Best Vietnam Film

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mook
so whats your favourite vietnam film?

full metal jacket
deer hunter
platoon
apocalyspe now

what others?

Asami
Hmmn... Now being Vietnamese myself, I couldn't help but find some of these films a tad bit racist like Full Metal Jacket..

Besides that, I don't like watching Vietnam war movies or war movies even, they're depressing.

In 20-30 years I can see a movie about the twin towers being made..

Mr Parker
Flight of the intruder with Danny Glover is by far my favorite vietnam war movie.I would put a lesser well known film Platoon Leader ahead of those others you mentioned.I like it the best because like asami said,the others were depressing and this one really wasnt.
my list would go
1.flight of the intruder
2.Platoon leader
3.Full Metal jacket
4.Platoon
5.I also liked Born on the 4th of july

Kitoky
I'm Vietnamese, but the only Viet film I've seen is Platoon, so I can't really pick.

Fire
good morning vietnam, now there was a good one

BackFire
Full Metal Jacket and Platoon definately, for their blunt realism.

also, Asami, I don't see how these films are particularly racist, they may use some negative terms to describe the Vietcong, but those terms were actually used in the war, so to capture some kind of realism and authenticity, they were needed, even if they may be a bit harsh.

Fire
hmmm nah most of em aint rascist

altho there are tons of vietnam movies that do their best to have the vietcong look a lot more stupid and the americans a lot better

BackFire
Indeed, the vietcong were actually quite brilliant in their strategy, although also very cowardly and sinister, they got the job done.

MUSE(a band)_16
platoon platoon platoon platoon!!!!!!!

Asami
I found some terms not too much of a delight to here you see, they referred to viets as gook=excretement

cgtuna21
You also forgot We Were Soldiers, Apocalypse now redux, and Forrest Gump

We Were Soldiers is probably my favorite vietnam film then Full Metal Jacket

I haven't seen Platoon yet or Deer Hunter

zoemorn
Goooooooooooooooood Moooooooooooooorrrrning Vieeeeetnaaaaam!!

One of Robin Williams better performances, bringing some humor to an obviously depressing situation. Vietnam movies that are depressing? WELL YEA, it was WAR! The slaughter of people on both sides is usually kinda depressing, perhaps necessary at times but you can't expect it to be a joy ride through the park, well maybe central park.
What worried me most about all the media being embedded into the iraqi conflict was that Americans would get a skewed look at war and see it as entertainment (like reality shows). Thankfully I don't think that happened too much, which would be a disgrace to the memories of the fallen.

mook
thats an interesting point about watching from a Vietnamese point of view- im english and 22yrs old so im neutral and wasnt alive when it happened.

i can totally understand being offended by the films or finding them depressing but that is the nature of conflict.


yeah the first film about the twin towers will be interesting...

Mr Parker
thats why I highly recommend people to see Flight of the intruder.It had a good amount of action in it and was very realistic without a lot of gore in it like full metal jacket and platton had.Yeah WE WERE SOLDIERS is another good vietnam flick.

sumunabeech
First off, my personal favorite is Hamburger Hill, followed closely by Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. The Deer Hunter is more about the psychological effects war and being a prisoner had on the characters.

Second, how did The Patriot or Braveheart affect you?


Zoemorn, are you from the KC area?

mook
sumunabeech>how did The Patriot or Braveheart affect you?

not in the slightest, dont take those movies to be historical fact- ' the patriot' is extremely unrealistic and stuff portrayed in 'braveheart' didnt happen.

Dagons Blade
I'm not going to set out to offend anyone, but the truth of the matter is that you're always going to have de-humanization of ANY enemy in war, like the Americans called the Germans "Krauts" and "Gerrys" and the Russians "Reds" and "Ivans."

The Vietcong called us 'Round eyes' and the half-American children
of the G.I's 'Monkey Eyes." Not to finger point, but as far as dehumanization goes, it happens on BOTH sides.

Why?
De-humanization makes it easier to kill someone, because all soldiers go into war knowing they are going to have to kill a fellow human being in order to survive. And the lower you place him on the scale of humanity, the easier it is to pull the trigger.

Which leads me to my next point, in my quote from an old French poet who said that 'All wars are civil because all men are brothers..' How true.

All of the movies listed here were really great, but there can only be one winner, "Platoon." Having 3 cousins who served in 'Nam, they said this was the most realistic depiction of the war and the psychological shit that had to be dealt with. Full Metal Jacket is better as a film about the U.S. Marines thanabout the war itself, and Lee Ermey does his best as "Gunny" Hartman. That guy is one great actor.

badkittykitty
yes yes yes!
I really liked Full Metal Jacket up to the part where private pile blew his brains out..it was down hill from there for me in the interest factor

BackFire
I completely agree, platoon is known as the most realistic war movie ever made. My father was in Vietnam, along with a few of my uncles, and they all agree that Platoon is by far the most real.

zoemorn
SUMANABEECH-- "Are you from KC area":

Negative on that... down south a bit near the Springfield area.

sumunabeech
This is getting off topic...

...BUT, during the American Revolution and The Patriot, English soldiers (Redcoats) were the "bad guys". Same with Braveheart. There was a William Wallace and he was a real pain in the butt for the English king.

My point is; to not watch a movie (historically accurate or not) because of words that WERE used is silly. Like Dagons Blade said, the terms were used to de-humanize the enemy. Much like the "N" word was used in early American south. Would anyone recommend that black (yes I said black, not African Americans) people not watch Roots because of the language?
http://www.killermovies.com/forums/images/moresmilies/chinese.gif

sumunabeech
Just wondered because of your sig..."Big Dudes"

http://www.killermovies.com/forums/images/moresmilies/band.gif

mook
sumunabeech>...BUT, during the American Revolution and The Patriot, English soldiers (Redcoats) were the "bad guys". Same with Braveheart. There was a William Wallace and he was a real pain in the butt for the English king.

i know there was a william wallace but the events of his life are not the same (and not as heroic) as portrayed in the film.

also in the patriot it is highly unlikely that mel gibsons character would not have owned slaves as was common place at that time for a man like the one he played.

sumunabeech
I think you're missing my point...

...

zoemorn
>Sumanabeech:
Just wondered because of your sig..."Big Dudes"<<<<

Heh, actually that sig "the Dude abides" is a gratuitous movie reference to The Big Lebowski.. classic coen brothers flick and one of my college days' Big 4 movies. (the others since i know yer drooling w/ anticipation.. Fight Club, Office Space and Rushmore)
Big 4 meaning that they were 4 movies that a group of us in college loved to watch over and over.

samhain
I couldn't agree more. And I'm glad someone finally mentioned Hamburger Hill.

Dagons Blade
Not to get off topic, but as far as the Asian brush wars go...

I would like to see a good film about Korea again...the last time was, well, when? For all the attention Vietnam gets, Korea was the first TRUE and lengthy conflict after WW2, as well as being the first clash of wills between the Eastern and Western Blocs.

Korea was also the war that saw China taking it's first steps to becoming the superpower it is today....but in any case, the men and women of Korea should not be forgotten, because this was the true beginning of hardline diplomacy and gunboat politics during round one of the Cold War.
And look at the lasting effect it's had on the west and all of Asia-
a DMZ that still boils as a potential hot spot, the fear of invasion, a country divided, and one half of it threatening nuclear action if certain demands aren't met (or so it would seem.) Korea has a lot going for it historically, and it's sad that noone will do a film about this apparently forgotten war.

ragesRemorse
Deer hunter has the most emotion of all vietnam movies. It also does probably the best job at showing how the war changed people. Born on the 4th of july had a good story, however i thought the over acting of tom cruise ruind the movie. Platoon portrays the war of veitnam in the most realistic way. I'd say deer hunter or A-poc now have the most interesting stories with superb acting though. Full metal jacket was a good movie, but i do think it is over rated

Dagons Blade
Yeah Deer Hunter was quite emotional-was it here at Killer Movies that someone posted about the emotion filled scene wher DeNiro walkspast everyone at his homecoming party, goes to his room, and zones out all the while you hear that really sad music? I could have sworn it was here. I agree with that scene....and with the whole film as an emotional powerhouse.

Another good one? "The War At Home" with Emilio Estevez, as a kid who comes back to a family who can't understand (or WON'T) because of their own emotional instabilities...and how it all builds up inside of him as he has nowehere to go with it. The film was also written and directed by Estevez, and once agian shows the talent that this remarkable family possesses. This is a lesser known film, but a good one nonetheless, not to be underestimated.

Mr Parker
Hmmmm,never heard of it.I'll have to check it out.

mook
ragesRemorse>Deer hunter has the most emotion of all vietnam movies. It also does probably the best job at showing how the war changed people.

the guy in hospital after losing his legs is quite an affecting moment also.

Dagons Blade
War as a whole affects everyone...no matter what one it is.

I know many people have a tendency to not care about veterans as a whole because some believe there is no reason for war-and it pisses me off that people can just laugh at the emotional and physical disabilities of those who have been in a war, because the circumstances of their misfortune dosen't fit THEIR belief system. If was THEIR problem, it would be a different story though right? Noone loves a soldier until the enemy is at their door, and then they become heroes to those who once hated them....I speak from experience, and have been called every name a soldier could ever be called.....and I'll leave it at that.

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