Madpenguin
"Hamburger Hill - In the Ashau Valley. When your time is up. Your time is up."
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Hamburger Hill - In the Ashau Valley. When your time is up. Your time is up.
-
Aug 10, 2011
- by Madpenguin
- posted in Movie Hype
Rating:
Taking place in 1969 during the Vietnam War, an Army Platoon out of the 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles", must prep themselves for a return to the murderous Ashau Valley. Their mission is to assault and capture hilltop 937, which is under heavy protection by the NVA, North Vietnamese Army. This is another one of their attempts after a few failed ones. Many of the soldiers do not want to return, unfortunately, duty calls and apparently orders are orders. -summary
+5
There's no real sense to give much background on the Vietnam War. In all honesty, any American who possesses no knowledge on the event should do themselves a favor and look it up. Written by James Carabastos, and directed by John Irvin, Hamburger Hill, which was released in 1987 and based on a true event, follows the 3rd squad of first platoon lead by two Sgt's; Worchester (Steven Weber) and Frantz (Dylan McDermott), as they assault this heavily fortified position for 10 days 11 times. Irvin does a splendid job telling the story on the plight of these brave men who suffered and died basically for nothing.
During the beginning, Irvin takes a small amount of time developing some of the soldiers, and the viewer will get to know some before the bullets start flying, and others during their breaks after the failed attempts. Even though many of them aren't very well developed and they're present for a lengthy body count, it's still hard not to care for any of them, because you know the situation that they're in.
Almost from the beginning, the battle sequences are pretty graphic and they escalate as the assaults continue. There are plenty of moments where it appears that the soldiers are shooting at nothing, however, the enemy is indeed out there, and the viewer will know, since each conflict ends with another causality. The shoot outs are entertaining and the gore level does increase with a disturbing death scene here and there. The special effects are nothing to look down on, as you will get good views of the carnage. Although the battles are meant to entertain in a way, it's pretty hard to look at this as your regular entertainment because it feels so damn real, and it's based on true events.
The writing is very strong when examining that sense of brotherhood that develops between soldiers. During those very tough times, those men only had each other to lean on, and I enjoyed the way this was put to the screen. Irvin also examines the anti-war aspect, and shows the effects of it on soldiers morale. These scenes really wouldn't have had much impact if not for the fine performances by Weber and McDermott. There are also other performances worth mentioning delivered by the platoon medic Doc played by Courtney B. Vance, and Motown played by Michael Boatman.
Irvine pulls little to no punches here, and they continue pressing on the soldiers bravery during battle, with one final suicide run to take the hill. He also covers the horrible effects of very poor communication. It's sad to say but accidents happen.
There are plenty of other things I would like to say, but to continue would mean spoilers for those who have not seen the film, so I'll end it with this. Hamburger Hill is among my favorite war films that I catch a couple of times a year. It's a very good war-drama with some very strong story elements. I highly recommend the film to all film lovers, and if you're a fan of war films, then even better.
Pros:
-Direction, acting, characters, based on a true event
Cons:
-Believe it or not, action scenes could have been a bit more
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FM_ALEX
August 13, 2011
Ranks among my fav war films.
Madpenguin
August 13, 2011
welcome to the club.
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woopak_the_thrill
August 10, 2011
I am not sure if this was the movie where the actors didn't bathe to stay in character. I love war movies, and this is truly among the best.
Madpenguin
August 11, 2011
I didn't know that happened for any war film, but that's hardcore if they did. I love war movies too, and this is quite possibly my favorite. I liked it more than Platoon from what I remember.
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About the reviewer
Madpenguin
Ranked #5
Ranked #5
Member Since:
May 22, 2011
Last Login: Jun 15, 2013 08:21 PM UTC
Last Login: Jun 15, 2013 08:21 PM UTC
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About this topic
Hamburger Hill is a 1987 American war film about the actual assault of the U.S. Army's 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, part of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division 'Screaming Eagles', on a well-fortified position, including trenchworks and bunkers, of the North Vietnamese Army on Ap Bia Mountain near the Laotian border. American military records of the battle refer to the mountain as 'Hill 937', its map designation having been derived from its being 937 meters high.
Written by James Carabatsos and directed by John Irvin, the film starred Dylan McDermott, Steven Weber, Courtney B. Vance, Don Cheadle and Michael Boatman. The novelization was written by William Pelfrey. Set in May 1969 during the Vietnam War, the movie was produced by RKO Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures, which had only theatrical rights to the film, whereas the video rights were owned by Vestron Video, and in later years by Live Entertainment, Artisan Entertainment, and Lions Gate Entertainment (which also recently acquired the UK video rights with distribution by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment). Paramount continues to own TV rights, and now also digital rights; Trifecta Entertainment & Media currently distributes the film on TV on Paramount's behalf. The copyright holder of the movie is RKO Pictures.
The Animals' song We Gotta Get out of This Place is featured in the film.
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Written by James Carabatsos and directed by John Irvin, the film starred Dylan McDermott, Steven Weber, Courtney B. Vance, Don Cheadle and Michael Boatman. The novelization was written by William Pelfrey. Set in May 1969 during the Vietnam War, the movie was produced by RKO Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures, which had only theatrical rights to the film, whereas the video rights were owned by Vestron Video, and in later years by Live Entertainment, Artisan Entertainment, and Lions Gate Entertainment (which also recently acquired the UK video rights with distribution by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment). Paramount continues to own TV rights, and now also digital rights; Trifecta Entertainment & Media currently distributes the film on TV on Paramount's behalf. The copyright holder of the movie is RKO Pictures.
The Animals' song We Gotta Get out of This Place is featured in the film.
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