The Iron Triangle

This was really a good movie, should have got more traction or promotion. Only Vietnam War movie I've ever seen that gives both a Vietnamese and an American point of view. I would have never seen it had I not been visiting a friend who insisted I had to watch it. I wish more people had seen it because I've never met anyone else who has, and Its very hard to find now that video stores have gone the way of the dinosaurs. If you ever get the chance to see this movie I promise it wont be a waste of two hours of your time. The acting was spot on, the special effects were great, no CGI, they used real explosives in this. Good luck finding it if you can because it seems nobody has ever heard of it. If the Vietnam War is your genre you have to see it.

This is perhaps the first Western film I've seen show us the perspective of someone fighting for the Viet Cong. Other films whether intentionally or by accident dehumanize the Vietnamese. This isn't the case here.

The film is developed during Vietnam war and being based on the diary of an unknown Viet Cong soldier . There in the ¨ Oh Chi Mi¨ rout called Iron Triangle, an U. S. officer (Beau Bridges) taken prisoner by the Vietcong forms a special relationship with one of his captors(Liem). The officer fights for his life behind enemy lines suffering several punishments as punches, lashes, kicks, among others.

The story filmed in Sri Lanka depicts the war chaos and primal bloodletting . This picture provides a thought-provoking look at a Viet Cong soldier who saved a captured American soldier whom he believed did not kill him when the American had the opportunity . The flick lends the spectator an opportunity to watch events from the other points of view . May not translate as well as to the small screen yet worth watching it for nothing more than spectacular final raid on the village where a commando along with helicopters attack people under a sensitive score (John DÁndrea : Baywatch) composed by synthesizer and spiritual chores . Its a blending of Chuck Norris' tortures from ¨Missing of action¨, the special relationship between opposite world's two men as ¨The Killing Fields¨ and breathtaking attacks over villages , including Napalm , from ¨Coppola's Apocalypse now¨ . Agreeable actors are mostly Oriental race . Special mention to Johnny Hallyday as a French mercenary, veteran of Indochina war , who combated in Dien Ben Phu (1954) where the French were defeated and nowadays working as s bodyguard of a propaganda-woman . And Haing Ngor (1940-96), a famous secondary since ¨Killing Fields¨. Ngor's own experiences echoed those of his character and usually played Vietnam roles ( Tortures of war , Heaven and Earth ,In love and war, Vietnam Texas , Eastern condor) until his violent death by an Asian band . Eric Weston's direction (To protect and serve ; Marvin and Tige ; Evilspeak) shows a generally surehand with a bit of melodrama at the end.

It's hard to review a movie by saying it was OK, but The Iron Triangle was nothing more than OK. The (true) story of the event during the Vietnam War was great. The cast had more strong points than weak and much of the special effects were decent. Still, the movie is far from being a great movie like other Vietnam war movies such as Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, and the Deer Hunter. More like the straight to video "dud" Hamburger Hill, the Iron Triangle failed to be a great movie because lack of funding (budget). With a bigger budget, I think the Iron Triangle would have been a huge hit. With more money to improve the production value and to have more of a shooting schedule, the movie could have been a better story. I did not care for having many of the "Vietnam" soldiers speaking better English than many of the American soldiers in the movie. I would have made all, if not most of the Vietnam soldiers talking in their native tongue if not in broken English. This would have made the movie more dramatic and realistic.

Beau Bridges, Haing S. Ngor and Liem Whatley perform admirably in this small Vietnam war film. Liem Whatley plays Ho a north Vietnamese soldier, a revolutionary seeking establish communist land reform. Beau Bridges is a straight arrow American officer who is captured by Ho. This is an interesting take on the Vietnamese war insofar as it spends some time with "Charles". Well done.