war films

[Drone_pilot]

Given that there are so many film's about Vietnam, as Vet's of that conflict which in your opinion comes close to telling it as it was, and why.

 

[rotorwash]

Forrest Gump

RW

 

[Drone_pilot]

Forrest Gump

lolb; lolb; lolb; Life is like a box of chocolates

 

[Zofo]

What a brilliant film, Lt. Dan (Gary Sinese) is way and above the best supporting actor in that film, apart from the lady who's name I can't remember!

 

[DMZ-LT]

We were soldiers once and young. Except for the last assault scene that's the way it was.

 

[rotorwash]

Agreed. The only problem I have with We Were Soldiers is the helicopter gunship. If it was such a pee bringer why wasn't it used sooner? I know that the real helicopter pilot was a techncal advisor on the film, I think I need to read more about the battle and connect it with the movie.

Here is a brief rundown of what I remember about why so many of them stink.

"Casualties of War" - take one real incident and present it like it was the norm, no stereotypes here. Nice helicopter gunships, though. Those teeth look familiar. No navy type would bring a swift boat up that small a waterway unless it was Kerrey looking for another purple heart.

"Born on the Fourth of July" Stereotypes.

"Coming Home" Stereotypes.

"Green Berets" Was this about Vietnam? I thought for sure some of those extras had come straight from the "Custer's Last Stand" set.

"Platoon" I was into it until the sergeant stands up and yells "Quiet down there!" Which idiot is giving away the position?

Help me out here, guys.

The flingwing kid

 

[Frisbee]

Hamburger Hill …….. Although it had some good moments showing events and other things that were true, like the friendly fire incidents which were so bad that Lieutenant Colonel Honeycutt, who commanded the 3/187th, called in his artillery liaison officer and gave him a message to get back to the division staff. "I want you to make sure that everybody gets this. And I mean the artillery people and the gunship pilots and the liaison officers . . everybody. I don't want any more ARA out here if they can't shoot the enemy instead of us. I'm tired of taking more casualties from friendlies than from the enemy. The next goddamn sonofabitch who comes out here and shoots us up, we're gonna shoot his fuckin' ass down. And that's final. Now you go back and tell 'em that."
Most of the movie was Hollywood BS. They had the 3/187th riding in trucks into the Ashau Valley. Didn't happen. Couldn't have happened. There wasn't a passable road into the Ashau at the time. They CA'ed into the valley with us, the 1/506 and also the 2/506. And the scene where they were in some boom-boom bar. Frisco, if you read this, maybe you can tell me if I'm right, that ALL cities, towns and villes were off limits to the 101st. All, except for Phuoc Vinh when the 3rd Brigade was down south. Up in I Corp, you couldn't go anywhere on a pass. Also it made one to believe that the 3/187th took the hill all by themselves. Also not true. Nuff about it.

 

[Frisco-Kid]

Bill

That's pretty much a true story. For my year with the 101st, I pretty much lived like a dog. In fact, I sometimes saw scout dogs living better than me. Most of our time was spent in Indian Country. We were almost never given any stand down time in a ville, town or city. I say "almost" because there was a couple of exceptions. Our Christmas '66 stand down was just outside of Kontum City in II Corps in the Central Highlands. I did have an opportunity to go into town for a little I&I :mrgreen: . The stand down was at an ARVN Airborne or Ranger base camp and, for the most part, was considered secure. The stand down was about a week. It was the longest one we had had since I joined them 6mos. earlier. They were probably glad to see us leave. One of our LRRPs got in a beef with some ARVNs in a bar and shot up 3 of them, killing one.

The other time was when we were pulled back to Phan Rang the end of JAN67 to get re-equipped. There was a Sin City just outside the gate. It was about a 2 block long main drag with bars and cat houses on each side of the street. Made it in there a couple of times with buddies to have a little down time, not necessarily authorized. Then, for me personally, I had my 2 weeks spent in Saigon where I had some SERIOUS I&I time. These were the only times that I was able to spend a little free time drinking on the local economy and spend some intimate time with the local ladies.

I had heard stories about an authorized 3 day in-country R&R. If I remember right, it was spent at Vung Tau on the coast at the mouth of the Saigon River. I NEVER met one grunt that ever got this. It must have been a perk for the REMFs. I guess the Marines had something similar at China Beach in Danang.

When I returned with the 82nd and ended up in I Corps, it was like you.....NEVER made it into a town. Later, when I was put on convoy security out of Cam Rahn, I convoyed to a couple of places that had Sin Cities nearby. Cam Rahn, which was HUGE, had one within it's perimeter. Ban Me Thuot was another one that had a "Strip" nearby. Yeah, I liked being a REMF ALOT more than being a grunt.

 

[Doc 2/47]

"We Were Soldiers" is probably the only really well made movie about VN.Yeah, some minor lapses concerning choppers an bayonets.Wish they'd left in the scenes they took out.

 

[Bombardier]

Oh yes, We were soldiers was indeed a fantastic film. I obviously did not Know Lt Col Hal Moore but I think he would have been very very pleased with the way in which Mel gibson played him.
Mel Gibson like so many US actors is a fine actor and ranks in my top ten alongside others such as Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Nicholas Cage. Oh and so many others :mrgreen:

 

[Drone_pilot]

Mel Gibson like so many US actors

he's an Aussie :lol:

 

[Bombardier]

Oops your right you know! :roll:

 

[Drone_pilot]

LOL

 

[Frisco-Kid]

Mel Gibson

Actually, he was a Yank before he was an Aussie. He was born in Peekskill, NY, in '56. He's #6 out of 11 kids. His Dad was a railroad brakeman. His Mom is the Aussie of the family. His Dad moved the family to Mom's homeland in the mid '60s when it looked like one of the older sons was going to be drafted, possibly being sent to Vietnam. Always found his taking the role of Hal Moore interesting, given his family's feelings about the Vietnam War back in The Day.

Personally, I don't care one way or the other. I've always thought him a gifted actor and a genuinely nice guy.

 

[Dragon]

You guys got somethin against Aussies?? :evil:

 

[Drone_pilot]

nothing at all mate.

 

[Bombardier]

Only that you live in a nicer place than me :mrgreen:

 

[Drone_pilot]

Hay Bombardier there's less wild animals to. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Dragon]

Too right, i can at least shoot em without worryin about gettin myself mauled, although some females seem to be tryin to even that out

 

[Reloader]

On the Aussie theme & movies, has anyone seen 'The Odd Angry Shot', about Australian SAS in Vietnam? It's always been one of my favourites and seems to me that for its time (1979), it was a realistic portrayal of behind-the-lines operations. camo;