Héroes de otra patria

This film is truly an excellent work of art. It's realism is unparalleled. Not only does it paint a vivid picture of the Vietnam War, but it also brings the Puerto Rico of the 60s to life. The scenes that take place in Puerto Rico truly make you experience what it must have been like to live there in those times (for those of us too young to remember). The plot is excellent, and the surprize ending will make you want to watch it again.

Based on the review ratings from IMDb (7.5) which I now wonder how it is done, I bought Heroes De Orra Patria (Heroes From Another Land) on DVD since I had never seen anything coming from Porto Rico before and I was hoping to be surprised with a great movie such as Cyclo (1995) from Vietnam or The Syrian Bride (2004) from Israel. I was anxious to watch it as soon as I got home. Right from the beginning of the movie I realized that I had made a mistake on my purchase. I have had good experiences in the past with Latino movies especially from Argentina and Brazil but Heroes De Orra Patria turned out to be a disappointment. Nothing more than a negative war propaganda which even failed in conveying the message. I would not recommend this movie and will be cautious in future to only rely on IMDb ratings. In addition to bad acting, directing and poor sound quality, the war scenes looked fake and the Viet Cong did not look like Vietnamees.

This is an excellent docu-drama about "heroes' fighting for and from "another homeland" (the USA and Vietnam). Though they are technically Americans, they are viewed even by "Americans" as Puerto Ricans. The film tells the story of these two soldiers whose destinies cross in Vietnam for very different reasons. Their life experiences, family situations, and life in war are intertwined in this excellent drama.