# Has there ever been a more laughable film than John Wayne's "Green Berets"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410 "2003-07-05T18:09:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/41 "2003-07-07T12:51:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrBoy1967 \* > \*\*Y’all are movie watching AMATEURS! > > I know of a viking movie with a black Viking in it-though the name escapes me- and I used it in a bad film festival. Do you recall many Vikings with names like Tyrone Ole-Torson or Sven Brown?\*\* Wow, **MrBoy1967** , I was just about to mention this. It’s [The Norseman](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0078007) (1978), starring Lee Majors and featuring Deacon Jones as Thrall, the token black Viking. My brother and I watched this one on late night TV, our jaws slack with amazement. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/42 "2003-07-07T13:04:31Z")
Actually, the concept of a black viking isn’t too far-fetched. The Russian vikings had a viable trade route with Arabia and north Africa, and it’s entirely possible that some Africans made it to Scandinavia (probably against their will). I do know that, at the time of the viking raids on England, there were blacks in London. Having said that…Deacon Jones as a viking? ---
**Author:** ![S\_Puppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@S\_Puppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/S_Puppy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/43 "2003-07-07T13:48:22Z")
Isn’t that the one where he chucks a grenade into a grass hut then ducks behind a grass wall to avoid the flying shrapnel? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/44 "2003-07-07T13:49:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ralph124c \* > \*\* That was the ending…with the sun setting on the South China Sea! Given the geography of Vietnam, that’s a bit hard to arrange…(the sea is EAST of Vietnam)! \*\* Maybe he was supposed to be in [Vung Tau](http://www.anzacday.org.au/education/maps/images/vietnam.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/45 "2003-07-07T13:52:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duke \* > \*\*Actually, the concept of a black viking isn’t too far-fetched. The Russian vikings had a viable trade route with Arabia and north Africa, and it’s entirely possible that some Africans made it to Scandinavia (probably against their will). I do know that, at the time of the viking raids on England, there were blacks in London. > > Having said that…Deacon Jones as a viking? \*\* Even if I conceded that point, **Duke** , you’d still have to explain the oil tankers visible in the background behind the longships, the Vikings wearing watches, Lee Majors’ performance… it’s a stupendously bad film, and thoroughly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/46 "2003-07-07T13:54:12Z")
I have never seen the movie “Green Berets,” but I have heard the song by Barry Sadler, and always find it very laughable. Is the song in the movie? Seems like it would be. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/47 "2003-07-07T14:01:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jerrybear \* > \*\*I have never seen the movie “Green Berets,” but I have heard the song by Barry Sadler, and always find it very laughable. > > Is the song in the movie? Seems like it would be. \*\* Theme song, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Zorro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@Zorro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorro)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/48 "2003-07-07T15:02:41Z")
I can’t remember the exact final exchange, but at the end of the Green Berets, John Wayne is watching the sunset with the little South Vietnamese boy that his regiment have more or less adopted, and they have the following approximate conversation: _\_ What will happen to me now, Duke San? \_ Don’t worry Nguyen, we’ll take care of you. Helping kids like you is what this damned war’s all about._ Well I know that this film has annoyed a lot of people in its time, but I couldn’t help wondering if John Wayne actually believed that statement, in which case the furore is just about a huge misunderstanding. Anyway, I found that line hilarious, even endearing in its naivety, and I found myself unable to become wound up about the film’s politics. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/49 "2003-07-07T15:18:51Z")
Let’s see you go tell Deacon Jones he can’t be a Viking. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/50 "2003-07-07T17:43:08Z")
Among my most spectacular bad decisions was a stint in the Army. Basic training in February of 1984 was quite interesting because, for some reason, DI’s were no longer allowed to swear at trainees or force training on Sunday. So, someone decided we should be forced to watch movies: Yes, Green Berets was our first selection and as the opening credits rolled I still can hear Sgt. Blizzard in her best John Wayne Drawl saying; “If it was up to me, you boys would watch this movie every day.” True – wickedly and unforgivably TRUE. ---
**Author:** ![MrBoy1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@MrBoy1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrBoy1967)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410/51 "2003-07-07T19:14:22Z")
Back to The Norsemen- at least one of the helmets looked like a German helmet circa WW1, albeit slightly modified. As far as black vikings go, while those trade routes had been established, what are the odds that Sven, Lief and Ole and their bunch would LET Shaka join up? He would have to be one BAAAAAAD MUTHA F(shut yo mouth!). Just talkin’ 'bout Shaka! Additionally, as I remember the movie, they are going out to rescue their king, who was lost on some “island” in the Atlantic, which is actually supposed to be North America. Unfortunately, the Native Americans looked suspiciously Samoan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-more-laughable-film-than-john-waynes-green-berets/186410.md?page=2)