This blog is about the Vietnam War and any films relating to it.

 I've been interested in 20th Century history. I've looked up documentaries, I've read books which tell information based around that time, and films have caught my attention based around that time. For a while, I couldn't really what the Vietnam War meant all this time, one reason because a grew up in Britain when it was long past that war. My parents grew up in the 1960s, so they saw footage on the television at the time and even they didn't understand it. But now I understand it fully more than I used to. It's an iconic war and there is a lot of history, documentaries and films which talk about it. The Vietnam War took place in the Cold War and it lasted from 1945 to 1975.

What is this blog?

In this blog, I'm going to be posting information about famous films based in and around the Vietnam War, and tell some history for those who have been the same as me. Entertaining Action films is another one of my main interests, War films specifically, and this has inspired plenty of awesome films. They were actually which caught a piece of my interest as to what it was about. It's an iconic war which lasted for over a decade and in the end, it would Vietnam under Communist rule and America, one of the world's superpowers, suffer one of it's greatest losses of the 20th Century.

For those who have read my previous blog about Modern Warfare, I mentioned that there were a lot of fantastic war films that are based around the Vietnam War. I've decided to push back a few decades earlier and focus on the history and films on the Vietnam War, and my personal feelings about it. The Vietnam War is affectionate in a very profound way. Even though I'm British and born in time after the war like I mentioned before, I found the history of the war very affecting to me.

• Pro

Vietnam War films can be atmospheric both disturbingly, emotionally and hauntingly. Veterans who had fought in it have expressed their feelings by writing accounts as to what happened from their point of view. Famous films like Platoon, Heaven & Earth and Born on the Fourth of July are all directed by Oliver Stone. They're based on accounts of those had fought in the war excellent stories, acting and special effects where action and drama are built around their environment and placed on the screen. They also show an Army that highly equipped which had to adapt its strategy to face the North Vietnamese and Vietcong which were a largely guerrilla fighting force.

• Con

The main problem for me as a viewer. Is while account films look believable as to happened at the time, it's still very gothic for my taste. They do the job too well, that's why when I want to watch a war film, I like to see one based around World War 2 or Present Day warfare. The main issue with the Vietnam War, in general, is that it failed to win the hearts and minds of the public, the U.S. didn't have the proper resources needed to win the war and turned more into a fight with Peacelovers against War-mongers. 

Topics

• Action

For anyone who is a Game Player for Call of Duty or Battlefield, The Vietnam War can an alternative subject to the genre. War films that take place in and around that time are explosive in one of two ways. Either the action-packed way with gunfights in combat style fashion with explosions like how it shows in We Were Soldiers.

• Drama

In a drama, soldiers can question themselves why they're involved in the first place. Most soldiers were young and decided to join because the paper said the odds were in the American's favour when things were actually going the other way. Shows how deceitful the government was. Or conflict amongst the U.S. soldiers like it shows in Platoon. It tells that war crimes were made and the detail behind them which brought soldiers fighting each other than fighting the enemy. While a number of people were proud of doing patriotic duty, others stuck to the humanitarian mission for a Peace Ticket. A lot of films have expressed a lot of drama among soldiers, and among the nation 

• Horror

Films can be made around this time with a psychological horror genre with which most vets from the Vietnam War came back home with them. I mentioned before, they can be atmospheric and traumatic with guns and explosions happening all around like in Apocalypse Now. The deeper in the jungle you go, the more crazy and insane things become.

My condolences

Writer's Note: For anyone who reads this blog and has fought in the Vietnam War, I hope this blog isn't disrespectful. If there's any sign of amusement or positivity from the writing, it's based around my enjoyment the films and games that are based in that time, so that part is for anyone who is a viewer or gamer who enjoys them and agrees with my opinion about them. Any piece of history I mention in my other posts, I'm just explaining what I know about the critical events that happened then. If this blog causes any upset or discomfort to where it becomes a sign of disrespect, I apologise and I will happily remove it. Thanks very much.

Goals, Gains and Experiences of the war

 

The Vietnam War was an undeclared war that was waged between 1946 and 1975. It was also known as the Indochina War. It started at the end of the Second World War and Japan had surrendered, The Provisional Government of the French Republic was wanted to restore the country as a French Colony. Eventually, when the French Military Force landed at the city of Haiphong, and fighting broke between them and the Viet Minh government (which would later divide into North Vietnam).

The First Indochina War lasted from 1946 and 1954 from a long campaign of the Viet Minh resisting back against the French. The Viet Minh won the First War after the Japanese and Vichy French surrendered in 1945. But things would be complete Deja vu in the next war.

The Second Indochina War started on the 1st of November 1955, which was officially between North and South Vietnam. But it would involve the United States, South Korea, Australia, and the Philippines to fight for South Vietnam.

The U.S. had direct involvement from the start of the war. It started with just American military advisors coming when France was still fighting against the Viet Minh. After the French quit the war, the U.S. established had military and financial responsibility. The Americans would then increase the number of troops that would be heading into the country. The U.S. Army's first major battle with North Vietnam had started in Ia Drang Valley in 1965, since then, the U.S. had been fighting the Communist North.

The Western Allies were gripped by the fear of Communism, at the time, Communism was spreading to multiple countries. The U.S. believed that if they kept their stand in Vietnam, then all of South East Asia wouldn't fall under Communism.

By 1967, over a hundred thousand American troops were in South Vietnam. Many were stationed in bases like Con Thien and Da Nang.

Bases like Con Thien were used as a frontline for America's war against Communism, and to prevent the Communists from taking over the South. This Frontline was a chain of American artillery bases just south of the border dividing North and South. The border between the two was a 'No Man's Land' on either side called "The Demilitarized Zone" which literally cut Vietnam in half.


The government of South Vietnam was a delicate republic and was governed by a military elite whose army (ARVN) needed America's help. The capital of South Vietnam was Saigon. The South Vietnamese Government leaders who had affiliations with its Political Parties, or its military, or were independent didn't stay in office for more than eight years, or even just a few months.



Communist North Vietnam was backed by the Soviet Union and China. Its capital city was Hanoi, and its leader was a lifelong Communist and a hardened nationalist, Ho Chi Minh. He was also known as 'Uncle Ho' by his supporters. Ho Chi Minh was known for wanting to bring a form of independence and democracy to Vietnam.

North Vietnam had an army of 500'000 Vietnamese Soldiers (NVA). Ho Chi Minh had driven out the French Colonial government in 1954, then he resolved to push out the Americans and reunite Vietnam under Communism.

The U.S. Military was lead by General Westmoreland, who was a veteran general with a clutch of medals from World War 2 and Korea. Westmoreland an American force of half a million troops to support 800'000 South Vietnamese (ARVN) troops.

But aside from facing the NVA from the north, the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies also faced thousands of Communist guerrilla fighters inside South Vietnam itself. The South Vietnamese rebels called themselves the 'National Liberation Front. The 'Vietcong' (VC) as the Americans called them. They didn't wear uniforms out which made it very easy for them to blend into the surrounding environment with the other villagers. This made things more problematic for the US troops because it was very difficult to tell friends from foes. Most of the time, American soldiers were fighting an enemy they just couldn't pin down.

The Vietcong were also well supplied by the NVA allies. The supply line which was set up by Ho Chi Minh himself was an incredible feature. North Vietnamese fighters, arms, and equipment were sent down a network of unpathed roads and paths called the 'Ho Chi Minh Trail'. This went down for thousands of square miles down the length of Vietnam. It was largely concealed in the jungle and among the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was critically important for the Communist war effort. The only weapon that the U.S. had against it was constant airstrikes. The U.S. Bombers and Strike aircraft like B-52s targeted strategic points in North Vietnam like railways, bridges, and factories. In several sorties, American Bombers mainly targeted the Ho Chi Minh Trail to cut it off. Other Bombers in South Vietnam act on Intel reports and hit Vietcong strongholds. Many explosive bombs, toxic smokes like Agent Orange, and incendiaries like White Phosphorus and Napalm caused terrible destruction.

But unlike World War 2 where Allied bombings were vital in crippling German facilities which increased the war effort against the Nazis, North Vietnamese were getting more used to counteract against the U.S. Bombings and were in better cover, which in a way, made them even stronger than their American adversaries. Even though most bombings were hitting their targets, they made less damaging effects to the enemy and more on the area around them, so bombing wasn't really routing the Communists out. The country which so many depended on was laid to waste, and it wasn't winning the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese people. Bombing targets were often in and around civilian villages, so it was inevitable that civilians were killed.

To route out the Communists, there was no alternative to march in on foot. The ARVN and the U.S. sent countless patrols out in the countryside to try and hunt down the Vietcong as well looking for any telltale warning signs which might indicate Vietcong's presence. But the Americans were also fighting the scorching hot conditions as well as a scarcely visible enemy and the weight of the kit the Americans had to carry with them, which made the patrols more and more difficult.

Most patrolling U.S. soldiers had never seen a country or experienced a condition like this, and most were at a young age, they were carrying heavy kits and people were trying to kill them. In a single firefight, they wouldn't be getting any support so they would have to eat, drink and apply medical care with just what they were carrying.

Traveling in the countryside wasn't as difficult for the Vietcong. They could travel a lot lighter because they had support from supply routes and friendly villages. All they had to carry was their weapon (AK-47), a bag of rice, a mosquito net, and a tarp. They had excellent camouflage and they could probably hear a Marine Company from a mile away. American patrols could be fatal and many of the troops found them pointless anyway. You wouldn't be fighting a set-piece battle you would be trained and equipped for because the enemy was just so slippery and elusive.

Eventually, the Americans did adapt to this way of fighting, but by the time they were starting to make some headway into the war, things were about to change and take a dramatic turn for the worst...

The Beginning of the End

By late 1967, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and their Vietcong allies took part in a huge gamble. Ho Chi Minh's defence minister, Vo Hguyen Giap planned for an even large number of forces than ever before to fight out in the open. The aim was to smash the South Vietnamese government and drive the Americans out.

By December 1967, Intelligence was given reports of significant activity on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, then a striking build-up of NVA troops near the U.S. Base of Khe Sanh. In truth, the Communists were making themselves visible to make a diversionary attack on the base, making the Americans believe that this was the head-on battle they'd been waiting for.



By January 21st 1968, in preparation of the main Tet Offensive, the two whole NVA divisions attacked Khe Sanh. The U.S. troops that were stationed mainly consisted of Marines, but the Americans brought in their best troops and even a half the U.S. Army's mobile reserve units were sent to reinforce the base while it was bombarded by 360 NVA Artillery shells each day. President Johnson and General Westmoreland directed 24'000 airstrikes against the attackers. They believed that Khe Sanh was the true objective for American prestige.




The Tet Offensive

While Khe Sanh was standing by to be overrun, the Vietcong secretly smuggled weapons in rice bags and their underground tunnels. They had moved into their target cities under the disguise of the surrounding civilian crowds. As it was getting to the end of January, most South Vietnamese and ARVN troops were preoccupied with their annual holiday.

The Tet Lunar New Year was coming. An important holiday in the Vietnamese year. It's like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter all together. Many ARVN soldiers, believing that a traditional truce was in effect were given permission to visit their families. On the early morning of January 30th 1968, tens of thousands of Vietcong deceitfully took advantage of the Tet Lunar New Year to launch their offensive all over the country. Within minutes of each other, bases, towns and cities were attacked by Vietcong. An estimated number of 84'000 Vietcong and NVA troops attacked every strategic area in South Vietnam. In Saigon, Vietcong had attacked the city's radio station, it's Presidential Palace, and the U.S. Embassy was broken into by Vietcong Sappers.

The U.S. and the ARVN had managed to restore control pretty quickly, except for the city of Hue which was one of the most important cities in the country. 5'000 NVA and the Vietcong had occupied the city of Hue both north and south of the Perfume River. Only two areas that were occupied by American and ARVN troops held out against the Communists. Hue City was one of the bloodiest battles Vietnam War, with intense close-quarter fighting in the middle of its ancient Citadel. After over a month of heavy fighting, Hue was back under South Vietnamese control at the cost of the lives of 150 U.S. Marines and 421 ARVN troops.

Ho Chi Minh and General Giap had failed to bring up a rebellion among the South Vietnamese people. They'd failed to defeat the U.S. and ARVN in battle. Out of over 100 towns and cities that were attacked in the Tet Offensive, not even one was held on by the Communists. It was a devastating loss for the NVA and the Vietcong. In the big picture of things, it must have been a turning point. The U.S. troops did a wonderful job at fighting back and succeeded, or at least, that's what they thought.....


"The Employer's" Loss 

With cities like the capital of Saigon under attack, news crews in the city relayed eyewitnessed reports into homes across the world. Throughout the weeks the Tet fighting was waged, the news coverage showed pictures of conflict daily in American homes, and what the people saw was a far uglier version of the war than they were expecting. What seemed military insignificant was crucial to the minds of the American public.

It started doubtful in the years before Tet and the Johnson Administration was just reassuring the public that victory was inevitable. After Tet, things were falling apart for the war effort and in the next five years, it came more and more clear the war was unwinnable because of this. The footage pictures on television of the Vietcong on American soil inside the U.S. Embassy in Saigon sent shockwaves across the United States.

Shocking images from the summary of a South Vietnamese General executing a prisoner to the footage of a little girl who had burnt naked from a Napalm Strike four years later were broadcasted on the evening news.

All this was not what many Americans believed they should be fighting for.

But the most decisive blow was that the television and newspaper images suggested that President Johnson and General Westmoreland had got it wrong. The Tet Offensive appeared to show that the Communists were actually a lot stronger than the American people had been told. The End of the War seemed to be an even longer way off than ever.

America's most respected Television News Anchorman, Walter Cronkite was in Vietnam exploring a tour of battlefields ravaged by Tet. When he got back home, a filed a negative report that would strike an accord with millions.

Due to the circumstances, this didn't give the U.S. government a good look against the threat of Communism. Major changes had to be made. 33 days after Cronkite's report, Lyndon Johnson went live on television to announce a reduction in the bombing, but he knew that a simple Arms Reduction wasn't enough just to change policy. He was going to face re-election as president later in the year which would be futile because people in his own party were openly campaigning against him on a Peace Ticket. So, to the surprise even of his closest colleagues, he ended his broadcast on a note of high political drama.

Afterwards, he was replaced by Richard Nixon as the new president. The Tet Offensive had taken its highest-profile victim, but it wouldn't stop there. In 1971, it was later revealed in the New York Times and Washington Post by Katharine Graham and Ben Bradlee that the government, including the National Defence, knew the war was unwinnable, but they took part in it anyway and lied to the public. Those drove public outcry higher and higher.

Richard Nixon remained as president from January 1969 until that night when he sent burglers to the Watergate Hotel who were quickly arrested by the police because they were helping Richard Nixon's re-election campaign. This showed that Nixon couldn't be trusted as president and it called for his immediate resignation.

Who was the winner?

In moments of history, wars can be one-sided. They can show which side was good and which side was bad. Sometimes, a country can gain international support by showing as the victim and not the aggressor. It depends really on the outcome which can lead to one side being the victor in the end. Even though Allied Capitalism was the good side from Communism which was the bad side in the Cold War, they both picked their fight in a war that was undeclared and unprosecuted. It seems likely that no-one was the winner at the end of it.

The battle in which the U.S. Military claimed as a victory had turned into a political disaster. The Tet Offensive lead to a huge shift in public opinion against the war and a change in government policy.

The plan from that point on was to strengthen, re-train and re-equip the South Vietnamese and the ARVN to allow American troops to withdraw and allow South Vietnam to survive on its own. The government knew it would backfire. They knew South Vietnam's survival was futile, but the longer U.S. troops stayed in Vietnam, it brought more public pressure which kept demonising the government.

By 1973, the majority of U.S. ground troops had left the country, and as predicted, the strategy was futile. The South Vietnamese couldn't hold back the Communists and in April 1975, the North Vietnamese took Saigon.
The War was over. Saigon had been renamed as the capital to this day, Ho Chi Minh City, and the country was reunited with the Communists in power.

Over a million Vietnamese people died during the Vietnam War, but the horror still didn't end in 1975.



When the Communists took control, huge numbers of South Vietnamese fled fearing the new regime as the U.S. Military made one last attempt to evacuate as many of them as possible along with any American personnel that was still present.

Vietnamese went out by booking flights full and the Defence Attache Office began flying out nonessential personnel to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.

President Ford announced Operation: Babylift, which evacuated over 2'500 orphans where the first U.S. Transport flight crashed killing 155 passengers and crew.

Operation New Life evacuated over 130'000 Vietnamese refugees that were transported to Guam for resettlement.

In Operation Frequent Wind, more than 7'000 people were evacuated by helicopter many areas of Saigon including the U.S. Embassy to Aircraft Carriers. In that stage, there were too many people to evacuate and not enough room on the ships that helicopters were tossed overboard or landed on the ocean.

In that same year, a Third Indochina War broke out between neighbouring China and Communist united Vietnam which lasted until late October 1991. By the end of all of that, the country the Viet Minh called home had been virtually destroyed by one of the 20th Century's longest wars.

Most Americans had joined the war believing they were fighting for a Just Cause. By the war's end, 58'318 Americans were dead, and the country was divided, embittered and disenchanted.

Some people say the Veterans won the war for risking everything for it and Congress lost it by leading them in the wrong. There's also the belief that the Vietnamese were the most innocent and the Communist and Capitalist governments were the evil sides for fighting they're battle in the place the Vietnamese called home.

Some Americans still argue hard as to whether if the terrible price they had paid for this war had really made any effect on the global advance of Communism. What is true is that in spite America's failure in Vietnam, Communism far from taking over the world had suffered from one set back after another, but the horror which followed Tet was a branded scar which burnt itself deep into America's soul.

What I think is that if this time in history teaches anything, it's that wars can quickly turn into quagmires if not prosecuted effectively. But no matter what I can say, history will eventually repeat itself in many parts of the world. If you can't make any noble promises for the hearts and minds of people that you're sworn to fight for, then you have no business waging war.

Another lesson is that when you watch the news, remain wary about your country getting itself embroiled in other foreign wars for fear of another Vietnam, the same way you would be wary about jumping into a different job.....


"The horror... The horror..."

Good Films set in and around (that I've seen)

Vietnam War films are worth watching for me because of what I mentioned by many of them winning Academy Awards because of how dramatic they can be, they can tell emotional stories, some of them can have entertaining explosive action, and the actors who play the lead roles were well received for their roles.

In this post, I'm going to be telling about some of the films I like which are centred in and around the Vietnam War. Some of them are films that are Hollywood Blockbusters and Cinematic action films. Before we get started, just a quick note that I haven't seen films like Jacob's Ladder, Casualties of War, Born on the Fourth of July, and Good Mornin, Vietnam.

Kong Skull Island

• Kong: Skull Island may be a Monster Film based on the King Kong franchise and not technically a Vietnam War film, but the film shows some features, references, and character motives to the Vietnam War, and it was actually filmed in Vietnam behind the scenes. Set in 1973, Kong: Skull Island is about Classified Organization members who hire Scientists, a U.S. military force lead by a Colonel, a tracker and former member of the SAS, and an anti-war Photographer to make a discovery of Skull Island and the monsters who rule it. The film has a nature-loving theme to it along with stunning visuals, action, and acting performances from Tom Hiddleson, Samuel Jackson, John Goodman, and Brie Larson. To me, what makes this relevant is that the theme shows a simple and lighter tone of motivation from the Vietnam War.

We Were Soldiers

• Directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson (the creators of Braveheart), We Were Soldiers is a fact-based tale about the Battle of Ia Drang, 1965. The film is about men under fire and their loyalty to one another as they display acts of uncommon valour. Like the film 12 Strong, it is frequently cliche, but the film shows a believable view of how chaotic the battle was and how the soldiers fought for survival in the midst of carnage. Mel Gibson plays as L.T. Col. Hal Moore who was the leader of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry which was sent into the fray. Main positive with We Were Soldiers is that it explores both sides of the war from the perspectives of both the Americans and North Vietnamese soldiers.

Rescue Dawn

• Werner Herzog is known for making films about Man vs Nature, and it clearly shows in Rescue Dawn. The film is about a US Navy Fighter Pilot Dieter Dengler who was shot down over Laos and captured by Vietcong Villagers. When I watched it, I felt that the end of the film was getting close before it even began. The strongest quality of the film is showing the tough struggle of getting captured in the POW Camp and facing a tense fight for survival against nature in the least glamorous aspects of war. 

Hamburger Hill

• For a dramatic war film, it does show what the soldiers feel when they're together. For an action war film, there's assault after assault, firefight after firefight, and casualty after casualty. This film doesn't hold back until the Hill is taken. Hamburger Hill is based on the 187th Infantry of the 101st Airborne Divison who are completely outmatched as they fight against NVA in the Battle of Hill 937, later named 'Hamburger Hill'. 

The cast in this film was largely unknown at the time (except for Don Cheadle who would later play War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and the film has some bleak scenes, dramatic moments where characters talk about Anti-War protests for example and graphic and chaotic actions scenes. Out of the majority of certain characters, most of them don't make it out alive. By the end of the movie, the lives of those who do make you can tell that their lives have changed already. This film was written by a real Vietnam Veteran, and it shows the tragedy happening throughout the country even in just one area of the war.

Forrest Gump

• Lots of people know this film and Tom Hanks won an Oscar for Best Actor. Again, this doesn't technically count as a part of this list with just 20 minutes set from Army Training to the controversial Proxy War in the Mekong Delta, to an Anti-War protest. But during that time, Forrest Gump shows several meanings set in and around the Vietnam War and even though it's not entirely realistic, it portrays moments in a believable manner. The film is fantastic at its sign of showing emotion and spirit. For that reason, Forrest Gump counts for this post.

Tigerland

Directed by Joel Schumacher, Tigerland is an underrated thriller about a group of recruits who go through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana's infamous Tigerland which is the last stop before Vietnam for tens of thousands of young men in 1971. 

• What I like about this film are drama and rivalries between characters and tense situations as their progress through training toward their way of becoming soldiers. 
• Starring Colin Farrell with a few known and unknown cast members, Tigerland shows moral dilemma and harrowing brutality between young soldiers as they find a way through or out of the training base.

Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan

This is an Australian War Thriller which tells a true story about 108 Australian and New Zealand inexperienced soldiers (mostly conscripts) who fought for their lives in the Battle of Long Tan, 1966 against the number of 2'500 North Vietnamese and Vietcong. It stars Travis Fimmel (Ragnar from Vikings) who plays Major Harry Smith who was one of the experienced conscripts who fought in the battle. 

• The film is good at capturing the war from an alternate country and that it's dedicated to the soldiers of Delta Company who fought and died in the battle. It also shows the fact that both sides claimed a victory in the end.
• Though the film does use a number of CGI visuals as some of the special effects which can be noticeable in times.

Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan is a gripping examination of soldiers who show their strength and courage in the isolated battleground of the Vietnam War.

• Even though this isn't a war film, it tells the story about a criminal career, Frank Lucas and his group of gangsters who trafficked heroin from U.S. servicemen in the Vietnam War, and a police detective, Richie Roberts who led a task force to detain him.

Starring Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas and Russell Crowe as Richie Roberts, and along with cast members like Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejofor, and Idris Elba.

American Gangster shows how America suffered a lack of employment which caused more corruption for money from the drug trade. But it's the time setting and the story involving how Frank Lucas tells how extortion was made during the Vietnam War. It's for those reasons why American Gangster counts on this post.

The Best Vietnam War Movies

No matter how many Vietnam War films are there, released in any decade, there are four best films that have been the most received because of how emotional, atmospheric and cinematographic they all are. These four are famous and well known in the world of cinema, and I can say they're my favorites too.
Now just so you know, I'm not making a count down out of 5 or 10 based on a list of favorites. I'm just telling that these are all utter classics.

• Before this film, Stanley Kubrick was famously known for masterpieces like 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining, and he had experience addressing wars as part of the subject in his films like the First World War in Paths of Glory, The Seven Years War in Barry Lyndon, and the Cold War in Dr. Strangelove. However, in 1987, Kubrick turned his attention to the Vietnam War with Full Metal Jacket. 
• The film has two sections, Training for 'Nam' and Fighting in 'Nam'. Out of all the characters and scenes, R Lee Ernmy as Sgt Hartmann plays the best performance in the film. The cinematography is excellent and the special effects look absolutely real with fire and smoke in the gunfire. A tightly constructed and claustrophobic film, Full Metal Jacket is extremely effective at communicating Vietnam War themes. 
• When I first watched Full Metal Jacket, the psychological attention really made me surprised and depressed at the same time.

• I know this first of three films set in the Vietnam War from Oliver Stone. Platoon is a powerful classic and most notable film from Stone himself. 
• The film shows a brutal analysis of war itself and it shows how effecting the war can bring on good people. There are scenes in the film that are hard to watch, tripled with entertaining but not so glamorous action scenes and fine performances from Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, and Tom Berenger. 
• Oliver Stone's experience in Vietnam makes the film a more personal approach to the war, which makes Platoon explores a harrowing ground level of the war.
• When I first watched it, I almost stopped watching it because of how difficult it was to cope with. 

• I watched this film for just one time recently, and I can tell that it's so accurate and bleak at depicting the emotions before and after the entry into war. By the end of the film, I had tears streaming down my face. That's how depressing the film was.
• Michael Cimino's sympathetic direction really overpowers the film, and it's the winner of 5 Oscar including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Christopher Walken. The Deer Hunter is a powerful look into the Vietnam War with fantastic performances Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep.
• The film is famous for Russian Roulette scenes which at the time, made it controversial, but today, it's a classic. 
• Despite the film having a 3 hour running time, The Deer Hunter is a dramatic, emotional and harrowing examination of how people are not the same after the war with some of the most unforgettable scenes that were made from the 1970s.

• I'm certain that most people know this film by heart, even with its Final Cut coming out this month. Most people have rated this to be one of the Best War Movies to date, and has left a legacy of references in various films and TV shows.
• Francis Ford Coppola's haunting epic war shows a ruthless journey through Vietnam into Kurtz's Compound and into the soul of man himself. The film is an adaptation of John Conrad's Heart of Darkness, only the novel takes place in 1880s Africa and the film transplants it to 1969 Vietnam. 
• The film itself is absolutely audacious and visionary. Apocalypse Now captures the horrors of war in a visually stunning manner, followed with excellent cinematography and first-class performances. The subtle message is Man's Will to Destroy, leading to know that war is more horrific and destructive than you know.
• I felt like I saw something completely heavy after the first time I watched the Redux version. Coppola once said "My film isn't about Vietnam. It is Vietnam. It's what it was really like. It was crazy. And the way we made it was very much like the way the Americans were in Vietnam. We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment and little by little we went insane." This explains how difficult it was him and his crew to make at the time as it is grim and bleak as pitch black. A documentary film called Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse explains Apocalypse Now behind the scenes and how it was made.
• Apocalypse Now is a fantastic spectacle and an utter masterpiece not be forgotten.

What was the Vietnam War about?

Analogy

It can be hard to look back from the perspective of 2019 and understand what Vietnam was about. Let me make an analogy with something like employment.

For the Employee

You have ever started a job where you're optimistic about working there. You spend all of your time and effort, 5 days a week working, but you have your doubts about what's going on there. The conditions are not comfortable for you, every day feels like the same, and you're not getting much appreciation from your employer. These are all difficult situations for you to overcome, but you keep working there because you need the income and are looking for a job you believe in. It takes time for you to adjust to the job while dealing with the stress that comes with it. You continue working there for months and you feel that you're getting more used to the job, but it doesn't change a thing even with your boss not showing appreciation for your efforts. Eventually, against the background of all the bad moments you have had on some days with all of these problems, it takes a Legendary Bad day with someone like your boss being particularly outrageous so that finally you decide to leave and look for a way into another job, even if it takes decades.


Imagine a bad job that you're uncomfortable with is like a form of 'Vietnam' where you are the Volunteer, the job is the War, the environment is the Jungle, and the employer is the government who brought you into this.

Basically

The Vietnam War was supposed to be an American decisive fight against Communism, but it turned out to be a fight with Peacelovers against Warmongers, People against Politicians, Veterans against Leaders, and Humans against Savages. A dilemma from when America's leaders lied to the public about the Communists being weak and the war being an easy fight which brought a conflict toward a chaotic mess.