth on a chopper looking back at all his comrades still stuck in the jungle is another.

Probably Platoon for me as well although there are plenty of other good ones.

I love the relationship Charlie Sheen has with Defoe and Berenger.  It is the best I have ever seen Tom Berenger act, that Character of Barnes was made for him.

The scene in the village when Bunny exacts revenge and caves the cripples head in with his shotgun butt is a tough watch.  As is the part when Barnes shoots the village elders wife in the head.  Gruesome stuff.  I also love the scene in the bunker when they are all smoking weed to the fading out strains of Smokey Robinson and Tracks of my Tears.  A real calm moment before the storm kicks back in.  It's a great film, it really is.

Casualties of War is excellent, and I like Hamburger Hill as well.

Apocalypse Now has its moments but can be a pretentious load of nonsense in parts.

Full Metal Jacket, Deer Hunter are good.

Jacob's Ladder is excellent as well. Not strictly about the war itself but it plays a huge part.

We We Soldiers has one or two excellent scenes, despite the film occasionally showcasing everything bad about Mel Gibson. The scene when the flare lights up the US marines on the floor of the rice paddy amongst Vietnamese fighters is just brilliant the first time you see it. Also the scene when the stretcher bearers grab the injured soldiers legs and the skin comes away. Shocking but very realistic I would imagine.

Rambo: First blood!

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:Probably Platoon for me as well although there are plenty of other good ones.

I love the relationship Charlie Sheen has with Defoe and Berenger.  It is the best I have ever seen Tom Berenger act, that Character of Barnes was made for him.

The scene in the village when Bunny exacts revenge and caves the cripples head in with his shotgun butt is a tough watch.  As is the part when Barnes shoots the village elders wife in the head.  Gruesome stuff. I also love the scene in the bunker when they are all smoking weed to the fading out strains of Smokey Robinson and Tracks of my Tears.  A real calm moment before the storm kicks back in.  It's a great film, it really is.

Casualties of War is excellent, and I like Hamburger Hill as well.

Apocalypse Now has its moments but can be a pretentious load of nonsense in parts.

An amazing scene, loved it to.
Great song.

Loved Platoon. Great fim great cast and very well acted.

Casualties of War for me, by some distance.  Full Metal Jacket was good until they got to Vietnam/Battersea.  Apocalypse Now is just a collection of music videos that doesn't really come off as a film, a bit like a collection of short stories masquerading as a novel.  Not much of a fan of Platoon, watched it again recently & the few good scenes are outweighted by overacting and Oliver Stone cliche and melodrama.

Galted wrote:Casualties of War for me, by some distance.  Full Metal Jacket was good until they got to Vietnam/Battersea.  Apocalypse Now is just a collection of music videos that doesn't really come off as a film, a bit like a collection of short stories masquerading as a novel.  Not much of a fan of Platoon, watched it again recently & the few good scenes are outweighted by overacting and Oliver Stone cliche and melodrama.

Agree whole heartedly.

Amazing performances from all of the leads and up there with The Untouchables as DePalmas best work.

Its also Tarantinos fave nam film (little side fact!)

Full Metal Jacket
Deer Hunter
Casulities Of War
Platoon
Born On The 4th Of July

Never seen Apocalypse Now, which many prefer to the above.

M .A.S .H   oh hang on that's the Korean war      .   not seen the films mentioned for such a long time so its hard to pick .  first blood prob   but i did see hot shots two the other day ,Charlie sheen must worked out hell of a lot to get that Rambo look . fair play to him .

Forrest Gump if it qualifies.......

seanmichaels wrote:Forrest Gump if it qualifies.......

It would qualify as much as Jacob's Ladder would. Probably.

Not as good a film as Jacob's Ladder though.

You need to be on drugs to understand Jacobs Ladder.

Another NAM classic that I haven't seen is, Good Morning Vietnam. Supposed to be a top film.

Stella wrote:You need to be on drugs to understand Jacobs Ladder.

I think I probably was at the time.

Thought Jacob's Ladder was a bit of a glorified horror, little to do with the war.  A bit similar to Forrest Gump, and Deer Hunter (and Apocalypse Now) in that Vietnam was incidental to the story, could've been any old upheaval that was happening at the time.

Born on the Fourth of July is a good shout, though mostly dealing with the repercussions of having fought and been injured and the attitudes of and towards soldiers back in civilian life.

The late 80's dealt in Vietnam films didn't it. Never seen Hamburger Hill either. This came out at about the same time as BOT4th and casulties of war.

Galted wrote:Thought Jacob's Ladder was a bit of a glorified horror, little to do with the war.  A bit similar to Forrest Gump, and Deer Hunter (and Apocalypse Now) in that Vietnam was incidental to the story, could've been any old upheaval that was happening at the time.

Wasn't Jacob's Ladder specifically about a nerve agent used in Vietnam hence Tim Robbins subsequent battle between heaven and hell? Without the context of the Vietnam war it would just a horror film but I'm not sure that can be leveled against JL. Agreed that is it not a 'war' film, but Vietnam is key to the development of the story.

Less so Forrest Gump.

Gump was about his life, from 40's to 70's. Couldn't really call it a vietnam film.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Galted wrote:Thought Jacob's Ladder was a bit of a glorified horror, little to do with the war.  A bit similar to Forrest Gump, and Deer Hunter (and Apocalypse Now) in that Vietnam was incidental to the story, could've been any old upheaval that was happening at the time.

Wasn't Jacob's Ladder specifically about a nerve agent used in Vietnam hence Tim Robbins subsequent battle between heaven and hell?  Without the context of the Vietnam war it would just a horror film but I'm not sure that can be leveled against JL.  Agreed that is it not a 'war' film, but Vietnam is key to the development of the story.

Less so Forrest Gump.

If Forrest hadn't have met Bubba in Vietnam, there wouldn't have been a shrimping industry after hurricane Carmen. Very relevant to the story.

seanmichaels wrote:

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Galted wrote:Thought Jacob's Ladder was a bit of a glorified horror, little to do with the war.  A bit similar to Forrest Gump, and Deer Hunter (and Apocalypse Now) in that Vietnam was incidental to the story, could've been any old upheaval that was happening at the time.

Wasn't Jacob's Ladder specifically about a nerve agent used in Vietnam hence Tim Robbins subsequent battle between heaven and hell?  Without the context of the Vietnam war it would just a horror film but I'm not sure that can be leveled against JL.  Agreed that is it not a 'war' film, but Vietnam is key to the development of the story.

Less so Forrest Gump.

If Forrest hadn't have met Bubba in Vietnam, there wouldn't have been a shrimping industry after hurricane Carmen. Very relevant to the story.

Yep, that's why I said less so and didn't disregard it completely. There are still plenty of other strands to the Forrest Gump story with or without the war. Jacob's Ladder doesn't even exist as a story with Vietnam. There is the difference.

In all seriousness I think the fight scenes in the movie are the best Nam scenes shot. Much more realistic than early 90's late 80's stuff.

Bit of War film geek and have run out of stuff to watch since SP Ryan, B.O.Bs and the Pacific. Rumours are of a series coming out focusing on the Pacific air war. Makes you wonder why they don't do a big budget piece about the Battle of Britain....

seanmichaels wrote:In all seriousness I think the fight scenes in the movie are the best Nam scenes shot. Much more realistic than early 90's late 80's stuff.

They had an ex Captain (Dale A Dye) on set for Platoon. He was a Vietnam vet so I imagine the battle scenes are pretty realistic. Every film will ramp them up a little but they must be pretty close.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

seanmichaels wrote:In all seriousness I think the fight scenes in the movie are the best Nam scenes shot. Much more realistic than early 90's late 80's stuff.

They had an ex Captain (Dale A Dye) on set for Platoon.  He was a Vietnam vet so I imagine the battle scenes are pretty realistic.  Every film will ramp them up a little but they must be pretty close.

I mean in terms of sound and vision. I think Saving Private Ryan was the first film that really showed the bullets realistically. The firefights in Platoon whilst good were very much just flashes and bangs.

Just had a look at Sky Movies top 100 war films. Must admit, haven't seen most but Braveheart at 24 (around there)?

Braveheart is the best film ever, bar none.

Funny that Starship Troopers ends up in a few of the all time Top 10 war films lists.

Well tbf, not many 'war' films have such epic shower scenes

Those bangers were cracking.

loved starship trooers ,but the other two rubbish . the shower scene made the film for me .  

A Bright Shining Lie is a decent Nam movie. Think it was for TV but Bill Paxton is cracking in it.

Born on the Fourth of July is essentially balls. The main character even admitted in an interview that when he was hit in thew spine with a bullet and paralysed he was actually cowering in terror and not (as the film portrays) single handledly winning the Vietnam war armed with nothing but a sharpened lollipop stick and the Warrior spirit of the as yet unborn Carl Froch coursing through his body.

most of the best films have been mentioned, i did like good morning Vietnam as well though

Despite being set in the Korean War, M.A.S.H is really about Vietnam so I'm going to go for that.

I do like Apocalypse Now, but it doesn't really stand up to repeated viewings and it's the impact of that first viewing that makes it a favourite.

Anyone read "Matterhorn". Great book about Vietnam and would make a great film if done propoerly.

Thought We Were Soldiers was a decent film.

Hard to choose between Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket for me.

AN is great when you don't attempt to sit through the redux version. I do find that, when re-watching, I spend parts of the film just waiting for them to reach the tribe though. The odd battle here and there serves as a decent distraction, but ultimately I'm waiting for the payoff.

With FMJ, I find it gets a bit boring after the battle in Hue when they are talking to the media, but that's about it. Hartman is fantastic. On my first watch through, the sniper scene had me glued to the screen. I couldn't take my eyes off of it with the suspense. Brilliant stuff.

Watched Hamburger Hill last night, not bad at all, thought the friction between the soldiers was dealt with quite well, never resorted to oversimplified good soldier v bad soldier. Would put it above Platoon and Apocalypse Now due, in part, to it not being weighed down with melodrama and The Doors.

Funnily enough Jacobs Ladder was on Syfy last night and I watched it. My faily quick review is on the Last Films Watched thread.

Tropic Thunder

Just for "never go full ret@rd"

Shot 21 LCFC wrote:Funnily enough Jacobs Ladder was on Syfy last night and I watched it. My faily quick review is on the Last Films Watched thread.

Saw it when it came out - a bit weird IIRC.

You could say that lol!