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The Holy Trinity of War Films...and seven others that are good, not great.Sep 13 '03 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line This is the best American war to date for filming. The land and people are exotic and we get to blow them up. I'm sure there was once a time when the list of greatest war films could be just that. However, with so many wars and so many movies, and so many new movies about wars that have never had movies mad of them. (Did ya'll follow that?) Anway, it now seems necessary to break down war films by, well, war. It has long been my opinion that the war (or was it police action? occupation? whatever...) in Vietnam, the Republic of produces the best films for a couple of reasons. First, it's the last American war that was predominantly fought by ground troops. I realize we dropped a whole lot of napalm out of airplanes, but the lion's share of the fighting was done by grunts. Secondly, the Vietnam War is, and despite current political clime will always be, the most controversial war with direct American involvement. Therefore, the best films have a duality to them that exists in all conflicts. It's just unfortunate this duality doesn't show up in most of your World War II or Revolutionary War films, and the Civil War is a different animal all together. So without further delay...the list: Okay, there's some more delay. Before the list of my Top 10, I want to name a few movies that had elements I liked, but lacked the overall strength to make the list or were just too wretched. "Hamburger Hill" This one gets points just for having a cool name. Seriously, the battle for Hamburger Hill, or Hill 937, was one of the bloodiest for American forces during the war. The 10 day struggle is chronicled here through the eyes of B Company in the 101st Airborne Division. This has a number of "that guy" actors including one of my favorites, Don Cheadle ("Ocean's 11" "Traffic"), in his first prominent role. My principle problem with this film is the poor quality of effects. This hill was name Hamburger Hill because of what the bodies looked like at the end of the day. The footage just wasn't big enough. And I swear one time, an NVA soldier gets hit and it looks like a blow-up doll full of ground chuck. I swear I saw the thing deflate before spewing hamburger helper chili mac. "We Were Soldiers" The effects in this film are horrifying and amazing. In what will become known as the Valley of Death, 400 soldiers are surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese is what will become the first and one of the bloodiest conflicts involving American soldiers in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the filmmakers are preoccupied with intercut shots of the wives back home. The pacing is ruined and the scenes with the wives are absolutely awful. "Dead Presidents" This one from the Hughes brothers ("From Hell") is less about Vietnam and more about the disillusionment black men felt once they returned home from war. Progress was slow coming for civil rights and many veterans wondered what they had fought for. This heist film doesn't completely work for me in that we don't really learn about the main character. This film is akin to "Born on the Fourth of July", but less complete in its character study. OK, now to the list. If you find it strange that my summaries here will be shorter than those for the films that didn't make the list, well TOO BAD! Just kidding. I feel it's more important to tell you why something didn't make the list rather than be the one millionth person to tell you "Apocalypse Now" kicks booty. 10. "Born on the Fourth of July" As I just noted above, this film is about an American soldier (Tom Cruise, you may have heard of him.) who has returned home. This is actually the true story of Ron Kovic, who returned home paralyzed to a country he felt betrayed him. Kovic became a dedicated anti-war and pro-human right activist. This film earned Oliver Stone his second Academy Award for Directing. 9. "The Killing Fields" This is not a Vietnam War film in the strictest sense as it focuses on the events in Cambodia following American bombings in that country. Sam Waterston (TV's "Law and Order) is a journalist covering Pol Pot's ethnic cleansings. He is befriended by a Cambodian who soon finds himself unable to escape to freedom. I am giving this film short schrift. It is very good and very powerful. One last thought, Haing Ngor plays the friend to Waterston and was himself actually imprisoned and tortured by the Khmer Rouge. He later became a political adversary to the party here in America and was subsequently murdered in his home. 8. "Tigerland" I would normally avoid Joel Schumacher films like the plague, but I really enjoyed this one. Tigerland is a camp in Louisiana for Advanced Infantry Training. This film follows one man in his attempt to fight the entire system from within. Colin Farrell ("Minority Report") plays the main character and first made his name with this film. Schumacher being Schumacher we are treated to quite a few shots of Farrell in various stages of undress. Hmmm..... 7. "Good Morning Vietnam" Now I really don't like Robin Williams as an actor by and large, but his over top mania actually works in this film quite well. Armed Forces Radio DJ Adrian Cronauer is a real person, but his representation was, shall we say, revved up a bit. I saw some comments from the real Cronauer somewhere that said he would have been imprisoned for doing half the stuff Robin Williams did in the film. Still, a pretty decent flick. 6. "Deer Hunter" This one climbs a few notches if it wasn't so long and slow. This is another film on the effects it has on soldier's come home, but the effect is more spiritual and psychological that sociological. Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken are both fantastic in this film in which Walken earned his only Oscar. This was also John Cazale's last film before dying of cancer. Take a moment to reflect on Cazale's film career. The only films he ever appeared in were "The Deer Hunter", "Dog Day Afternoon", "The Conversation" and the first two Godfather films. Wow. His is a place in Heaven. 5. "The Quiet American" This is the most recent of my submissions, having only come out last year. Starring Michael Caine ("Alfie") in an Academy Awared nominated performance, it is the story of the years leading up to the Vietnam War. Adapted from the great Graham Greene novel, Caine is a British journalist living in Saigon in 1952. The war of Vietnamese independence from French rule is raging. Caine befriends an American aid worker and the two fall in love with the same woman. Betrayal, murder and the war is still nearly two decades away. 4. "Path to War" This made for HBO film was the last for director John Frankenheimer ("The Manchurian Candidate") before his death. It is merely the latest in a run of very well made films from HBO studios. It is the story of the Lyndon Johnson administration and its involvement in the escalation of the Vietnam War. LBJ could have been one of the greatest presidents this nation ever saw, but poor judgement and even worse advisement got him entrenched in this unwinnable conflict. Michael Gambon ("Gosford Park") is perfect as LBJ and the supporting cast, including Alec Baldwin and Donald Sutherland, is incredible as well. See this film. Now as my review title states, Vietnam War films are really a top 3 and then everything else. This 3 can be interchangable in their placement, but this is how I chose to rate them. 3. "Platoon" This film earned Oliver Stone the first of his two Oscars for directing. The movie follows a just in country Charlie Sheen as his loyalties become pulled between two veteran, clashing sergeants. Tom Berenger (a Mizzou grad, yay!) is the gruff Barnes and Willem Defoe ("Shadow of the Vampire") is the wise and more benevolent Elias. This film features the best filmed combat of all the Vietnam films, perhaps because Stone himself was in country on a tour of duty. 2. "Apocalypse Now" How did Francis Ford Coppola own the 1970's, and then comeback in the 90's to make "Jack." He went from "the Godfather" to making a Robin Williams film about a boy who looks like a middle-aged man. He could have died with Cazale and earned immortality, but no. Anyway, this was the last masterpiece for Coppola. We've all seen it. Martin Sheen is great. Robert Duvall is funny. Marlon Brando is bald and fat. Coppola is washed up. Read the Joseph Conrad book this film is based upon. "Heart of Darkness" isn't actually about Vietnam, but the basic story is the same. 1. "Full Metal Jacket" Like I said, your list could mix these top 3 up in any way and I probably wouldn't argue too much with you. I put this one first because it shows the dehumanizing element of boot camp, the absurdity of war and is frankly the spookiest of the top 3. It is also the one of the top 3 to most focus on specific events. The Tet Offensive is used as a backdrop. This cannot be by coincidence as it was the Tet Offensive that cemented the notion of this war being unwinnable in most everyone's mind. Well there you have. My Top 3, followed by the next 7 and then finally the not-so-bad 3. If I have made a glaring omission, please feel free to tell me.  |
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- Top 1000 by Stephen_Murray
by cdm72
by jankp
