Flashback Five - Best Vietnam War Movies
by Robert Silva, blogs.amctv.com
May 27th 2011 12:01 AM
Decades later, the Vietnam War is still a charged subject for Americans. For
better or worse, the conflict has served as rich source material for some of
Hollywood's most memorable war movies. You can't make a a generic
guys-on-a-mission story about Vietnam. Hell, no! Vietnam movies are
mind-blowing experiences like Apocalypse Now and Platoon. Tomorrow, Sat.,
May 30, at 8PM | 7C, check out one prime example, Apocalypse Now Redux, on
AMC, as part of War Heroes Weekend. It's the best Vietnam War movie there
is. See what else ranks near the top in the list below.
1. Apocalypse Now (1979)
The panorama of napalmed jungle paired with the Doors' "The End" tells you
Francis Ford Coppola's epic is no solemn drama about American foreign
policy. Instead, the movie brilliantly turns the war into the stuff of
trippy myth, mixing harsh realities with Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
The descent into hell -- Martin Sheen's haunted search downriver to find
Marlon Brando's Kurtz -- would drive anyone mad.
2. Platoon (1986)
Oliver Stone's pic is one of the more realistic portrayals of the average
soldier's experience. (Being a Stone film, it winds up nearly as nightmarish
as Apocalypse Now). A sweaty jungle atmosphere oozes off the screen, while
viewers are overwhelmed by the paranoia of guerrilla warfare. The film's
centerpiece is the tense near-massacre of a village, a horrifying
illustration of how quickly any moment can deteriorate into savage violence.
3. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Understandably, people tend to focus on the first half of the movie: a
hilariously chilling psychodrama about basic training. Indeed, R. Lee Ermey
based an entire acting career on his overheated drill instructor. But the
second half, a recounting of combat, is hopelessly fragmented -- and that's
the point. A series of disconnected scenes culminate in a deadly standoff
between marines and a sniper that, when over, doesn't offer much meaning.
Meaninglessness being the point.
4. The Deer Hunter (1978)
The movie ends with a game of Russian roulette, the perfect symbol for the
insanity of war. Oddly, the film opens innocuously, at a Polish wedding
where working-class buddies (Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John
Cazale) bond before going to battle. Naturally, their lives are destroyed.
In fact, The Deer Hunter is arguably the most shattering drama about
Vietnam.
5. Rescue Dawn (2006)
A true rarity among Vietnam flicks, Rescue Dawn is strangely uplifting.
Based on the true story of a pilot (Christian Bale) who crash-lands during a
bombing raid then taken prisoner by the Vietcong, the film's power comes
from Bale's eerily upbeat demeanor while being tortured and starved in a POW
camp. He's incomprehensibly confident that he will escape! One of the more
underrated Vietnam movies, and perhaps the most underrated performances by
Bale.
Honorable Mentions
1. Hamburger Hill (1987): With a terrific ensemble, Hamburger Hill depicts
soldiers endlessly fighting to take Hill 937. Dozens die and the victory is
a Pyrrhic one.
2. Casualties of War (1989): Director Brian De Palma's object lesson in
wartime morality finds Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox battling over whether
kidnapping a Vietnamese girl as a sex slave for GIs is a good thing or not.
3. Good Morning,Vietnam (1987): Robin Williams is an armed-forces DJ who
won't bow down to his superiors. Funny and sad, this movie really is
Williams in top form.
4. Born on the Fourth of July (1989): Oliver Stone shifts his attention to
the home front with this heartbreaking exploration of Ron Kovic (Tom
Cruise), a man who went from gung-ho soldier to antiwar activist.
5. The Boys in Company C (1978): Among the first Vietnam War movies, this
all-but-forgotten flick follows soldiers from basic training to an active
duty that proves more than they bargained for.
Original Page:
http://blogs.amctv.com/movie-blog/2011/05/best-vietnam-war-movies.php
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