the green berets (1968)

[saskian100]

At last I have found a REALLY COOL FILM about Vietnam War, Thank God!

Why there is no an actors such John Wayne any more?????

Why America can not pride her heroes any more? (I'm Finn)

Master Heinlein, I miss You so much...

[marruecos73]

tan cagaos de la cabeza estos yanquis FREEDOM jajajajajajaja

[maskedavenger777]

PU! 

[chris35128]

I hate obama

[ricardodegilmonde]

PROPAGANDA !!!

[onpahanvaan]

imdb trivia: In the book "Green Berets" by Robin Moore, the main character is based on Maj. Larry Thorne (originally Lauri Törni, a Finnish soldier who moved to USA after WWII).

That guy did some crazy shit especially in the Finnish wars. He racked up medals and climbed trough the ranks in THREE armies. Got killed when his heli went down when he was working as a "launch officer" for a blackop into Laos.

[bluediver2]

VERY TOUCHING BEAUTIFUL

[jradetzky]

fucking American propaganda

[cpnstav]

John wayne certainly did some war movies considering he never fired a shot in aid of the USA

[rnsone]

John Wayne a legendary draft dodger! He was going to serve stateside but still got his four deferments! That would make Dick Cheney blush!

[devildoc225]

@rnsone Exactly

[TheDogonebad]

I liked most John Wayne movies but this and the Alamo were terrible.

[thefriendsociety]

This is what republicans really think war is like.

[snakes3425]

Do a remake and make it a serious war movie, when we think of the Special Forces in Vietnam what do you think of, sulking through the jungle one minute you're the hunter and the next minute the hunted, Black Ops in the DMZ, Laos and Cambodia, defending small outposts against VC and NVA raids, conducting raids deep behind enemy lines

[SgtBaker16]

This much hated movie did well at the box office and always gets 3 stars when shown on tv. It's heart is in the right place. Their cause was just.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

Pretty much the whole reason to watch this one is beause it has John Wayne, the original tough guy action hero, and George Takei if you want to see him in a role outside of Star Trek

The cause though was pretty much John wayne's doing, because he'd been unable to serve in World War II he felt all of his war movies needed to overblown with propaganda and patriotism and not tell a true story about what war is like and Wayne never visited Vietnam so that made things all the worse

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 You know, this movie's always relegated to propaganda, but it's not really. It doesn't sugarcoat the war that much. Their base gets over-run, most of the characters get killed, people they thought were allies turn out to enemies. Yes, this movie has a WW2 feel to it but it really isn't that bad compared to others.

Movies like Hamburger Hill are better in terms of realistic combat scenes, but as I said at least The Green Berets' heart was in the right place.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

If the movie had come out in any year other then 1968 the film would've been popular

the problem I have is that like all Vietnam Movies the story and character development in the Green Berets takes a back seat to the Propaganda and it bogs down to being cleche. I have the same problem with films like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, yet were as those were overblown with an Anti-War Message the Green Berets is the opposite and is overblown with a Pro-War Message

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 I agree. I think We Were Soldiers, despite the glaring inaccuracies towards the end, tried to achieve this balance. It doesn't make remarks about the just or unjust nature of the war, but simply said the soldiers on both sides were dedicated to their duties.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

That was something I noted in We were Soldiers is that it was the first Vietnam movie I've seen that at least tried to take a neutral stance. When it comes to Vietnam we'll never get a truely 100% accurate or neutral movie, the characters and story will always have some pro-anti war message or some form of pro-American or pro-Vietnamese propaganda hidden away

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 Right. Personally I'd rather see a Vietnam movie that's pro-US soldier, like Hamburger Hill. That's my bias, I guess. It doesn't have to cater to my ego or by jingoistic, just not a Communist apologist film, like Platoon or Born on the Fourth of July.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

Stone supposidly wrote Platoon in response to Green Berets but baised it off his own experences as an Infantryman serving in Vietnam Born on the Fourth focused more on what it was like for a Vietnam Veteran coming home and how being treated like he didn't exist his experneces and his injuries affected him mentally, which should've been the whole movie: a Veteran wrestling with the physical and mental scars of war exagerated by his family and country doing nothing to help him cope

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

(500 word limit)

Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Born of the Fourth of July are well made movies but in all of them the story and character development got lost in the propaganda, you don't know the characters as people all you know them as are soldiers who are borderline on loosing their minds. The whole point of all three of those movies should've been just showing the psychological trama, soldiers in Vietnam endured while in the field and when they got home period

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 Well said. Green Berets is the same way in the opposite direction. I prefer that direction to the more prevaliant other side, but more moderate films should be made. I thought Hamburger Hill and We Were Soldiers were among the few that were. just focusing on the soldiers as characters.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

The thing the anti-war films got right was the flaw in the American Military in Vietnam, the Draft. the army was starting to get men who didn't want to go to Vietnam or be in the service, or entered the service with a grudge or were already mentally unhinged. Point I always try to make is that as unforgivable as My Lai was, the actions of one company who decided to act like cowboys and thought they'd get away with it should never have been blamed on everyone who was in Vietnam

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 Exactly. My Lai was a isolated incident. Everyone involved should have been punished to the fullest extent, but only Lt. Calley was, and he got off eventually. Hugh Thompson, Jr. put a stop to the killing, and for his trouble dead animals were left on his doorstep and he recieved death threats.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

If I remember right Thompson saw that Charlie Company was out of control and landed his helicopter between Calley's men and the villagers, and Thompson ordered his door gunner to open fire on Calley's men if they made any futher advance while he tried to rescue some of the villagers. all the death threats came from pro-war groups who didn't want to believe a US infantry company went berzerk and yes I believe Calley should've been executed since he was the one who gave the orders

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 You're 100% correct and I agree. He should have been executed and made an example. The US military messed up by covering it up, and should have gone public with it, and stresses that this was a sad but not common incident.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

the best course would've been to execute or imprision every C Company officer involved in the massacure and coverup. Sadly though Calley got support form the pro-war crowd that he didn't deserve for how badly his unit dishonored the US Military as a whole and ever since he's tried to say he's blameless, when in my eyes he's not, and sadly the Anti-War crowd blamed all Vietnam Soldiers and Veterans for his actions and as for Thompson he deserved the medal of honor for his actions

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

I have a saying about Vietnam it was a hollow victory, I say that because the US phase had ended in a stalemate that prevented South Vietnam's collapse for another two years and in my eye that was still a victory, it became a hollow victory because of how the Veterans were treated when they came home by both the pro and anti-war crowds, and because South Vietnam did itself in because of it's rampant corruption and ineffectiveness

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 I don't think Vietnam was a victory for the US, period. To keep South Vietnam from falling? We failed there. At least Korea was a stalemate, and a victory of sorts as South Korea never fell. Plus, one must consider the severe morale blow our pullout had on the South Vietnamese themselves. President Thieu rightly bashed us for not honoring our obligations in the end when the North Vietnamese blatantly violated the Paris Peace Accords.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

The South Vietnamese population and military were already disheartened and demoralized by their leaders rampant corruption. When properly led the ARVN was an effective weapon as the stand at Xuan Loc showed, but competant leaders were few and far between and many officers and other officals owed their postions more to being yes men then to popular will or military skill because of that South Vietnam never leanded to really stand on its own the way South Korea did

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 No disrespect to the South Koreans who fought and died in the conflict, but it was mostly the US that stopped the forces at Puson from being pushed into the sea, and mostly the US that maintained the 38th parallel when China intervened. The only thing that prevented the war from heating up again was the continued presence of the US. South Korea was run by brutal corrupt dicators like South Vietnam until as recently as the 80s. If we hadn't abandoned Vietnam they would be the same.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

True in the aftermath of the Korean War South Korea was run by a series of dictators. I actualy have a saying when the general says you'll be home by christmas, prepare for the worst, since MacArhtur ignored warnings of China's build up and it wasn't just the Chinese who intervined in Korea there are stories of Russian pilots flying in Chinese and NKAF Fighters, had we done what MacArthur wanted, there's little doubt the Soviet fleet would've been deployed and Red Army troops sent

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 Even during the war too. That Syngman Rhee was a corrupt bastard. I think the Korean CIA killed one leader. I could be wrong. The Chinese and Soviets were directly involved in Vietnam too, and not just shipping them aid. They just weren't open and blantant like the US was. Johnson kept alot of that a secret apparently.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

(500 word limit)

Who knows if South Vietnam would've been the same had they survived, the difference between Korea and Vietnam is that it wasn't just an invasion from the North that we were contending with South Vietnam was also in a state of civil war between Government Loyalists and the National Liberation Front irony is the VC, like the Viet Mihn before them, were actually an alliance of various anti-government groups however the Communists were simply the most powerful faction

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 Right. The Korean war was "easier" because it was mostly a conventional war. If Vietnam had been only a conventional war, like it was after 1968 then we would have won a Korea style peace at least. By then, our will was broken sadly. I feel bad for the non-communist NLF who were duped into thinking the North Vietnamese politboro had their best interests at heart.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

To be honest I hate the DVD itself more then anything about the movie

[SgtBaker16]

@snakes3425 You mean the fact you have to flip it over half way? I agree.

[snakes3425]

@SgtBaker16

Exactally, why they chose to release it like that instead of just one single sided DVD is beyond me

[TheMaestrulYoda]

This film is like a comedy.... and a propaganda film

But you MUST watch instead:

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Platoon (1986)

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Hamburger Hill (1987)

Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

Casualties of War (1989)

[booker80]

@TheMaestrulYoda those movies rock

[TheMaestrulYoda]

@booker80 I watched yesterday We Were Soldiers (2002) with Mel Gibson , it made me laugh.

What other serios movies about Vietnam (like those I mentioned) made in 70's and 80's would you recommend?

[snakes3425]

@TheMaestrulYoda

I'm going to throw this out about We Were Soldiers, it was set early in the war (1965) when support for the war was still high and many of the events that we think of when we think of the Vietnam War hadn't happened yet all of the films that came out in the 70s and 80s were set either after the war ended and the characters were there at the height or ending or were set in the period from 1968-1973 the height and the ending phase of the war.

[markdangerman]

0:23 is that mr sulu, from stat trek.

[catherinefan32]

@TheMaestrulYoda Apocalyse Now is my all time favorite, But We Were Soliders was a acutally quite good, much better than this films.

[CattleRanche]

@TheMaestrulYoda What a disrespectful thing to say. This film was made 10 to 20 years earlier than anything you listed. RIGHT in the middle of the Vietnam War. Much less technology and less facts even known about the War at that time. It was made at a time when bullshit political correctness ruled and it spat in the face of Hollywood. That, I'm sure, is why you're calling it a propaganda film.

[ForwarDotSlash]

john Wayne made the only pro-vietnam war movie during vietnam, lmao what scum

[matchbox555]

OBAMA ROCKS JOHN WAYNE SUCKS

[hrdknox2000]

It would be cool if they remade The Green Berets set in today's war and not so hokey and cheesy.

[McHazi]

Rest in peace LARRY THORNE/Lauri Allan Törni

[SuperBookWorm19]

i love this movie but my favorite is maclintock and yes i know i spelled that wrong!

[JohnKoroly]

Trailer gives away that a major character gets killed. Not that it matters now, but back then?

[cassius969]

Dedicated to all the men who became WIA posing as the men who fought in the vietnam war.

[tommytruth]

Nice role for the WW2 draft dodger.

[Dogmeat1950]

@tommytruth John Wayne didn't dodge the draft dumb shit,.

he was to old to be drafted he was 34 years of age .draft age is 18-28.get your facts right. before making such comments.

[Zev121]

@Dogmeat1950

John Wayne dodging the draft during WW2? No, he did not dodge it. Why would HE do such a thing when he had people who could do it for him?

[Dogmeat1950]

@Zev121 John Wayne was a big supporter of the Military and did many SSO shows for the troops and helped were he could and got the message out.

[bobgrantsbus]

The Duke makes a flag waving reason for the US to go into Vietnam. Decent action movie, bad politics.

[Se7enBeatleofDoom]

Hey this was the first movie set in Vietnam movie. And it still a good movie it reminds of western set in Vietnam. lol

[catherinefan32]

wasn't it "The Quiet americna released in 1952" that counts cuase it is the french colonist betweeen the vietnamese.

[booker80]

@nonamenumbrthree u might be right asshole

[WhiteArmy1918]

I use to have this movie on a VHS tape years ago,I watched the movie many times over it was one of the few movies I had,didn't have cable tv or nothing,they should remake this movie again and have it take place in Afghanistan maybe they could get Matt Damon or Josh Brolin to be in it.

[NickeyWhitfield]

Don't know why John Wayne's reputation did not suffer from participating in such projects. In retrospect, I mean.

[TheGroundedAviator]

Films made during World War 2 were often no different (sometimes worse).

[AmericanOutlaw87]

@DankoKinski90 So are those stupid Spider-man movies you like.

[Auguste2005]

War propaganda...

affortunately sone came out with platoon to reveal part of the reality

we can´t let this happen now in afghanistan it's becoming a vietnam

[Charles069]

A Bridge Too Far was greater. Hey, It's a John Wayne film. Hollywoods' worst actor. It seems like those who know war don't like it. Sign out.

[AndrewMann552]

One of the dumbest war movies ever made, just pure propaganda. A lot of kids got killed in Vietnam because they watched this bullshit and rushed to enlist.

[EvoForen]

I love how the person spelled everything wrong. Man...I love intelligence.

[booker80]

i spelled everything right thank u very much!!!!!

[therancher1]

@booker80 Well you didn't spell "you" right in your comment.

[mynthon11]

@booker80

Lol... So many misses with writing...

[halo3hello]

@booker80 you spelled dirty wrong in the description drity.

[Abrcrombiekid200]

@booker80 yah man! he alwayz spellz evrything rite!!!

[DaFckedUpKid]

@EvoForen i love how you can read because everything is spelled correctly

[EvoForen]

@DaFckedUpKid You're exactly right. I apologize. Wayne is supposed to be spelled Wanye and dirty is supposed to be spelled drity. Secondly, I left this comment a year ago. Get a life.

[ChromeGhost0219]

do you have something against wayne?

[fuhrerschein2008]

merely a propaganda movie

[AmericanOutlaw87]

@fuhrerschein2008 It's just a goddamn movie. No, I don't like what we did in Vietnam, but that doesn't mean I can't watch John Wayne's version of what happened for the fun of it.

[booker80]

this is like a wwII movie then a vietnam movie

[drumfreak125]

how is the film?

just searching for it.