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Reviews
Hamburger Hill (1987)
A great and real film.
"Hamburger Hill" is never given credit due because movie reviewers never understood it and used "Platoon" as their point of reference.
"Platoon" is a great film, one based on Oliver Stone's memories. In Stone's mind and creation, his characters are vivid and distinct. In "Hamburger Hill" mainy of the characters are less distinct to the undiscerning, non-military eye. Most are FNGs - Uniformity and homogeneity are the ideal the Army tries to produce out of pre-combat training. They all wear the same uniforms and gear, all have bad haircuts, and all share the same recent experiences.. If you've never been in a military environment, they all look and sound the same to you, racial differences not withstanding. You have to have an eye and ear for humanity or just ditch your preconceived notions to appreciate the characters as individuals, rather than say, resurrections of Ollie Stone's memory.
The balls and brains of the platoon here is Dylan McDermot as SSG Frantz. While he is not much older then his FNGs, Frantz has a vast amount of combat experience garnered in maybe 2 years of military service. Frantz is not a "lifer", but rather a man doing his job and trying his best to keep his men alive.
The heart and soul of the Platoon is "Doc" Johnson, portrayed very well by Courtney B. Vance. Doc know swhat the reality is in the A Shau, but despite being an experienced realist, does all he can to keep his people- the entire platoon- alive and healthy. When a wounded and dying Doc tell his buddies "take that hill. When I get home that's something they can't take way from me" it's not at all contrived or cliched.
Steven Weber as Platoon Sergeant SFC Worcester also avoids cliches. Instead of paraphrasing Tom Berenger as SSG Barnes in "Platoon" , Weber creates a solidly professional but very human and very affected character. His tale of what he saw upon returning home from the battle of Dak To reflects on the times versus the honorable nature of the men who fought in Vietnam.
The rest of the cast keeps it real, as veterans or as FNGs. Nary a false note here.
"Hamburger Hill" is a damn good movie that gets virtually ignored by critics but is very well worth viewing.
The Boys in Company C (1978)
Great and overlooked film.
Guess the lack of pretentiousness of "The Boys in Company C" just didn't fit in with the "Vietnam" films of it's time like "Deer Hunter" and "Coming Home". The film, director Sidney J. Furie, and actor Stan Shaw all deserve a lot more recognition then they were given at that time or since.
Tyrone Washington (Stan Shaw) is a unique movie character for the time. He's the most sensible and able Marine in the company, a bad-ass who learns to lead instead of just taking care of himself, who is also a Black man from the Chicago streets who, initially, aspires to shipping drugs home from Vietnam. Shaw's portrayal of Washington is apt and the changes the character goes thru made very credible.
The main heavy duty allegory here is that the Marines need to lose the soccer game in order to ensure their own survival. Of course this is contrary to their ethos, training, and esprit de corps.
This is a somewhat tough to find film these days, and anyone that finds a copy if fortunate indeed!
A Time to Triumph (1986)
I was in this Movie!
I was the 4th soldier, 4th squad, 4th platoon in the graduation scene. It was actually our graduation, B-10-2 Infantry, good thing they were filming otherwise wouldn't have been many women there...Pretty girl playing the female Drill Sergeant botched echoing her commands, but they had plenty of real soldiers in the female platoon to make them look credible. I saw Patty Duke at one point, shorter than I thought she'd be but very pretty, not just because I hadn't had any contact with women for 14 weeks either.
Movie was OK, actually above average for a TV movie of the week thing. I watched it when it originally aired, and was able to say "See Dad, there I was! I'm the guy in the BDUs..."