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Post by Greg C. on Mar 20, 2008 19:39:05 GMT -5
Cast:
John Wayne ... Col. Mike Kirby
David Janssen ... George Beckworth
Jim Hutton ... Sgt. Petersen
Aldo Ray ... Sgt. Muldoon
Raymond St. Jacques ... Doc McGee
Bruce Cabot ... Col. Morgan
Jack Soo ... Col. Cai
George Takei ... Captain Nim
Patrick Wayne ... Lt. Jamison
Luke Askew ... Sgt. Provo
Irene Tsu ... Lin
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Post by seguin on Mar 21, 2008 0:04:26 GMT -5
Have´nt seen it since it came out when I was about 16-17 years old. Don´t remember much of it - except the demonstrations and riots outside the cinema!
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Post by neferetus on Mar 21, 2008 1:26:45 GMT -5
The battle scene in the camp is reminiscent of THE ALAMO. The temple ruin is the chapel, some oil drums represent the palisade, while the main assault falls upon the north wall. The way the Viet Cong move towards the wire is very similar to the way the Mexicans move toward the barricade in THE ALAMO. The defenders silhouetted along the walls is also very Waynamo-ish.
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Post by seguin on Mar 21, 2008 1:33:36 GMT -5
Do you think it was filmed like that on purpose, Nef? - I would´nt be surprised!
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Post by Greg C. on Mar 21, 2008 8:17:42 GMT -5
Seguin, it may have been filmed to reflect the Alamo battle, but no one knows. What we do know is, it was the only Pro-Vietnam movie ever made. When it first came out, the American public loved it and the critics hated it. John Wayne's reason was that because the war was getting so much bad publicity, he wanted to make something good for the boys overseas.
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Post by neferetus on Mar 21, 2008 12:40:33 GMT -5
Do you think it was filmed like that on purpose, Nef? - I would´nt be surprised! Well, it had some of the same crew that worked on THE ALAMO involved with it: Second Unit Director: Cliff Lyons Producer: John Wayne Producer: Michael Wayne Director: John Wayne Stunts: Rudy Robbins |
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Post by neferetus on Mar 21, 2008 12:43:23 GMT -5
From Wikipedia:
Three commonly-cited technical mistakes are (i) the sun setting in the wrong horizon, (ii) the pine tree forests, and (iii) the communist enemy's incorrect weapons.
The oft quoted criticism that the film closes with the sun "setting in the east" by Da Nang is in fact wrong. Critics presume that the film ends in the evening, while in fact, the penultimate scene is set at night, and the last scene is the helicopters landing in the morning. The final shot shows Wayne and a young Asian boy walking along a coastline with the sun near the horizon in the background. Critics frequently mention this, presuming the movie ends at dusk, rather than dawn, and believe that the sun is setting rather than rising. However, following the movie's timeline, the last shot occurs in the morning, and the sun is correctly understood to be "rising in the east".
The story occurs in southern Vietnam, which does not have pine trees, so viewers think it does not resemble Vietnam. If it took place in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, it would be correct as that region does have pine trees and Georgian terrain like that of Fort Benning.
The weapons of the Vietcong guerrillas and NVA soldiers, while mostly American and British, are accurate, as Chinese copies of them were exported to the NVA and Vietcong. At the time, few modern Russian and Chinese assault rifles, i.e. the AK-47, had been captured by the Americans or Hollywood.
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Post by Greg C. on Mar 21, 2008 12:48:25 GMT -5
From Wikipedia:Three commonly-cited technical mistakes are (i) the sun setting in the wrong horizon, (ii) the pine tree forests, and (iii) the communist enemy's incorrect weapons. The oft quoted criticism that the film closes with the sun "setting in the east" by Da Nang is in fact wrong. Critics presume that the film ends in the evening, while in fact, the penultimate scene is set at night, and the last scene is the helicopters landing in the morning. The final shot shows Wayne and a young Asian boy walking along a coastline with the sun near the horizon in the background. Critics frequently mention this, presuming the movie ends at dusk, rather than dawn, and believe that the sun is setting rather than rising. However, following the movie's timeline, the last shot occurs in the morning, and the sun is correctly understood to be "rising in the east". The story occurs in southern Vietnam, which does not have pine trees, so viewers think it does not resemble Vietnam. If it took place in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, it would be correct as that region does have pine trees and Georgian terrain like that of Fort Benning. The weapons of the Vietcong guerrillas and NVA soldiers, while mostly American and British, are accurate, as Chinese copies of them were exported to the NVA and Vietcong. At the time, few modern Russian and Chinese assault rifles, i.e. the AK-47, had been captured by the Americans or Hollywood. I think critics just hated the movie so much they looked for any little questionable scene and criticized it. If the storyline is follwed, the sun in rising, not setting but haters of the film don't see it. By the Way, as a little bit of trivia, the US Government loved the set so much they purchased it from John Wayne after filming because of how accurate it is, to use as a training facility for the troops. |
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Post by Cole_blooded on Mar 22, 2008 18:07:04 GMT -5
The "Green Berets" movie by John Wayne is my favorite of all his movies! ;D I have never enjoyed a movie of his more than this one! I was in 5th grade at the time in 1968 and went with my dad to see it when it first played on Hurlburt AFB near Fort Walton Beach Florida! The Base theater admission was 15 cents and the theater was packed with sevice men and their boys which was all the better "sittin with your friends and their dads was a treat" ;D The fathers at times were hoorahing as much and as loud as their sons were and that was fantastic as a kid to hear and see! Alot of these men in the theater were coming and going to Vietnam and this movie made their day! ;D Everybody there got a big thrill out of the battle scene at the A-Camp and in particular the C-47 shooting it`s 6,000 rds. a minute 7.62 mini gun and moving down the Vietcong/VC that over ran the camp! My biggest thrill of the movie was seeing the real "Gabriel Detachment" 12 man A-Team standing side by side and informing the spectators of their specialties and languages spoken! This was real sweet and Aldo Ray played a part in the scene too with David Jansen! ;D ;D Neff the Special Forces/Green Beret units in Vietnam had captured alot of documents, explosives "Russian-Chinese-East German etc grenades, Russian-Chinese etc rifles/RPG`s and recoiless rifles, etc and alot of rice and a whole lot of other stuff! More later and an incident at the Officers Club just outside the base where my dad was also a bartender!  TED COLE....aka....Cole_blooded  |
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Post by Greg C. on Mar 22, 2008 21:16:51 GMT -5
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Post by alamojobe on Mar 23, 2008 12:58:46 GMT -5
It amazing how much people condemn this movie when it's very patriotic!
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Post by Greg C. on Mar 23, 2008 14:24:23 GMT -5
It amazing how much people condemn this movie when it's very patriotic! It's a very PC world and to be pro-war is something society frowns upon nowadays. |
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Post by neferetus on Mar 23, 2008 15:42:12 GMT -5
It amazing how much people condemn this movie when it's very patriotic! It's a very PC world and to be pro-war is something society frowns upon nowadays. I guess that many Americans just want to forget that this country of ours was built on the blood, sweat and tears of people who would not just sit idly by and accept whatever injustices a government was forcing upon them. This is a time in our history when the Democratic party wants you to accept the "fact" that only your government knows what's best for you and that only government programs, free hand-outs and medical care will save you. Never mind that our forebearers reared up on their own haunches and then took care of themselves. That's freedom. It's like John Wayne says in SPIRIT OF THE ALAMO. "Living free meant a lot more to them than cowering in security." Today, many soft Americans would just rather cower. |
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Post by Greg C. on Mar 23, 2008 16:28:20 GMT -5
It's a very PC world and to be pro-war is something society frowns upon nowadays. I guess that many Americans just want to forget that this country of ours was built on the blood, sweat and tears of people who would not just sit idly by and accept whatever injustices a government was forcing upon them. This is a time in our history when the Democratic party wants you to accept the "fact" that only your government knows what's best for you and that only government programs, free hand-outs and medical care will save you. Never mind that our forebearers reared up on their own haunches and then took care of themselves. That's freedom. It's like John Wayne says in SPIRIT OF THE ALAMO. "Living free meant a lot more to them than cowering in security." Today, many soft Americans would just rather cower. Also, people in today's world are brought up with a very anti-Vietnam stance. I'm not saying that the war was good, because it wasn't. But just because our country made a mistake with the war doesn't mean we have to be 100% biased against it. |
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Post by neferetus on Mar 23, 2008 18:11:42 GMT -5
The mistake with the Vietnam War was that the powers that be in Washington did not let the military go in and get the job done. That's what all of the protestors should've been protesting. Boys were dying, while politicians were sitting on their hands and getting rich.
Do you suppose for a moment that, had the military been in control of the war and its strategies, North Vietnam and all the Commie Pinkos therein would not have been bombed off the face of the earth?
Evil has to be dealt with head-on, not negotiated with. Well, the powers in Washington did not want to offend Red China and so put only a half-hearted effort into the war. Meanwhile, the soldiers, the young men on the front lines, were dying for nothing. As it turned out, when America slunk away from Vietnam in 1973, it took two years for the VC to finally overcome the South Vietnamese government. Next came the bloodbath. The purging of anyone who might prove a threat to the communist way of thinking. Anyone with any education, doctors, lawyers, teachers were all killed. Then came the stream of boat people from South Vietnam heading for life and freedom in the U.S.
As Casey Biggs' Travis tells James Allen in APOF, "Freedom finally rests on those who are willing to lay down their lives for it." During the Vietnam conflict however, many U.S. government officials merely wanted to fatten their own coffers at the expense of their country's patriotic young.
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