The Green Berets (1968)

6/10

eschmidt-33 November 2005

While I like this movie for all the wrong reasons, it doesn't come close to doing justice to the Robin Moore book on which it was very loosely based. It's pretty obvious that much of it was filmed stateside, but in that it was one of the few - if not the only - Vietnam War movies made in the 60's it's historically significant. I also know that The Duke visited several US Army SF camps in SE Asia in preparation for this film - as well as to show his support for our service men.

If you're interested in the subject matter, however, READ THE BOOK! It's very gritty and much of it is from a unique first-person perspective.

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5/10

Putting It On the Line

bkoganbing13 September 2006

One thing about John Wayne that everyone agrees with, whether you liked him or not, you always knew where he stood and he put his money and life behind the projects that he believed in. True of The Alamo and true of The Green Berets.

The Duke's problem was simply that he made a World War II film about Vietnam. And he was pilloried for it. I well remember when The Green Berets first came out, Renata Adler wrote an absolutely hysterical review of it, cursing out the film and its producer/star every name in the book in that well known paper that only prints news fit to print.

Even World War II films as well as Vietnam ones done now have the value of some historical perspective if they're done now. For my money Casualties of War is the best film done about Vietnam. The Green Berets is not a great film. It does show however the Viet Cong were not exactly boy scouts, something many refuse to acknowledge to this day.

The Green Berets is at times more silly than bad. It has some stock characters you see in war films, the gruff sergeant Aldo Ray, the resourceful scrounger Jim Hutton, the kindly doctor Raymond St. Jacques. The Vietnamese besides the Viet Cong are represented by George Takei and Jack Soo. Soo, who I first saw on Broadway in Flower Drum Song has that disarming deadpan delivery that works great for comedy, but not really well in a serious role.

In fact Soo is part of what was the silliest part of The Green Berets, the capture of a defecting South Vietnamese General who gets entrapped by an Oriental Mata Hari. Irene Tsu is the temptress here in a story that had to have been lifted from Terry and the Pirates back in the day. Someone should have been asking why a general was defecting from the South Vietnamese cause.

George Takei is a grim and hating South Vietnamese Captain. I met George Takei at a Star Trek convention several years ago and asked him about the film and John Wayne. He kind of sidestepped the question about the film, Oriental players didn't exactly have too much choices in roles. However he did say that working with John Wayne was an experience and he liked the fact that there was no pretense about him. You always knew exactly where you stood with the Duke.

Vietnam, like Iraq today, was a story of culture clash. Americans and the west view the world quite differently than these people. Somewhere along the line we'd all better learn to get along. Maybe when we're faced with beings from another world, all of our religious and socio-political differences will melt away. I hope so because I suspect that Renata Adler didn't have any more clue to what made John Wayne tick than the Duke had about Vietnam.

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6/10

Only pro-Vietnam War film ever made

ca_skunk28 December 2005

Warning: Spoilers

This is the only pro-Vietnam war film ever made. Most of the officers, like John Wayne or Bruce Cabot (Frank Pierce in 1967's "The War Wagon"), are much too old to be running around the jungle looking for the VC. Aldo Ray, though a bit too old for this part, pulls it off with a tough-as-nails portrayal of Sgt. Muldoon. Mike Henry, a lousy actor at best, actually has a decent scene, in which, unfortunately, he dies. Henry's character, Kowalski, shows what hand-to-hand combat with martial arts training can really do.

Oliver Stone has denounced this film as racist; I have yet to find out why. I have seen this film at least a dozen times, and the ruthlessness of the Viet Cong is shown honestly. The scenes with American actors in blackface (greyface?) portraying VC are rather silly, since there weren't too many six-foot VC around, but the Malayan Swing and punji stakes are frighteningly realistic, at a time when most Americans had never heard of such barbaric weapons.

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About as viable as most Vietnam war movies

ubercommando16 January 2006

No, seriously. "The Green Berets" is about as viable and creditable as "The Boys in Company C" or "Casualties of War". It's hard to find a Vietnam war movie that DOESN'T come full of distortions based on the film makers political agendas; it's just this time "The Green Berets" comes from the pro-involvement side.

We've heard the negatives about this movie, and most of them are basically correct but there are a few things to say that, if not positive, put the movie in a less negative light.

First, this isn't your usual piece about 19 year old conscripts being called up to fight in a war they don't understand. The real Special Forces are career professionals who have very high standards of training and discipline. "The Green Berets" isn't a movie about your average grunt; it's about commandos and a lot of the training, tactics and equipment is accurate for the time. The experience of the special forces in Vietnam was widely different from line conscripts; and they won a lot of victories.

Second, it was a bold move to make a movie about the Vietnam war whilst it was still going on. The movie was made shortly before the Tet Offensive of 1968 when the initiative was still with the US and South Vietnamese forces. This is a Vietnam war movie from the early part of the war...something "Platoon" falls down on is depicting the unit in a state of disorganisation, with the usual drug taking and indiscipline scenes that have become cliché, in 1967 when the reality was that discipline and cohesion in the field in '67 was a lot tighter. Stone depicts events that would not become common in front line troops until '69-'70. Yes, I know he served a tour of duty over there but a number of his fellow veterans have called his depiction of events into question.

Third, the early part of the movie with the relationships between US Special Forces officers and ARVN counterparts is fairly well done. The SF had been present in Vietnam from '62 onwards and by '67-'68 had built up a good working relationship with ARVN Ranger units (the only South Vietnamese army units that were well trained and led).

Now the pine tree issue. Well, I hate to break it to people but not all of Vietnam is palm trees and jungle. In the area of Cochinchina just north of Saigon and into the hilly Montangnard country, there are a lot of deciduous and evergreen trees. I was surprised to find this when doing research on the US 25th Infantry Division and finding a lot of their patrol area wasn't in jungle but hilly woodland. Pine trees maybe stretching things a little bit though but it's not impossible.

The politics. Yes, the Duke is on the right wing campaign trail but other film makers have used the Vietnam war to promote the liberal left agenda so I don't get why that is acceptable and an alternative view that doesn't conform to that is inherently wrong. The scene at the beginning of the movie has Aldo Ray explaining how China, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union were sending aid to North Vietnam...so Oliver Stone's assertions that the VC were self-liberating and proudly defiant are deeply wrong. The VC and NVA were tools of a communist regime that were being heavily supplied and subsidised by other Communist regimes. I'm not advocating that the US's involvement in a war in Vietnam was right, just that people understand the involvement of other nations as well.

For those who think this movie is bad because it doesn't depict American atrocities, drug taking and insubordination like other Vietnam war movies have merely bought into another set of falsehoods. This goes back to my original point; "The Green Berets" isn't particularly realistic...but then again, neither are most other movies about that war.

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6/10

Overlong though spectacular Vietnam film that resulted to be a typical as well as thrilling John Wayne vehicle

ma-cortes26 September 2015

Col. Mike Kirby (John Wayne who traveled to Vietnam in June 1966 and got the idea to make this picture about the army special forces on that trip) picks two teams of crack Green Berets ( Aldo Ray , George Takei , Jim Hutton , Edward Faulkner , Raymond St Jacques , Patrick Wayne , John's son , among others) from U.S. Special Forces troops for a mission in South Vietnam . Being accompanied by cynical War correspondent George Beck (David Janssen) briefing about the American military involvement in the war in Vietnam . First off is to build and control a camp that is attempting to be taken by the Viet Cong , the second assignment is to Kirby and a select group of his men are then ordered on a special mission to capture a high-level enemy Colonel .

This exciting wartime picture contains thrills , violence , noisy action , breathtaking battles and absurd situations . Don't miss the ending scene where the sun sets in the East , including a patriotic as well as famous music . Nice acting by John Wayne , as usual , he was prompted to make the film as a response to the growing anti-Vietnam War movement in the US . John Wayne's character , Col. Mike Kirby, is based on the real-life Lauri Törni, who later on called himself Larry Thorne . The latter was a Finnish army captain who fought in the Second World War during the Winter War (1939-40) and Continuation War (1941-44) against the Soviet Union . He emigrated to the US in the late 1940s and in 1954 joined the US Army . Very good support cast , plenty of familiar faces such as Jim Hutton , Aldo Ray , Raymond St. Jacques , Bruce Cabot , Patrick Wayne , Edward Faulkner and Luke Askew . The film was panned by reviewers , general public and many soldiers serving in Vietnam found the film offensive . Being partially based on real events , as the defensive battle that takes place during the second half of the movie is very loosely based on the Battle of Nam Dong , during which two Viet Cong battalions attacked a small outpost in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam . Even George Takei (he missed nine episodes of Star Trek) has admitted in interviews that while he was grateful to be cast in this film , he nevertheless strongly disagreed with the film's pro-war message and felt the finished movie was very bad . Green Berets was released soon after the Tet Offensive and the My Lai Massacre getting negative critiques , too . However , a lot of critics deemed this war film much better than its reputation would suggest . Possibly due to the film's extremely lousy critical reactions , it's been a long-held belief by many people that it was also a box-office flop . Actually , it was one of John Wayne's biggest box-office successes , attracting millions of moviegoers and ending up being the 13th highest grossing movie of 1968.

Colorful cinematography in Panavision by Winton Hoch , filmed on location in Columbus, Georgia , and Ft. McClellen, Alabama . Much of the film was shot in 1967 at Ft. Benning, Georgia, hence the large pine forests in the background rather than tropical jungle trees . Good production design , some of the "Vietnamese village" sets were so realistic they were left intact, and were later used by the Army for training troops destined for Vietnam . Impressive and rousing musical score by Miklós Rózsa , similarly composed to previous epics as Ben Hur , King of Kings , El Cid . Lavishly produced by Batjac , Wayne's company and Warner Bros was concerned about letting John Wayne direct the movie because of the fact that his previous directorial effort , El Alamo (1960), had been an expensive flop . They therefore only agreed to let him do the film if he agreed to co-direct with a more experienced director, and Wayne chose Ray Kellogg . The studio agreed, despite Kellogg's only having ever directed a few "B" pictures such as : ¨The Giant Gila Monster , My dog buddy , The killer shrews¨ , because of his impressive track record as a second unit director on a number of major studio releases . Being John Wayne's final war film , although Undefeated (1969) and Río Lobo (1970) contained some war scenes .

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1/10

Garbage - and my right to say so

jw522 November 2006

I was in 'Nam. When this came out, I tried to pick up my theater seat and throw it at the screen - I liked John Wayne - but then he went ahead and trashed everything I and my brothers went through - I am sick of the stinking young pups who recite lies they hear from draft-dodgers like Limbaugh and Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush, & co., thinking they are doing me and my brothers honor. Denying reality is no honor. Refusing to face facts is not courage. Distorting history don't help any of us in any way.

The war was all heat and sweat and dirt and bugs - we were all down sick with something mostly. I never got to see the enemy up close alive, they were just blurs through the bush. Sometimes I didn't even look at them, I just pulled the trigger and hoped I kept breathing.

The locals hated us - even those who wanted us to stay and fight for them, so they wouldn't have to do it themselves. They kept trying to sell us cheap dope, cheap girls, and rancid meat, telling us it was "local cooking." It was clear that, behind their fear of us, their was a real contempt. The first three months, I thought I was fighting for my country; then all I was fighting for was to get home.

The 'commanding' officers, when we saw them, were all dressed fresh, washed and shaved. And well fed. I watched my best friend die with shrapnel tearing his guts into stringy beef for these b*st*rds- and now I'm supposed to praise some stupid Hollywood propaganda from WWII with the names all changed - and this does us honor?! This is supposed to be the "American" thing to do?! I thought forced culture was a Soviet idea - when did we suddenly go Bolshevik?

This was a good country until it started lying to itself. I did fight for America. I fought for the freedom guaranteed in the Constitution - the right to disagree. And those who don't like it can get bent.

I won't be lied to again. I was there. I know this war. And this piece of crap of a 'movie' ain't it.

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7/10

excellent action film

terriannjohnson3 October 2006

Warning: Spoilers

politics aside the green berets is an excellent action and war picture -yes its dated,yes its campy,yes its sometimes cheesy and borders on the unrealistic-the helicopter crash for example and unbelievable-But i still like this movie-and i am not really a fan of john Wayne,but i find this film to be one of his best war movies-if not the best.after doing some research on this film i discovered that the some parts of the film-the gung-ho speeches at the start, the fire base,the ruthlessness of the Viet Cong,the boobytraps,and the fire fights were pretty accurate portrayals.john Wayne actually asked president Johnson for the army's technical assistance and after looking over the script told Wayne he would have what he needed,the film was shot at Georgia's fort benning in the summer and fall of 1967.But be warned the second half of the films trumped up Vietnamese matahari secret commando mission is pure Hollywood hokum from another era and reeks of old cheese and is strangely remaniscent of the mission from the dirty dozen.

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1/10

It's not the message, it's the movie.

steelerstwin9 July 2011

A lot of reviewers of this film seem to be more upset by the alleged leftist political views of those who dislike the movie, rather than taking a look at why this motion picture is, sadly, an embarrassing joke.

Prior to the Tet Offensive, there was still a good deal of support for the Vietnam War in the USA. Indeed, it was far more likely that the production of a pro-Vietnam War movie was going to be undertaken at this point than an anti-Vietnam War film. Those anti-war (and far superior) films wouldn't come until the 1970's and 1980's. But movies like "Coming Home", "Apocolypse Now", "Platoon", etc., weren't better because they were often perceived as anti-war, they were just better.

The problems with this production are legion. Sure, there may be pine trees, deserts and a variety of terrain in South Vietnam. So what? This movie looks like a movie filmed on a soundstage that's SUPPOSED to look like South Vietnam and DOES NOT. The war wasn't fought in Georgia. This looks like Georgia.

Secondly, John Wayne, in the latter portion of his career could be quite effective on screen. His performances in "The Shootist" and "True Grit" come to mind immediately... and an under-rated Wayne film, Mark Rydell's "The Cowboys" in 1972, has a marked right-wing bent, and is a terrific movie. Having said that, Wayne is truly at his worst in this picture. He is simply too old, fat and immobile to play his role convincingly. David Janssen, another compelling actor, is totally wasted as a stereotypical liberal journalist. Not one character in this movie rings true.

That's the main problem with this picture. It isn't its sloppy attention to detail (yeah, sorry previous posters, but the sun setting on the wrong side of the planet IS terrible film making, even if it is possible to see it that way in some portions of South Vietnam), it's the jingoistic simplicity of the film's entire approach and cardboard characterizations.

You've got every form of tired, old stereotypical World War II soldier... the brave commander, the tough-as-nails with heart-of-gold field grunt, the subservient natives, the soldier who dies so we've got villainy to hang our anger on... no need to go on.

What the pro-Vietnam contingent deserved was a three-dimensional picture that wasn't geared toward 14-year-olds, but to adults who, even though they were pro-war, might have had compelling reasons to doubt - as all adults do in times of stress an conflict. This movie demanded characters that didn't superficially deal with the intense difficulties that the war brought up at home and abroad. The whole film is marred by these omission - and by an unrealistic story, badly filmed in TV movie of the week fashion. The battle scenes just don't hold up and production seemed rushed. No amount of revisionist reviewing will make this absurdly insulting film any better. It's a truly horrible movie.

John Wayne was a talented actor who deserved better, but time and time again got stuck with turkeys like this.

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8/10

Pro-Vietnam War

hughbra15 February 2000

Probably the only major motion picture to actively support the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict, John Wayne leads an elite team of Green Berets on a search-and-destroy mission to capture a leading NVA general. Well acted action film worthy of a look even if its sentiments might be a bit dated by today's standards.

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6/10

Were you out there?

zaarnak21 May 2005

I watch "The Green Berets" more than once every year just to stir up both memories and the stewing pot of controversy. In that pot are several ingredients of the movie and of the politics of the time. One of those ingredients is location.

Vietnam is an amalgamation of three separate topographies (formerly separate countries). Most jungle in the vast delta of the mighty Mekong river has been cleared away for centuries to accommodate rice fields. Much of the central highlands area (where this movie is set) is forested (with pines and lots of scrub growth)growing in generally poor soil (red dust)... not too much different than what you will find in parts of North Carolina and Georgia. Were you out there? If not, your ideas about the location are merely speculative.

When "The Green Berets" was filmed, the war was still going on. So, some realism would have to be sacrificed for the safety of cast and crew, I think. Thus, the sunset 'problem' (Shouting at the detail).

Another ingredient is the nature of the personnel. That is, bona fide Special Forces soldiers were (and are) completely different than any other force with exceptions for certain Marine Corps units which faced the same situations as did the real Green Berets (e.g., at Khe Sanh). NO ONE who was military other than Special Forces has any idea at all of what they did or said.

Encirclement of outposts manned by Special Forces or Marine units was always undertaken by regular PAVN (People's Army of Vietnam) units. The VC were not usually involved. General Giap used the same methods at Dien Bien Phu...encircle and assault by superior numbers (no matter how many died...the PAVN had little care for their soldiers' lives).

That we were 'right' about the people (some of them, anyway) was demonstrated after the war ended when the VietNamese government exterminated many thousands (some say over 100,000) Montagnards. Montagnards were usually allied with Special Forces units, as the movie clearly shows.

The American military did not 'lose' the conflict at all - it was given away by politicians. Simply check the casualty numbers. The ignominy lay in the submission by 'President Cronkite' on national TV.

There are other elements in the pot, but those don't matter much.

I watch "The Green Berets" in 2 parts. The first part is totally realistic, as far as the crude effects would permit. I overlook the technical failures. The second part is really not credible at all, but it is kind of fun, in a way. Such a snatch mission would take weeks to arrange and that requirement is not addressed in the movie. It just happens, as if it were undertaken in the next few days.

While I have versions of "Apocalypse Now" and its "Redux," I do not have other Vietnam war movies such as "Platoon" (an aberration), "The Deer Hunter" (preposterous), "Hamburger Hill" (stumbling) or "Full Metal Jacket" (another aberration), although I have subjected myself to having watched them all at one time or another.

I watch "The Green Berets" for another chance to get mad at Maltin and other speculators who were not out there and do not understand at all. I watch it with Closed Captions (I started using CC about 6 years ago and I find it enriches my movie watching experience) but "The Green Berets" is rather poorly captioned. I complained to the captioning company and suggested they use an experienced person to at least CHECK the 'technical' terminology. For example, fougasse is called "boo gas," the commo bunker is called the "com-o bunker," Colonel Kirby's Mike Force is called a "Might Force" and there are all kinds of captions for "Fong" which is NOT a VietNamese name (Pham or Phon, maybe), among other boo-boos.

With some reservations, I recommend "The Green Berets" for the first part of it and the general tone of its Point Of View which represents the prevailing notion in both the government and the military at that time.

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5/10

So-So War Flick; Seen Better, Seen Worse

ccthemovieman-128 May 2006

There are some good battle scenes in here, particularly at night. Other than that, it's a so-so war movie and a little long. At 141 minutes, it could have been a lot better cut to two hours or even less.

There is an interesting lecture to the press by the military early on and that's worth listening to, whether you agree with it or not. John Wayne played his normal tough-on-the-outside-but very human-on-the- inside role, which he so often did in his westerns. This movie also was made right when the Hays Code had been abolished but they still refrained from profanity, to their credit, although it certainly would have been understandable being a war flick.

There were a number of lulls in here to show the soldiers being more than just killing machines. There is one very touching scene with a little boy whose soldier friend does not come back alive. From a war standout, there were interesting Viet Cong booby traps that were brutal but interesting to see. An okay war movie, but nothing special. Unlike most reviews that I've read here, I am just trying to evaluate the film without politics entering into it.

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9/10

The Green Berets = Classic Action, no more, no less

giconceptsjw3 April 2006

Warning: Spoilers

The liberal reviewers of "The Green Berets" need to free their minds from all of their 40 year-old irrational hate. "The Green Berets" is a motion picture film, nothing more. Anyone who sees it has the right to exercise their opinion and they are entitled to like or dislike this or any other film. However, it is interesting how left-wing reviewers of this film will go to such great lengths to mock and ridicule it.

Liberals are quick to point out that John Wayne was not in WWII which is somehow supposed to make him a bad guy because he portrayed soldiers in the movies. Really? Let's look at the reviews of Jane Fonda's films. Oops!, it looks like Jane has been portraying decent American citizens for years after she gave hugs & kisses to the Vietcong in Hanoi after they had killed Americans. "The Green Berets" is routinely viewed under a microscope with hyper-critical eyes looking for the slightest continuity error to exploit and exaggerate. It's interesting that "The Green Berets" and "The Hellfighters" were two films made back-to-back the same year (1968) with a nearly identical cast including John Wayne, Bruce Cabbot and Jim Hutton. Both films are action yarns with the only real difference being the enemy. In "The Green Berets" they fight the Vietcong. In "The Hellfighters" they fight oil fires. Take a look at the reviews left for "The Hellfighters". Most render praise for the acting, story and cast, noting that it is a worthwhile albeit 40 year-old action film. Considerably different from the vicious and offensive reviews given for "The Green Berets" to say the least. Is it likely that an ensemble cast used in both films, shot only months apart, gave bitterly disappointing and ridiculous performances in "The Green Berets" but then turned out memorable, well portrayed and entertaining performances in "The Hellfighters"? I think it's obvious that the people who bash "The Green Berets" have a problem with their political agenda, not the film or its players. Despite all of the John Wayne and America bashing infiltrated into the reviews for "The Green Berets", one fact still remains; fighting communism was a just and noble undertaking and the film conveys this. If any political system can be measured in a degree of evil, communism is at the top of the list. Roughly 4 times as many human lives have been senselessly murdered in the name of communism over those murdered by the Nazis during WWII. If it's okay with the liberals for a war film to show the U.S. fighting Nazis but it's not okay to show them fighting communists, their logic is seriously backward. In the case of the war in Vietnam, the people who bash "The Green Berets" should do a little more homework. The U.S. was obligated under treaty to help Vietnam fight a communist uprising. That's why we were there. If the U.S. had broken our treaty agreement and abandoned Vietnam, the same people who bash the U.S. for fighting the war today would be bashing the U.S. for leaving the Vietnamese high and dry. Communism in southeast Asia was a very real political, economic and military threat. The desire to keep the south free from unwanted communist rule and to keep communism at bay in Southeast Asia in general was a reasonable goal for the U.S. By the time American advisors started to arrive in Vietnam, the country had already obtained their independence from France so the U.S. certainly wasn't fighting for France or colonialism. I was alive during the Vietnam War and I remember the mood of the U.S at the time very clearly. Most people supported our troops. Unfortunately, 40 years later, the only people who are remembered are the war protesters which gives the impression that they were the majority. "The Green Berets" did not go against the mood of the country, it was right in line with the majority. Don't believe it? Take a look at the box office business this film did in 1968. It wasn't a blockbuster but it did very well. Also, the theme song "Ballad of the Green Berets" by Barry Saddler went to number one on the Billboard charts. The paperback book "The Green Berets" on which the film was loosely based was a nation wide best seller for months. Does anyone believe any of this success could have been achieved with a population who unanimously opposed the U.S. presents in Vietnam? Come on now, who are you trying to fool? In recent years it seems film makers feel compelled to portray American soldiers in Vietnam as murders, thieves, rapists, insane or bumbling inept leaders. In the film "Platoon", every bad thing that ever happened in Vietnam was condensed into the account of a single Army unit. People raved about how great a film it was. The unbelieveability of "Platoon" was like attributing every criminal act ever committed by an entire mafia family to one single character. It's just absurd and totally ridiculous. And some people call "The Green Berets" unbelievable!? Clearly, a film like "Platoon" was made for the single purpose of making American soldiers look bad. Pure anti-American hate propaganda. The very best thing about "The Green Berets" is its success. This film has continued to sell well in both video and DVD since the mid 1980's. It sells more home use copies than "Platoon" and "Full Metal Jacket" combined. People like this film and that's all that matters but the liberals just can't stand it.

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7/10

It's heresy to say it, but this movie is the most entertaining one yet made about 'Nam

Hick_N_Hixville24 November 2006

For my money, Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" is the best movie about the Vietnam War. It is the ultimate cinematic example of war as art; the ideal balance of historical background distorted by literary allusion for aesthetic purpose, or however you want to say it, and with the fattening and deliberately incoherent method master Marlon Brando cast for perfect symbolic and comic relief.

"The Green Berets," likewise, does not depict reality, but it should not be judged punitively for that. Reality is not the purpose of dramatic film. If you want reality, watch a documentary about the war, or better yet volunteer for the going concern in Iraq if they will have you. Chances are if you can walk and keep your sex life reasonably private like GOP Congressmen and mega church preachers try to, they will have you.

To its benefit, "The Green Berets" is no more or less a distortion of the Vietnam War than most Hollywood efforts at telling the "truth" about that conflict; it's just that its hyped, gung ho and pro-war distortion is politically incorrect. Also, it is not set during the post-Tet drugged-out, fragging period when everything fell apart and when Oliver Stone served, the period that came to define American cultural perception of what the entire ill fated U.S. involvement there was like.

This movie does provide something all, or most, other movies about the Vietnam War haven't, and the war itself of course didn't. It's fun to watch from beginning to end. It never fails to entertain. When not bailing out of burning toy helicopters flying around on a wire in an aerodynamically ludicrous death spiral, or shooting charging waves of U.S. Army extras dressed up in black pajamas and Kung Fu straw hats, John and crew hang out in a surreal Da Nang "cabaret." There they are serenaded by a Doris Day quality Vietnamese creole chansonnier while they make contact with an ARVN bigwig's débutante relative they want to enlist as a Mata Hari type seductress in a "daring" secret sex mission to bed and set up a VC general for capture by John's A-Team. Gawky minor "everyman" actor Jim Hutton plays the ideal amiable rogue and thief who steals resourcefully to advance both his private comfort and the unit's mission (a storyline deliberately satirized at one point in Coppola's masterpiece). The earnest side story about the little Vietnamese orphan boy and camp mascot Hamchuck and his "peter-san" tugs at the ethnocentric heart of every heartland American. A short-lived cult actually grew up around the movie's title song and its writer and singer, an actual ex-Special Forces sergeant named Barry Sadler. This enigmatic, forgotten man who performed the ballad on probably every "flyover country" variety show from Jimmy Dean to Ed Sullivan while the novelty lasted actually merits his own biopic movie.

"The Green Berets" is so riveting as a Vietnam movie, and as cultural history, because it is such a curiously misplaced and relentlessly absorbing mind candy variation of all those upbeat, thrilling, and overblown Frank Sinatra, Trever Howard, Alec Guinness (and John Wayne) World War II adventure movies that preceded it. Aldo Ray is in it just to make sure. That's its allusory purpose, and why John Wayne made it. Produced it through his son, co-directed it, and starred in it.

Don't blame John entirely for hapless production values either, such as the scrubby pine barrens of south Alabama and Georgia military reservations subbing for the defoliated bush of "Country." He wanted to film it in Country, just like Mankiewicz had partially done a decade earlier for "The Quiet American," but the U. S. Military John idolized yet never served in quietly persuaded Saigon not to let him film it there. Instead they let him tour some bases in Vietnam safely away from the action, then gave him carte blanch to film it in another occupied, if more benign hellhole of humid languor with just a distant memory of the ravages of civil war. Perhaps if it actually had been shot on location a little reality might have seeped in by mistake, or maybe things were just too hot in Southeast Asia in '68 even for a John Wayne who finally wanted to do some morale boosting duty in a real war zone.

It doesn't matter. Somehow south Alabama and Fort Benning work, considering everything else. Even the closing scene with the wrong-headed sunset works. For all you liberals angry with this movie, right there is your artistic statement about the war, even if John didn't realize he was giving you one. I own the DVD, and am proud to say so.

I have no idea what he thinks about Iraq, but I hope Braveheart Mel sobers up and considers producing and directing an upbeat epic about the current war. It, like "The Green Berets," would never fail to entertain.

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5/10

Really not THAT bad

Wizard-826 July 1999

"The Green Berets" has received a lot of flack over the years, a lot of it undeserved. I admit there's a lot about the movie that doesn't work - the tone and attitude of the movie is from the 1940s, not 1969. The subplot about the war orphan is cliched and heavy-handed. The movie was shot in an area that looks nothing like Vietnam. There are some weird attempts at humor. And yes, Wayne didn't have a clear idea as to what the Vietnam conflict was about.

Most of the controversy about this movie comes around this fact. However, looking carefully, one sees that not all of the politics are incorrect. The scene at the beginning, for example, makes clear that soldiers of ANY conflict are just following orders from the government. If you disagree with a conflict, blame the government, not the soldiers.

Also in the beginning, the movie makes a point that the Soviets were giving assistance to the South-East communists - which was true. Wayne's statement suggesting that the Soviets were trying for some kind of world domination actually isn't that far-fetched. Before the Soviet Union fell, there were numerous times when the Soviets gave assistance to other communist countries and forces. (As well, this short beginning scene has most of the politics in the entire movie!)

Some of the protests about the movie are to do with the fact that the North Vietnamese are portrayed as being vicious, and the Americans as a kind of holier-than-thou. While it is true that the Americans committed some atrocities during the conflict, the North Vietnamese committed FAR MORE. The scene in the movie where innocent Vietnamese villagers are killed by the enemy because they accepted help from the Americans has actual basis in fact. Still not convinced, ex-hippies? If the North Vietnamese weren't so bad, why were there thousands of boat people? And take a look at the based-on-true-stories movies "The Hanoi Hilton" and "The Killing Fields" to get an idea of how brutal the South-East Asian communists were to P.O.W.s and ordinary people.

"The Green Berets" also has some excellent battle sequences. In fact, Wayne was so impressed with second-unit director Kellogg's direction of these scenes, he gave him co-directing credit. I will admit that the shot with the toy helicopter did ruin things somewhat. Elsewhere, however, the military hardware and battle techniques are overall very accurate. (Wayne got full cooperation from the U.S. military)

You might think I like this movie. Actually, I don't - I overall didn't like it because it was too slow, and with a lot of boring chat. Still, I don't think it's anywhere near the bomb/laughfest it's been unfairly branded. And I think a lot of people agree: It was the 11th highest grossing movie of 1968, generating $8.7 million in rentals - a HUGE amount in those days! It's also been issued several times on video, and Warner Bros. chose this movie as one of its first "oldies" DVD releases. So clearly a lot of people haven't minded - or didn't care - about its "message".

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My husband was there!!

KA2FMZ30 January 2005

He was one of the original team that captured the general. He climbed up on the balcony and let the rope down...Does that validate that part of the movie enough....He also said the part of the little boy never existed....He watched with tears in his eyes because some of his team did not return from that mission alive....Be kinda careful when you criticize things. These guys did not ask to be sent over there...They were sent over there....He did not appreciate getting yelled child killer when he returned either. They were basically good soldiers doing all they could to stay alive....He had may years of Viet Nam syndrome after returning to civilian life....Never got anything from the government nor expected anything....He did his duty and returned.....

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7/10

A movie that's better than the movie critics say

jhawk-25 February 1999

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide gave this movie a rating of BOMB.That is just so ridiculous. Clearly, too many movie reviewers let their anti-Vietnam war politics color their review of this movie. It has some pretty good action scenes and holds your interest the whole way through the movie, although the movie is a little long.This is not a great movie by any means, but it doesn't deserve the absolute ridicule that the mostly left-wing movie critics have given it. Even if you don't like the politics in the movie, I think you can still enjoy it as an action/war film.

One final thing about the movie. The movie critics enjoy making fun of the final scene where John Wayne and the Vietnamese boy walk on the beach as the sun sets in the east. It is patently unfair to single out this movie scene as bad movie-making. Hollywood takes artistic license with movie scenes all the time. Most ignorant actors don't even know how to give a proper military salute when they play a soldier. Settings and locations in movies often have no resemblance to the places they are trying to portray in real life.

In short, forget the politics and just enjoy this decent war movie on its own merits.

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1/10

Propaganda Film

jimbeau-91-22061926 June 2011

Just after I registered for the draft in 1967, this propaganda film came-out. Starring a WWII draft dodger. Someoe in another review wrote that Wayne was 4F. Just like so many myths about Wayne, this one is a baldfaced lie. Wayne obtained 3-A status, deferred for dependency reasons. Yup, that's right, Mr. America hid behind the skirt of his wife. Wayne was like like Bush, Chaney and all the other chicken hawks. They had connections and got out of the war. As Chaney once said, going to Nam wasn't in his career path. Apparently, it wasn't in Wayne's either. Yet, they either start or promote wars for other people's kids to die in. My generation laughed this movie off as an inept cartoon. How anyone could take it seriously is beyond me. Perhaps someone who's never been to war?

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7/10

As relevant today as it was then...

banzaisgi10 November 2006

Coming at a time when the press was getting aligned with the student left and congressional left, it was the only true movie that dared to face off against the yuppie generation's parents.

Burt Lancaster in Go Tell The Spartans and the movie Don't Cry It's Only Thunder were two more in their time periods that though low budget and story intense, did put the message out that the enemy was ignorance, politics, and communism.

Green Berets was the Strategic Air Command (among others) of its time. Get past the b.s. and look at the portrayal of the participants of all sides and you will see that it is more truthful than others give it credit for.

The movie relates that the Green Berets mission was not one of smoke and mirrors, but get in the dirt and live at the grass roots levels of those who were stuck between communism and a corrupted democratic govt.

It doesn't need computer graphics or shock and awe effects to say that the military then was in a transitional stage. Where the conventional warfare military leaders thought that European land battle tactics could win an Asian war.

The special forces then and of today got the message...the cold war wasn't the true war, it was the war of the flea being waged in south America, east europe, asia, and Africa.

Enjoy the movie for what it is...Wayne's unashamed tribute to a new breed of American soldier...the special operator. Remember, they were all volunteers. Screened. And chosen for their people skills, not kill skills.

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1/10

Good movie - if you're a child

biggbird11 January 2010

I first saw this film as a child and loved it. As a kid, I loved all WWII movies, and I assumed this was another one.

Then I grew up and saw it again. I spent the entire time either squirming with discomfort or laughing out loud.

The point is: then I grew up. And knew good film-making from bad. And good acting from bad. I thought Charlton Heston was good when I was a kid, too.

"Green Berets" is CORNY as can be. The lines are trite. The little kid is as bad at delivering lines with a believable accent as that woman that Rambo saves ("You take me America with YOU, Ram-BO?"). John Wayne postures his way through the whole thing. And, yes, I thought he was too old for the part even when I was a kid.

At least, unlike many bad movies, this one is bad enough to be worth watching for amusement.

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10/10

Reminds Me of Wayne's Other Movie - They Were Expendable

electrictroy30 May 2005

Although "They Were Expendable" is a better film overall, "Green Berets" is also quite good, and both movies have a lot in common.

They show the enemy as the enemy - vicious killers.

And they show Americans as being flawed, but good & brave.

They were both made *during* the war.

Which means the outcome was unknown - would we win or lose? - And finally, they show that the Americans are there to HELP - The Americans were helping the Filipinos in WW2's They Were Expendable, and the South Vietnamese in Green Berets. They both treat their Asian allies as equals (no racism here).

.

Given all that, with movies that are nearly identical to one another in plot & purpose (rally the homefront to support the war), it seems odd the Green Berets is so hated, while They Were Expendable is so loved.

Having just watched both movies back-to-back on TCM and AMC, via Memorial Day marathons, I don't see why one is loved & the other hated. I thought John Wayne did an excellent job in both movies, and that both movies should be considered classics.

Bottom Line: If you have a chance to see either of these two movies, don't hesitate to sit down & enjoy them. They're definitely worth your time.

troy

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7/10

I actually liked it

collie-1225 June 2011

Warning: Spoilers

First off let me say that politically I consider myself a moderate. These days I tend to lean a bit to the left, but I still like a good John Wayne film. I'm a bit too young to remember Vietnam, I LOVE old movies, of ALL genres, from the 1920s through the 1960s, and have spent over three quarters of my life studying film. Oh, I'm also female which probably influences my opinions here. That said, I just finished watching this film on TCM an hour ago and reading pages of reviews here, both pro and con. I thought the film was a good adventure film with a good cast. Louis B. Mayer once said, "If a story makes me cry, I know it's good." Going by that standard, The Green Berets is a good film. Maybe I'm just sentimental, but Hutton's death and the ending with little boy looking for him brought tears to my eyes. Actually the scene where the kid's dog died brought tears to my eyes--not the dog's death exactly, but the bit between Hutton and the boy where Hutton says to the boy that the dog was all he had in the world and the boy replies, "And you." I also liked the bits with David Janssen and the little girl. I thought that Hutton, Janssen, Aldo Ray, Raymond St Jacques, and George Takei all did a nice job. And on the lighter side, I liked the line "Provo's Privy--it does sing."

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5/10

Great Object Lesson On Why We Didn't Come Out On Top

Steve_Nyland24 June 2007

Seriously, if you ever need a demonstration on why the US Military did not "prevail" in Vietnam dig out THE GREEN BERETS with John Wayne. On one plane of consideration it may be the best depiction of the way the war was being fought, which in this case was like a glorified version of THE ALAMO or FORT APACHE.

Once you get down to brass tacks this is just another large scale war movie -- You've got John Wayne swaggering around, larger than life, the lovable Hamchunk with his even more lovable doggie pal, the misfit "Scrounger" with his bottles of Scotch and designer pajamas, Mr. Sulu from "Star Trek" aping an uncompromising ARVN officer who rigs his own troops' foxholes with explosives under the anticipation of them turning traitor, a goofy kid who's dying wish is to have a toilet named after him, and so on. The problem is of course that Vietnam was it's own war and the tone of the film's 1950s era flag waving glory boy jingoistic pap comes off as nothing short of absurd, replete with wonderfully boneheaded touches like forests of Georgia blue pines, southern boy extras made up to play Charlie who nonetheless still look like good ole' boys, and even a closing shot of the sun setting over the Sea of China. Which bordered Vietnam on the eastern side.

Notice however that I didn't say that this movie is instructive as to why we "lost", because we didn't lose. The US Military basically won every major combat engagement they participated in -- we had no Dien Bien Phu that drove us from the country in shame. Our involvement in the war came to an end when the press declared the war unwinnable & congress cut off the funding. Sound familiar? They are trying to do it again now, and such a tactic is just as ineffective as our inability to understand Charlie. We won every battle but we lost the war, and this movie kind of gives you a rough estimation as to why.

What it doesn't do, however, is fit the contemporary template of what a movie about Vietnam should be like in terms of look, tone, and attitude. APOCALYPSE NOW, THE DEER HUNTER, PLATOON and FULL METAL JACKET set that template for the decades that came after them, but THE GREEN BERETS was made at a time before. You almost expect Davy Crockett to come striding out of the woods, and the film even has time for a nice musical number in a swanky Da Nang nightclub. It's not that the people who made the film were squares or spouting propaganda so much as the culture hadn't finished going through the changes that would define the 1960s and spawn the filmmakers who would get to set their feet in the story cement of how that decade's war would be told.

It's not that Wayne's depiction of Vietnam was inaccurate (i.e. there actually are pine trees in Vietnam) but rather that the method of telling the story of how the war was being waged was decidedly conventional. This movie really isn't any different than STARTSHIP TROOPERS, which in itself was trying to mimic the form of a big, sprawling, slightly lunkheaded war epic of the 50s and 60s, of which THE GREEN BERETS is probably one of the last examples thereof. After Vietnam war was depicted with a kind of gloomy, introspective sense of guilt that is completely absent from Wayne's vision.

That's because it didn't exist yet when this film was made, and you can't fault a movie for being true to it's times even when the ones that came after it may have resonated with the current cultural gestalt. This is in many ways an alternate view of Vietnam of the kind that you can only glean from surviving Department of Defense information films on the progress & accomplishments of our military forces in subduing the communist threat in Southeast Asia. Look for a cheapo DVD collection called "Combat Vietnam" to see what I mean, like Wayne's film they celebrate our armed forces rather condemning them for doing what they did better than any other military on the face of the planet.

Wait a minute -- progress? Accomplishments? The US Military?? Yes. We never lost a battle, and I admire this movie for being willing to say such without flinching, even if the end result didn't quite work out in anyone's favor.

5/10; Immune to criticism really, but still a great John Wayne movie.

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8/10

" A refreshing Change!"

unreasonableboy30 January 2007

When I first saw the Green Berets back in the late 1970's early 80's it was widely criticized by contemporary film buffs as being jingoistic and 'gun ho'. Obviously, with John Wayne being the leading role, it only served to reinforce this view. Sure it is patriotic but no more than many of the WWII and Korean War films that were made in the 1950's and 1960's. So when recently I had a chance to see the movie, (the first time in over 15 years) what I noticed was that it was actually a refreshing change to the, anti- American, soul searching, self-loathing anti Vietnam war movies made from the late 1970's onwards.

If the Green Berets was guilty of overdoing the nobility, and righteousness of the Vietnam War, the later movies only served to give comfort to the anti-war, self-indulgent Vietnam movement years later. Apocalypse now, the Deer hunter, Platoon, etc., (you know the ones) are just a few of the movies that ignored the barbarism of both the Viet Cong and Khamer rouge in indo-china, conveniently overlook the global political realities of the time as well as unfairly mock the military.

Years later, the Green Berets actually offer a different viewpoint. If one is to keep it into perspective it comes across quite well as it highlights how the US was welcomed in many parts of Vietnam and how indifferent the North Vietnamese were to their own people. The millions of people murdered in the communist controlled parts of Indo-china during and after the American withdrawal are well documented. Check the movie out

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7/10

War is hell.

Phil-10528 February 2000

The film has been to overly picked on for decades.It is not a masterpiece.The jungle looks not like Vietnam.The helicoptor shot is horrible for se at this time in history.It stands out horriblely.John Wayne gives a good performace in the film.The plot is centered on the green berets fight to protect a few camps and mission.The film has a few good actors.I love Sergant Mulldoon's fighting spirt.He is the sarge.The politics may seem a bit jaded.At the time of the film,we had not lost or left vietnam.See it in the context of the time...

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1/10

The Moldy Berets

Matthew_Capitano13 November 2011

Warning: Spoilers

Fictional telling of a crack team of commandos while the Vietnam War was still raging, though not yet as problematic.

I don't know what was more awkward -- Duke Wayne sardonically asking Dave Janssen if he's ever been to Vietnam, meaning: "Keep your mouth shut if you've never served in the armed forces" (Wayne never did); or Jim Hutton's 'Three Stooges' finger-snapping accompanied by a light-hearted background musical ditty as if the whole Vietnam experience was just like a summer retreat at Camp Stupid, U.S.A.

Not a very good movie; try 'Apocalypse Now' instead, but I personally am still waiting for a Hollywood film about the Vietnam War that even comes close to registering gritty despair rather than the pomp and circumstance found here.

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