Celluloid Heroes

I can’t promise you that I will bring you all home alive, but this I swear: I will be the first one to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off. And I will leave no one behind. Dead, or alive, we all come home together. So help me, God.

In a lot of ways, this is the movie that The Green Berets should have been. Based on Gen. Hal Moore’s book, We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, this film presents a mostly positive portrayal of the U.S. role in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, the first major engagement with NVA forces during the Vietnam War. It’s not “Rah, rah” like John Wayne’s famous turkey, but it does portray the U.S. Air Cavalry forces as brave, capable and honorable, ably led by Moore, then a lieutenant colonel, even while acknowledging the folly that the war became.

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If you’re here, I thought you’d be interested in checking Kaboom Review, another movie review site run by Mike Blitz. He focuses primarily on action movies and does a great job, so if that’s your cup of tea, head on over and check it out.

Death? What you all know about death?

Oliver Stone’s Platoon remains the pinnacle of his directorial career and with good reason. Presenting the grunt’s eye view of the Vietnam War, this is definitely a movie that could only have been made by someone who had been there. Even if you disagree with Stone’s politics and find fault with his later work, it’s hard to dispute the sincerity and brutal honesty he brings to this film.

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