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"Charlie Don't Surf!"Apr 09 '01 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Powerful, emotional, and full of action. These are films that fuel controversy even as they entertain us. A controversial conflict in a far off land, which still holds our interest 30-odd years later. Always a popular movie subject, but not always done properly.There are probably more BAD Viet Nam movies than there are good ones. Hopefully, I have listed 10 of the very best films based on or around this conflict. There are more, of course, but that would mean a longer list, and I tend to ramble on enough as it is! So here, now, are my choices (in no order, whatsoever) in this category: 10 Best Viet-Nam Movies Apocalypse Now (1979) Starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, Scott Glenn, and many other fine acting talents - this is the Grandaddy of all Viet Nam films. Francis Ford Coppola spent about $40 million dollars, and a couple of years to make this film as huge in scope and depth as it is. Great acting, some fantastic lines; "I love the smell of napalm in the morning"; and brilliant cinematography combine to make this an awe-inspiring opus of a film about the total senselessness of war for all involved. Best scene for me is the Air Cav going into a hot fire-zone while blasting Wagner from speakers attached to their helicopters! Martin Sheen had a heart-attack during filming, which attests to the intensity involved. Brando manages to sleep-walk through his role, and yet, he delivers as much intensity as Sheen, right up to their final, climactic scene, from which only one man walks away. But who has won? Brilliant, provocative film-making. Platoon (1986) The choice of Charlie Sheen for the lead role in this film, must have seemed inspired to director Oliver Stone, since young Carlos actually watched his father Martin Sheen filming Apocalypse Now, when he was but a wee child. Unfortunately, Charlie Sheen didn't inherit even 1 of Martin Sheens acting genes. He is consistently pathetic, and boring to watch on-screen. Thankfully, we have so many other REAL actors in the film whose work we can enjoy. The first two are Willem Dafoe, and Tom Berenger, who portray sort of Yin and Yang sergeants. Dafoe is the good, idealistic guy, while Berenger is the gnarled and bitter bad guy. The cast also incudes people like Forrest Whitaker, John C. McGinley, Keith David, Tony Todd, Francesco Quinn, Kevin Dillon, and even Johnny Depp. Stone based this film on his own personal experiences in Viet Nam, and it therefore has an extra layer of truth and credibility. Deeply moving, and very powerful. The Deer Hunter (1978) Starring Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, George Dzundza, and John Savage, this film is (to me) a kind of Viet Nam love story. Only, it's a love that is pretty much destroyed by the affect that Viet Nam has on the players. DeNiro does DeNiro with an added shot of intensity, while Christopher Walken is as chilling in this movie as in anything else he has ever done. His character undergoes extreme torture at the hands of the Vietnamese, and he is unable to stop himself from descending further and further into a state of mental Hell. DeNiro, in between getting jiggy with Meryl Streep, tries to find Walken to bring him back to the peace and healing harmony of Middle America, where they all live. This is the film that made Russian Roulette famous. The scenes in which the 'game' is played are surely among the hardest scenes to sit through without tensing up. Full Metal Jacket (1987) What happens when you send teenagers off to war? Asked and answered in Full Metal Jacket. Directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick, with many scenes shot in, of all places - London, this film examines the stresses placed on barely mature young men in the theater of war. The heart of the film is in it's harsh portrayal of the rigors of boot-camp/basic training. R. Lee Ermey was a real drill instructor, in his life before acting, and so it is an extremely realistic performance he turns in as, guess what? A drill instructor! All kidding aside, the best part of the film takes place in it's opening act - boot camp. Shame about the rest, though. Starring in this film you will see : Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Baldwin, and Dorian Harewood. Casualties Of War (1989) Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox square off on opposite sides of the moral fence. Michael J. Fox is anything but Alex P. Keating in this film. He handles his role with well-played emotion, and is able to match Sean Penn's intensity in scene after scene. Basically, Penn and some cronies in his squad rape and then kill a Vietnamese woman, and Fox's character is the only one to stand up for what is right, and seek punishment for those involved. Naturally, this does not make him the most popular flavor-of-the-month! Also features Sam Robards, John Leguizamo, and John C. Reilly. Hanoi Hilton (1987) Another look here at the conditions facing captured GIs in Viet Nam. It's about the perseverance of the human spirit, and about dignity. Great performances from a diverse mix of actors that includes David Soul, Michael Moriarty, Paul LeMat, and Jeffrey Jones. Although it seems as though they will never escape the confines of the most famous POW camp, they bolster each other's spirits, and maintain as much self-respect as they can. Hamburger Hill (1987) This film most graphically depicts the futility of the whole Viet Nam conflict, as the US and Viet Cong fight for possession of what must be the most absolutely non-strategic hill in the entire world. Stars include Don Cheadle, Dylan McDermott, and Courtney B. Vance. Some Kind Of Hero (1982) This film's lead actor is an interesting departure from the norm. The great comedian, Richard Pryor plays a Prisoner Of War, who eventually returns home to the United States, but almost longs to return to his Asian prison camp, when he finds out how hard it is to return to 'normal life'. Critics slammed this film, but I think that pryor was wonderfully touching in his role, and was ably supported by the likes of Margot Kidder, and Ronny Cox. Born On The Fourth Of July (1989) Oliver Stone Strikes Again ! Real-life American Ron Kovic's life is put under the 'scope in this picture. From his innocent youth through to his disillusioned, activist adulthood. Kovic leaves for Viet Nam a healthy idealistic teen, and returns an angry, crippled man. Probably Tom Cruise's finest performance - for once he's not cashing in on his good looks and charm. He really acts in this movie, and is backed up by such talent as; Kyra Sedgewick, Willem DaFoe, Frank Whaley, Stephen Baldwin, William Baldwin, Vivica A. Fox, Abbie Hoffman, Tom Sizemore, Tom Berenger, and Don 'The Dragon' Wilson. The Killing Fields (1984) Haing S. Ngor is the shining star in this movie depicting the accounts of a reporter in Viet Nam for the Fall of Saigon. Ngor plays Dith Pran, assistant to reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) of the New York Times. When the Western journalists left the country, their many assistants and interpreters were left to be victimized by the invading Khmer Rouge, who regarded them as collaborators and traitors. While Sydney is home in America, picking up awards for his brilliant work, Pran is interred in prison camps, and must endure daily error and degradation, until he escapes and risks his life, walking miles and miles to eventual freedom. Ngor, in fact, faced many of the same experiences in his real life, and in a painful end to his life, was shot for no apparent reason in the driveway of his home in America some years ago. To have survived the horrors that he did and for his life to end so senselessly, is perhaps the most terrible thing I have ever heard of. This movie is especially moving for that reason, and there is an abundance of fine acting throughout this film. John Malkovitch is very stirring in his film-debut, and there are also good performances from the likes of Julian Sands, Craig T. nelson, and Spalding Gray. So that's it. You made it to the end. Pat yourself on the back and go rent the ones you haven't yet seen. You won't regret watching any of these. Thank you.  |
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by jeff_wilder78 by Stephen_Murray
