Best Viet Nam War Film...

[Worf101]

Don't know why I'm thinking about this subject so much lately, maybe it's the news from Iraq, I don't know.. As a film buff, a veteran and a military historian, I thought I'd ask this question about one of the most unpopular wars in recent history...

Da Worfster

[bobsticks]

Probably not fair for me to vote since I have not seen your "overlooked gem". Despite that I'm throwin' down for AN. Loved D'Onofrio's role in FMJ and, of course, Platoon is a classic, but AN just seems to be a complete package.

Cheers

[Kam]

it was really close for me with your top 3 on the list. FMJ really being two movies in one. AN and platoon had it very close as 1-2, 2-1 for me and i went with platooon because i thought AN was somehow more than just the war, and maybe a better overall movie because of it, AN takes on the feel of a parable or fable in some ways. but platoon really examined what was happening and what it was doing to the soldiers that went there. it captured such a venomous war and the battle for america's soul (sheen) through elias and barnes. so platoon's allegorical references were tied directly into the nation and the war and the soldiers that fought it, whereas AN raised above all of that. (of course, coming from a perspective of someone born after the war).
and, of course, on the 'how-could-you-leave-it-off" part, i woulda pulled your "eh" suggestions and put on Jacob's Ladder or House. Yes, i know both of those are ancillary to the war, but Jacob's Ladder i think really connects to the war in a great way at the very end, and House is just good comedy.

[kexodusc]

Apocalypse Now, followed by Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket, though in terms of the most believable or realistic, probably the reverse order...

Full Metal Jacket's Sgt. Harman has the best 10 lines of all these movies though:
1) "I will gouge out your eyeballs and skull %$@* you"
2) Sgt. Hartman: "How tall are you, private?"
"Sir, five-foot-nine, sir!"
Sgt. Hartman: "Five-foot-nine, I didn't know they stacked *&%$ that high. You trying to squeeze an inch on me somewhere, huh?"
3) "You had best unf--k yourself or I will unscrew your head and s--t down your neck!"
4) )"Oh that's right Private Pyle, don't make any f--king effort to get up to the top of the f--king obstacle. If God wanted you up there he would have miracled your arse up there by now, wouldn't he?"
5) "What is your major malfunction numnuts?"
6) "You climb obstacles like old people f--k. Do you know that Private Pyle?"
7) "You had best square your arse away and start s---ting me Tiffany cufflinks or I will definitely f--k you up."
8) "Were you born a fat, slimy scumbag, puke, piece of s--t or did you have to work on it?"
9) "Your ass looks like 150 pounds of chewed bubble gum Pyle did you know that?"
10) "Do you feel dizzy? Do you feel faint! J H. C! I think you've got a hard-on!"



We Were Soldiers wasn't bad by any means, but just seemed to be missing something.

[Dusty Chalk]

A stunning cinematic tour de force that changed the lexicon.

I think this poll is slightly biased.

[jrhymeammo]

Where is Meet the Feables? That movie had Vietnam scene in it.

-JRA

[Dusty Chalk]

But it's basically not a war movie...well, yes it is...but it's basically not a Viet Nam War movie...

I mean, heck "From Dusk Til Dawn" had a Viet Nam story in it...sort of...

[Smokey]

A stunning cinematic tour de force that changed the lexicon.

I think this poll is slightly biased.

Looks like Worf got one passed us this time....LOL

Also, where is The Killing Fields

[PeruvianSkies]

This is a toughie....THE DEER HUNTER is a masterpiece, so is APOCALYPSE NOW, and so is FULL METAL JACKET...all different though. If anyone has read Robin Wood's book HOLLYWOOD: FROM VIETNAM TO REAGAN you will get some really great indepth discussion on these films and their importance.

Clearly one of the BEST documentaries on the subject though is Peter Davis' HEARTS AND MINDS (1974), which is amazing and one of the greatest cinematic achievements in the past half century.

[Worf101]

Looks like Worf got one passed us this time....LOL

Also, where is The Killing Fields

Nobody told you the differnece between Cambodia and Viet Nam? LOL... Actually, I tried to state "in country" with this one, even though the Cambodian conflict was a direct result of US interference in that country.

Da Worfster