Poll: The best Vietnam film.
- Thread starter implodingMan
- Start date
In the interest of fairness, I think this poll should include The Green Berets as well (totally not biased here...).
I think Apocalypse Now explains the war best. As the OP said, it isn't as firmly rooted in Vietnam, but think about it, a boat trip up the Mekong that gets more confusing and dangerous the further you go, round every twist and turn lurks more death.
It keeps going like this until the only reason you continue is because you have to finish what you started. By the end you begin to think that you've become just like the enemy you've been sent to kill.
Is that not one of the best metaphors for the Vietnam war?
No?
How bout the bridge across the river that the GI's re-build every day, and the Viet Cong destroy again every night?
No?
Ok then any of Dennis Hopper's or Marlon Brando's scenes.
Still no?
Fine then, Tropic Thunder it is.
It keeps going like this until the only reason you continue is because you have to finish what you started. By the end you begin to think that you've become just like the enemy you've been sent to kill.
Is that not one of the best metaphors for the Vietnam war?
No?
How bout the bridge across the river that the GI's re-build every day, and the Viet Cong destroy again every night?
No?
Ok then any of Dennis Hopper's or Marlon Brando's scenes.
Still no?
Fine then, Tropic Thunder it is.
This list is missing some other great movies.
Hamburger Hill, Born on The Fourth of July , Casualties of War and Deer Hunter are all also concidered definitive Vietnam movies.
Hamburger Hill, Born on The Fourth of July , Casualties of War and Deer Hunter are all also concidered definitive Vietnam movies.
I voted "Platoon" but "Good Morning Vietnam' and "We Were Soldiers" were quite good as well.
...I never liked Full Metal Jacket...
...I never liked Full Metal Jacket...
Difficult, very difficult. But then again each of the movies in the list describes the war in their own way. Apocalypse Now (wich I voted for) is the purposelessness of the war, the insanity of it if you will. Good Morning Vietnam is more about a non-military person experiencing the war. We were soldiers is a modern war movie and as such it tries to show the futility of war (remember the last scenes?) while still making heroes of the soldiers, something most of the older films does not (Apocalypse Now in particular)...
This was all a brain-rant on my behalf. hope it did not bore you.
This was all a brain-rant on my behalf. hope it did not bore you.
Good job there! I can also think of Tigerland, Dead Presidents, and Heaven and Earth as good examples, with In Country being a good example of a veteran dealing with the aftermath the war.TrevorOfCrete post=18.71861.740626 said:
That being said, I voted for FMJ. I just thought the tone of the movie was much...well...bleaker than the others.
Full Metal Jacket has got to be my choice. I thought Gomer Pyle was gonna be the main character and everything 
it blew my mind.
I don't know if it counts as a Vietnam film but if it does, then Forrest Gump is also a very close second
it blew my mind.I don't know if it counts as a Vietnam film but if it does, then Forrest Gump is also a very close second
It would have to be Full Metal Jacket.
Glad to see 'We Were Soldiers' low down there
What a load of USA-glorifying tripe that turned out to be.
Glad to see 'We Were Soldiers' low down there
What a load of USA-glorifying tripe that turned out to be.
first blood was good too but it was more about the aftermath than the war itself. it shows how some soldiers were treated after the war when they returned home
Full Metal Jacket, though I love Platoon as well. I just like FMJ better. And I still cry whenever 8ball dies. Not as much as when Elias dies in Platoon, but almost.
The problem with Vietnam movies is that the war was (and is, even now) such a divisive topic; certainly abroad, but especially in America. Very few movies, even now, seem willing to look at it without layers of nuance and "meaning" on top. Films like Apocalypse Now and FMJ are brilliant on their own terms, but as movies *about* war they fall somewhat short for me. They don't communicate an impression of what the soldiers who fought the war went through, except in abstract and metaphorical ways. Maybe you like your war films that way. I don't. I'd rather see things depicted with some sort of accuracy for once.
Any of us can name a half-dozen "soldier" films about WWII (Big Red One, Saving Private Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, 12 O'clock High, and so on). How many can you name dealing with 'Nam?
Hamburger Hill, We Were Soldiers... maybe Bat 21 and Tigerland. That's about it for me. And in my opinion, the one that did the best job was We Were Soldiers.
Any of us can name a half-dozen "soldier" films about WWII (Big Red One, Saving Private Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, 12 O'clock High, and so on). How many can you name dealing with 'Nam?
Hamburger Hill, We Were Soldiers... maybe Bat 21 and Tigerland. That's about it for me. And in my opinion, the one that did the best job was We Were Soldiers.