I wasn’t sure where to post this, as the topic its self can be one to bring on high emotions, but I have a question for the older dopers. I was not born when the war started and was too young to understand when it was “over.”
Anyhow, I have the movie Platoon and watched it last night. I was wondering if Oliver Stone’s portrayal was anywhere near what really happened over there?
If this is anywhere near what actually happened and happens in war, it makes me so sad that people continually engage in war. The young soldier having to deal with such destruction is horrific. The citizens having to deal with such barbaric acts is outrageous.
I was very small during the 'Nam era, but my ex-father-in-law told me recently that he thought “Full Metal Jacket” was more like what it was really like than “Platoon.”
“In much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” - Ecclesiastes 1:18
I was very young during the war, myself. But when I was in the Army, several vets mentioned “The Green Berets” (John Wayne)as a fairly accurate portrayal. Minus the flagwaving, of course.
Still trying to think of something witty to say here
I have to agree with the poster who mentioned ‘Full Metal Jacket’. From the fellows I knew in the National Guard, and my college roomie’s dad, they picked this one as ‘pretty darn close’.
My roomie’s dad quote was ‘the only thing wrong was the color of the helicopter pilot’s helmet’. He went in as a Marine, and swapped over to Army aviation, so I take his word for it.
-sb
They say the Lord loves drunks, fools and little children.
Two out of three ain’t bad.
My woman-self is a twisted one as I prefer action and adventure movies to chick flicks (although the occasional chick flick is okay) But when it comes to war related movies, this bizarre curiousity takes over. I spose the need to understand how otherwise rational people enter into such inhumane acts.
If Full Metal Jacket is the movie you are referring to, then you might want to prepare yourself for a couple of scenes. I don’t know if you are squemish at all or if you already know anything about the movie. It is a great movie, but it’s very intense, too. I couldn’t compare it to Platoon, though, because the last time I saw it was when it came out in theatres…
When Platoon was first released, a friend of mine who was a Vietnam vet said Hamburger Hill (which came out about the same time) was the most realistic Vietnam movie he had seen.
I believe that everyone who was there had a different Vietnam War. There are, in my opinion, bits of truth in every Nam flick. And bojive also. What I’ve never seen in any films are patrols where there was no contact or the boredom in between the adrenaline episodes. But who wants to pay $7.50 a pop to sit through 2 hours of that?
I thought there was a lot of truth in that line that Forrest Gump said: “The only good thing about getting shot in the buttocks is the ice cream.”
My vote is for FMJ also. Stay away from Apocolypse Now; it’s just too much of the weird stuff.
I was too young to have served in Vietnam, but Dad did, in 1967. He spent his time shuttling between Cam Ranh Bay and Danang, setting up communications antennas, which Charlie knocked down about as fast.
