User reviews

While I like this movie for all the wrong reasons, it doesn't come close to doing justice to the Robin Moore book on which it was very loosely based. It's pretty obvious that much of it was filmed stateside, but in that it was one of the few - if not the only - Vietnam War movies made in the 60's it's historically significant. I also know that The Duke visited several US Army SF camps in SE Asia in preparation for this film - as well as to show his support for our service men.

If you're interested in the subject matter, however, READ THE BOOK! It's very gritty and much of it is from a unique first-person perspective.

Col. Mike Kirby (John Wayne who traveled to Vietnam in June 1966 and got the idea to make this picture about the army special forces on that trip) picks two teams of crack Green Berets ( Aldo Ray , George Takei , Jim Hutton , Edward Faulkner , Raymond St Jacques , Patrick Wayne , John's son , among others) from U.S. Special Forces troops for a mission in South Vietnam . Being accompanied by cynical War correspondent George Beck (David Janssen) briefing about the American military involvement in the war in Vietnam . First off is to build and control a camp that is attempting to be taken by the Viet Cong , the second assignment is to Kirby and a select group of his men are then ordered on a special mission to capture a high-level enemy Colonel .

This exciting wartime picture contains thrills , violence , noisy action , breathtaking battles and absurd situations . Don't miss the ending scene where the sun sets in the East , including a patriotic as well as famous music . Nice acting by John Wayne , as usual , he was prompted to make the film as a response to the growing anti-Vietnam War movement in the US . John Wayne's character , Col. Mike Kirby, is based on the real-life Lauri Törni, who later on called himself Larry Thorne . The latter was a Finnish army captain who fought in the Second World War during the Winter War (1939-40) and Continuation War (1941-44) against the Soviet Union . He emigrated to the US in the late 1940s and in 1954 joined the US Army . Very good support cast , plenty of familiar faces such as Jim Hutton , Aldo Ray , Raymond St. Jacques , Bruce Cabot , Patrick Wayne , Edward Faulkner and Luke Askew . The film was panned by reviewers , general public and many soldiers serving in Vietnam found the film offensive . Being partially based on real events , as the defensive battle that takes place during the second half of the movie is very loosely based on the Battle of Nam Dong , during which two Viet Cong battalions attacked a small outpost in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam . Even George Takei (he missed nine episodes of Star Trek) has admitted in interviews that while he was grateful to be cast in this film , he nevertheless strongly disagreed with the film's pro-war message and felt the finished movie was very bad . Green Berets was released soon after the Tet Offensive and the My Lai Massacre getting negative critiques , too . However , a lot of critics deemed this war film much better than its reputation would suggest . Possibly due to the film's extremely lousy critical reactions , it's been a long-held belief by many people that it was also a box-office flop . Actually , it was one of John Wayne's biggest box-office successes , attracting millions of moviegoers and ending up being the 13th highest grossing movie of 1968.

Colorful cinematography in Panavision by Winton Hoch , filmed on location in Columbus, Georgia , and Ft. McClellen, Alabama . Much of the film was shot in 1967 at Ft. Benning, Georgia, hence the large pine forests in the background rather than tropical jungle trees . Good production design , some of the "Vietnamese village" sets were so realistic they were left intact, and were later used by the Army for training troops destined for Vietnam . Impressive and rousing musical score by Miklós Rózsa , similarly composed to previous epics as Ben Hur , King of Kings , El Cid . Lavishly produced by Batjac , Wayne's company and Warner Bros was concerned about letting John Wayne direct the movie because of the fact that his previous directorial effort , El Alamo (1960), had been an expensive flop . They therefore only agreed to let him do the film if he agreed to co-direct with a more experienced director, and Wayne chose Ray Kellogg . The studio agreed, despite Kellogg's only having ever directed a few "B" pictures such as : ¨The Giant Gila Monster , My dog buddy , The killer shrews¨ , because of his impressive track record as a second unit director on a number of major studio releases . Being John Wayne's final war film , although Undefeated (1969) and Río Lobo (1970) contained some war scenes .

No, seriously. "The Green Berets" is about as viable and creditable as "The Boys in Company C" or "Casualties of War". It's hard to find a Vietnam war movie that DOESN'T come full of distortions based on the film makers political agendas; it's just this time "The Green Berets" comes from the pro-involvement side.

We've heard the negatives about this movie, and most of them are basically correct but there are a few things to say that, if not positive, put the movie in a less negative light.

First, this isn't your usual piece about 19 year old conscripts being called up to fight in a war they don't understand. The real Special Forces are career professionals who have very high standards of training and discipline. "The Green Berets" isn't a movie about your average grunt; it's about commandos and a lot of the training, tactics and equipment is accurate for the time. The experience of the special forces in Vietnam was widely different from line conscripts; and they won a lot of victories.

Second, it was a bold move to make a movie about the Vietnam war whilst it was still going on. The movie was made shortly before the Tet Offensive of 1968 when the initiative was still with the US and South Vietnamese forces. This is a Vietnam war movie from the early part of the war...something "Platoon" falls down on is depicting the unit in a state of disorganisation, with the usual drug taking and indiscipline scenes that have become cliché, in 1967 when the reality was that discipline and cohesion in the field in '67 was a lot tighter. Stone depicts events that would not become common in front line troops until '69-'70. Yes, I know he served a tour of duty over there but a number of his fellow veterans have called his depiction of events into question.

Third, the early part of the movie with the relationships between US Special Forces officers and ARVN counterparts is fairly well done. The SF had been present in Vietnam from '62 onwards and by '67-'68 had built up a good working relationship with ARVN Ranger units (the only South Vietnamese army units that were well trained and led).

Now the pine tree issue. Well, I hate to break it to people but not all of Vietnam is palm trees and jungle. In the area of Cochinchina just north of Saigon and into the hilly Montangnard country, there are a lot of deciduous and evergreen trees. I was surprised to find this when doing research on the US 25th Infantry Division and finding a lot of their patrol area wasn't in jungle but hilly woodland. Pine trees maybe stretching things a little bit though but it's not impossible.

The politics. Yes, the Duke is on the right wing campaign trail but other film makers have used the Vietnam war to promote the liberal left agenda so I don't get why that is acceptable and an alternative view that doesn't conform to that is inherently wrong. The scene at the beginning of the movie has Aldo Ray explaining how China, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union were sending aid to North Vietnam...so Oliver Stone's assertions that the VC were self-liberating and proudly defiant are deeply wrong. The VC and NVA were tools of a communist regime that were being heavily supplied and subsidised by other Communist regimes. I'm not advocating that the US's involvement in a war in Vietnam was right, just that people understand the involvement of other nations as well.

For those who think this movie is bad because it doesn't depict American atrocities, drug taking and insubordination like other Vietnam war movies have merely bought into another set of falsehoods. This goes back to my original point; "The Green Berets" isn't particularly realistic...but then again, neither are most other movies about that war.

I was in 'Nam. When this came out, I tried to pick up my theater seat and throw it at the screen - I liked John Wayne - but then he went ahead and trashed everything I and my brothers went through - I am sick of the stinking young pups who recite lies they hear from draft-dodgers like Limbaugh and Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush, & co., thinking they are doing me and my brothers honor. Denying reality is no honor. Refusing to face facts is not courage. Distorting history don't help any of us in any way.

The war was all heat and sweat and dirt and bugs - we were all down sick with something mostly. I never got to see the enemy up close alive, they were just blurs through the bush. Sometimes I didn't even look at them, I just pulled the trigger and hoped I kept breathing.

The locals hated us - even those who wanted us to stay and fight for them, so they wouldn't have to do it themselves. They kept trying to sell us cheap dope, cheap girls, and rancid meat, telling us it was "local cooking." It was clear that, behind their fear of us, their was a real contempt. The first three months, I thought I was fighting for my country; then all I was fighting for was to get home.

The 'commanding' officers, when we saw them, were all dressed fresh, washed and shaved. And well fed. I watched my best friend die with shrapnel tearing his guts into stringy beef for these b*st*rds- and now I'm supposed to praise some stupid Hollywood propaganda from WWII with the names all changed - and this does us honor?! This is supposed to be the "American" thing to do?! I thought forced culture was a Soviet idea - when did we suddenly go Bolshevik?

This was a good country until it started lying to itself. I did fight for America. I fought for the freedom guaranteed in the Constitution - the right to disagree. And those who don't like it can get bent.

I won't be lied to again. I was there. I know this war. And this piece of crap of a 'movie' ain't it.

There are some good battle scenes in here, particularly at night. Other than that, it's a so-so war movie and a little long. At 141 minutes, it could have been a lot better cut to two hours or even less.

There is an interesting lecture to the press by the military early on and that's worth listening to, whether you agree with it or not. John Wayne played his normal tough-on-the-outside-but very human-on-the- inside role, which he so often did in his westerns. This movie also was made right when the Hays Code had been abolished but they still refrained from profanity, to their credit, although it certainly would have been understandable being a war flick.

There were a number of lulls in here to show the soldiers being more than just killing machines. There is one very touching scene with a little boy whose soldier friend does not come back alive. From a war standout, there were interesting Viet Cong booby traps that were brutal but interesting to see. An okay war movie, but nothing special. Unlike most reviews that I've read here, I am just trying to evaluate the film without politics entering into it.

Probably the only major motion picture to actively support the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict, John Wayne leads an elite team of Green Berets on a search-and-destroy mission to capture a leading NVA general. Well acted action film worthy of a look even if its sentiments might be a bit dated by today's standards.

For my money, Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" is the best movie about the Vietnam War. It is the ultimate cinematic example of war as art; the ideal balance of historical background distorted by literary allusion for aesthetic purpose, or however you want to say it, and with the fattening and deliberately incoherent method master Marlon Brando cast for perfect symbolic and comic relief.

"The Green Berets," likewise, does not depict reality, but it should not be judged punitively for that. Reality is not the purpose of dramatic film. If you want reality, watch a documentary about the war, or better yet volunteer for the going concern in Iraq if they will have you. Chances are if you can walk and keep your sex life reasonably private like GOP Congressmen and mega church preachers try to, they will have you.

To its benefit, "The Green Berets" is no more or less a distortion of the Vietnam War than most Hollywood efforts at telling the "truth" about that conflict; it's just that its hyped, gung ho and pro-war distortion is politically incorrect. Also, it is not set during the post-Tet drugged-out, fragging period when everything fell apart and when Oliver Stone served, the period that came to define American cultural perception of what the entire ill fated U.S. involvement there was like.

This movie does provide something all, or most, other movies about the Vietnam War haven't, and the war itself of course didn't. It's fun to watch from beginning to end. It never fails to entertain. When not bailing out of burning toy helicopters flying around on a wire in an aerodynamically ludicrous death spiral, or shooting charging waves of U.S. Army extras dressed up in black pajamas and Kung Fu straw hats, John and crew hang out in a surreal Da Nang "cabaret." There they are serenaded by a Doris Day quality Vietnamese creole chansonnier while they make contact with an ARVN bigwig's débutante relative they want to enlist as a Mata Hari type seductress in a "daring" secret sex mission to bed and set up a VC general for capture by John's A-Team. Gawky minor "everyman" actor Jim Hutton plays the ideal amiable rogue and thief who steals resourcefully to advance both his private comfort and the unit's mission (a storyline deliberately satirized at one point in Coppola's masterpiece). The earnest side story about the little Vietnamese orphan boy and camp mascot Hamchuck and his "peter-san" tugs at the ethnocentric heart of every heartland American. A short-lived cult actually grew up around the movie's title song and its writer and singer, an actual ex-Special Forces sergeant named Barry Sadler. This enigmatic, forgotten man who performed the ballad on probably every "flyover country" variety show from Jimmy Dean to Ed Sullivan while the novelty lasted actually merits his own biopic movie.

"The Green Berets" is so riveting as a Vietnam movie, and as cultural history, because it is such a curiously misplaced and relentlessly absorbing mind candy variation of all those upbeat, thrilling, and overblown Frank Sinatra, Trever Howard, Alec Guinness (and John Wayne) World War II adventure movies that preceded it. Aldo Ray is in it just to make sure. That's its allusory purpose, and why John Wayne made it. Produced it through his son, co-directed it, and starred in it.

Don't blame John entirely for hapless production values either, such as the scrubby pine barrens of south Alabama and Georgia military reservations subbing for the defoliated bush of "Country." He wanted to film it in Country, just like Mankiewicz had partially done a decade earlier for "The Quiet American," but the U. S. Military John idolized yet never served in quietly persuaded Saigon not to let him film it there. Instead they let him tour some bases in Vietnam safely away from the action, then gave him carte blanch to film it in another occupied, if more benign hellhole of humid languor with just a distant memory of the ravages of civil war. Perhaps if it actually had been shot on location a little reality might have seeped in by mistake, or maybe things were just too hot in Southeast Asia in '68 even for a John Wayne who finally wanted to do some morale boosting duty in a real war zone.

It doesn't matter. Somehow south Alabama and Fort Benning work, considering everything else. Even the closing scene with the wrong-headed sunset works. For all you liberals angry with this movie, right there is your artistic statement about the war, even if John didn't realize he was giving you one. I own the DVD, and am proud to say so.

I have no idea what he thinks about Iraq, but I hope Braveheart Mel sobers up and considers producing and directing an upbeat epic about the current war. It, like "The Green Berets," would never fail to entertain.

A lot of reviewers of this film seem to be more upset by the alleged leftist political views of those who dislike the movie, rather than taking a look at why this motion picture is, sadly, an embarrassing joke.

Prior to the Tet Offensive, there was still a good deal of support for the Vietnam War in the USA. Indeed, it was far more likely that the production of a pro-Vietnam War movie was going to be undertaken at this point than an anti-Vietnam War film. Those anti-war (and far superior) films wouldn't come until the 1970's and 1980's. But movies like "Coming Home", "Apocolypse Now", "Platoon", etc., weren't better because they were often perceived as anti-war, they were just better.

The problems with this production are legion. Sure, there may be pine trees, deserts and a variety of terrain in South Vietnam. So what? This movie looks like a movie filmed on a soundstage that's SUPPOSED to look like South Vietnam and DOES NOT. The war wasn't fought in Georgia. This looks like Georgia.

Secondly, John Wayne, in the latter portion of his career could be quite effective on screen. His performances in "The Shootist" and "True Grit" come to mind immediately... and an under-rated Wayne film, Mark Rydell's "The Cowboys" in 1972, has a marked right-wing bent, and is a terrific movie. Having said that, Wayne is truly at his worst in this picture. He is simply too old, fat and immobile to play his role convincingly. David Janssen, another compelling actor, is totally wasted as a stereotypical liberal journalist. Not one character in this movie rings true.

That's the main problem with this picture. It isn't its sloppy attention to detail (yeah, sorry previous posters, but the sun setting on the wrong side of the planet IS terrible film making, even if it is possible to see it that way in some portions of South Vietnam), it's the jingoistic simplicity of the film's entire approach and cardboard characterizations.

You've got every form of tired, old stereotypical World War II soldier... the brave commander, the tough-as-nails with heart-of-gold field grunt, the subservient natives, the soldier who dies so we've got villainy to hang our anger on... no need to go on.

What the pro-Vietnam contingent deserved was a three-dimensional picture that wasn't geared toward 14-year-olds, but to adults who, even though they were pro-war, might have had compelling reasons to doubt - as all adults do in times of stress an conflict. This movie demanded characters that didn't superficially deal with the intense difficulties that the war brought up at home and abroad. The whole film is marred by these omission - and by an unrealistic story, badly filmed in TV movie of the week fashion. The battle scenes just don't hold up and production seemed rushed. No amount of revisionist reviewing will make this absurdly insulting film any better. It's a truly horrible movie.

John Wayne was a talented actor who deserved better, but time and time again got stuck with turkeys like this.

I watch "The Green Berets" more than once every year just to stir up both memories and the stewing pot of controversy. In that pot are several ingredients of the movie and of the politics of the time. One of those ingredients is location.

Vietnam is an amalgamation of three separate topographies (formerly separate countries). Most jungle in the vast delta of the mighty Mekong river has been cleared away for centuries to accommodate rice fields. Much of the central highlands area (where this movie is set) is forested (with pines and lots of scrub growth)growing in generally poor soil (red dust)... not too much different than what you will find in parts of North Carolina and Georgia. Were you out there? If not, your ideas about the location are merely speculative.

When "The Green Berets" was filmed, the war was still going on. So, some realism would have to be sacrificed for the safety of cast and crew, I think. Thus, the sunset 'problem' (Shouting at the detail).

Another ingredient is the nature of the personnel. That is, bona fide Special Forces soldiers were (and are) completely different than any other force with exceptions for certain Marine Corps units which faced the same situations as did the real Green Berets (e.g., at Khe Sanh). NO ONE who was military other than Special Forces has any idea at all of what they did or said.

Encirclement of outposts manned by Special Forces or Marine units was always undertaken by regular PAVN (People's Army of Vietnam) units. The VC were not usually involved. General Giap used the same methods at Dien Bien Phu...encircle and assault by superior numbers (no matter how many died...the PAVN had little care for their soldiers' lives).

That we were 'right' about the people (some of them, anyway) was demonstrated after the war ended when the VietNamese government exterminated many thousands (some say over 100,000) Montagnards. Montagnards were usually allied with Special Forces units, as the movie clearly shows.

The American military did not 'lose' the conflict at all - it was given away by politicians. Simply check the casualty numbers. The ignominy lay in the submission by 'President Cronkite' on national TV.

There are other elements in the pot, but those don't matter much.

I watch "The Green Berets" in 2 parts. The first part is totally realistic, as far as the crude effects would permit. I overlook the technical failures. The second part is really not credible at all, but it is kind of fun, in a way. Such a snatch mission would take weeks to arrange and that requirement is not addressed in the movie. It just happens, as if it were undertaken in the next few days.

While I have versions of "Apocalypse Now" and its "Redux," I do not have other Vietnam war movies such as "Platoon" (an aberration), "The Deer Hunter" (preposterous), "Hamburger Hill" (stumbling) or "Full Metal Jacket" (another aberration), although I have subjected myself to having watched them all at one time or another.

I watch "The Green Berets" for another chance to get mad at Maltin and other speculators who were not out there and do not understand at all. I watch it with Closed Captions (I started using CC about 6 years ago and I find it enriches my movie watching experience) but "The Green Berets" is rather poorly captioned. I complained to the captioning company and suggested they use an experienced person to at least CHECK the 'technical' terminology. For example, fougasse is called "boo gas," the commo bunker is called the "com-o bunker," Colonel Kirby's Mike Force is called a "Might Force" and there are all kinds of captions for "Fong" which is NOT a VietNamese name (Pham or Phon, maybe), among other boo-boos.

With some reservations, I recommend "The Green Berets" for the first part of it and the general tone of its Point Of View which represents the prevailing notion in both the government and the military at that time.

Just after I registered for the draft in 1967, this propaganda film came-out. Starring a WWII draft dodger. Someoe in another review wrote that Wayne was 4F. Just like so many myths about Wayne, this one is a baldfaced lie. Wayne obtained 3-A status, deferred for dependency reasons. Yup, that's right, Mr. America hid behind the skirt of his wife. Wayne was like like Bush, Chaney and all the other chicken hawks. They had connections and got out of the war. As Chaney once said, going to Nam wasn't in his career path. Apparently, it wasn't in Wayne's either. Yet, they either start or promote wars for other people's kids to die in. My generation laughed this movie off as an inept cartoon. How anyone could take it seriously is beyond me. Perhaps someone who's never been to war?

He was one of the original team that captured the general. He climbed up on the balcony and let the rope down...Does that validate that part of the movie enough....He also said the part of the little boy never existed....He watched with tears in his eyes because some of his team did not return from that mission alive....Be kinda careful when you criticize things. These guys did not ask to be sent over there...They were sent over there....He did not appreciate getting yelled child killer when he returned either. They were basically good soldiers doing all they could to stay alive....He had may years of Viet Nam syndrome after returning to civilian life....Never got anything from the government nor expected anything....He did his duty and returned.....

I first saw this film as a child and loved it. As a kid, I loved all WWII movies, and I assumed this was another one.

Then I grew up and saw it again. I spent the entire time either squirming with discomfort or laughing out loud.

The point is: then I grew up. And knew good film-making from bad. And good acting from bad. I thought Charlton Heston was good when I was a kid, too.

"Green Berets" is CORNY as can be. The lines are trite. The little kid is as bad at delivering lines with a believable accent as that woman that Rambo saves ("You take me America with YOU, Ram-BO?"). John Wayne postures his way through the whole thing. And, yes, I thought he was too old for the part even when I was a kid.

At least, unlike many bad movies, this one is bad enough to be worth watching for amusement.

Coming at a time when the press was getting aligned with the student left and congressional left, it was the only true movie that dared to face off against the yuppie generation's parents.

Burt Lancaster in Go Tell The Spartans and the movie Don't Cry It's Only Thunder were two more in their time periods that though low budget and story intense, did put the message out that the enemy was ignorance, politics, and communism.

Green Berets was the Strategic Air Command (among others) of its time. Get past the b.s. and look at the portrayal of the participants of all sides and you will see that it is more truthful than others give it credit for.

The movie relates that the Green Berets mission was not one of smoke and mirrors, but get in the dirt and live at the grass roots levels of those who were stuck between communism and a corrupted democratic govt.

It doesn't need computer graphics or shock and awe effects to say that the military then was in a transitional stage. Where the conventional warfare military leaders thought that European land battle tactics could win an Asian war.

The special forces then and of today got the message...the cold war wasn't the true war, it was the war of the flea being waged in south America, east europe, asia, and Africa.

Enjoy the movie for what it is...Wayne's unashamed tribute to a new breed of American soldier...the special operator. Remember, they were all volunteers. Screened. And chosen for their people skills, not kill skills.

"The Green Berets" has received a lot of flack over the years, a lot of it undeserved. I admit there's a lot about the movie that doesn't work - the tone and attitude of the movie is from the 1940s, not 1969. The subplot about the war orphan is cliched and heavy-handed. The movie was shot in an area that looks nothing like Vietnam. There are some weird attempts at humor. And yes, Wayne didn't have a clear idea as to what the Vietnam conflict was about.

Most of the controversy about this movie comes around this fact. However, looking carefully, one sees that not all of the politics are incorrect. The scene at the beginning, for example, makes clear that soldiers of ANY conflict are just following orders from the government. If you disagree with a conflict, blame the government, not the soldiers.

Also in the beginning, the movie makes a point that the Soviets were giving assistance to the South-East communists - which was true. Wayne's statement suggesting that the Soviets were trying for some kind of world domination actually isn't that far-fetched. Before the Soviet Union fell, there were numerous times when the Soviets gave assistance to other communist countries and forces. (As well, this short beginning scene has most of the politics in the entire movie!)

Some of the protests about the movie are to do with the fact that the North Vietnamese are portrayed as being vicious, and the Americans as a kind of holier-than-thou. While it is true that the Americans committed some atrocities during the conflict, the North Vietnamese committed FAR MORE. The scene in the movie where innocent Vietnamese villagers are killed by the enemy because they accepted help from the Americans has actual basis in fact. Still not convinced, ex-hippies? If the North Vietnamese weren't so bad, why were there thousands of boat people? And take a look at the based-on-true-stories movies "The Hanoi Hilton" and "The Killing Fields" to get an idea of how brutal the South-East Asian communists were to P.O.W.s and ordinary people.

"The Green Berets" also has some excellent battle sequences. In fact, Wayne was so impressed with second-unit director Kellogg's direction of these scenes, he gave him co-directing credit. I will admit that the shot with the toy helicopter did ruin things somewhat. Elsewhere, however, the military hardware and battle techniques are overall very accurate. (Wayne got full cooperation from the U.S. military)

You might think I like this movie. Actually, I don't - I overall didn't like it because it was too slow, and with a lot of boring chat. Still, I don't think it's anywhere near the bomb/laughfest it's been unfairly branded. And I think a lot of people agree: It was the 11th highest grossing movie of 1968, generating $8.7 million in rentals - a HUGE amount in those days! It's also been issued several times on video, and Warner Bros. chose this movie as one of its first "oldies" DVD releases. So clearly a lot of people haven't minded - or didn't care - about its "message".

Although "They Were Expendable" is a better film overall, "Green Berets" is also quite good, and both movies have a lot in common.

• They show the enemy as the enemy - vicious killers.

• And they show Americans as being flawed, but good & brave.

• They were both made *during* the war.

• Which means the outcome was unknown - would we win or lose? - And finally, they show that the Americans are there to HELP - The Americans were helping the Filipinos in WW2's They Were Expendable, and the South Vietnamese in Green Berets. They both treat their Asian allies as equals (no racism here).

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Given all that, with movies that are nearly identical to one another in plot & purpose (rally the homefront to support the war), it seems odd the Green Berets is so hated, while They Were Expendable is so loved.

Having just watched both movies back-to-back on TCM and AMC, via Memorial Day marathons, I don't see why one is loved & the other hated. I thought John Wayne did an excellent job in both movies, and that both movies should be considered classics.

Bottom Line: If you have a chance to see either of these two movies, don't hesitate to sit down & enjoy them. They're definitely worth your time.

troy

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide gave this movie a rating of BOMB.That is just so ridiculous. Clearly, too many movie reviewers let their anti-Vietnam war politics color their review of this movie. It has some pretty good action scenes and holds your interest the whole way through the movie, although the movie is a little long.This is not a great movie by any means, but it doesn't deserve the absolute ridicule that the mostly left-wing movie critics have given it. Even if you don't like the politics in the movie, I think you can still enjoy it as an action/war film.

One final thing about the movie. The movie critics enjoy making fun of the final scene where John Wayne and the Vietnamese boy walk on the beach as the sun sets in the east. It is patently unfair to single out this movie scene as bad movie-making. Hollywood takes artistic license with movie scenes all the time. Most ignorant actors don't even know how to give a proper military salute when they play a soldier. Settings and locations in movies often have no resemblance to the places they are trying to portray in real life.

In short, forget the politics and just enjoy this decent war movie on its own merits.

When I first saw the Green Berets back in the late 1970's early 80's it was widely criticized by contemporary film buffs as being jingoistic and 'gun ho'. Obviously, with John Wayne being the leading role, it only served to reinforce this view. Sure it is patriotic but no more than many of the WWII and Korean War films that were made in the 1950's and 1960's. So when recently I had a chance to see the movie, (the first time in over 15 years) what I noticed was that it was actually a refreshing change to the, anti- American, soul searching, self-loathing anti Vietnam war movies made from the late 1970's onwards.

If the Green Berets was guilty of overdoing the nobility, and righteousness of the Vietnam War, the later movies only served to give comfort to the anti-war, self-indulgent Vietnam movement years later. Apocalypse now, the Deer hunter, Platoon, etc., (you know the ones) are just a few of the movies that ignored the barbarism of both the Viet Cong and Khamer rouge in indo-china, conveniently overlook the global political realities of the time as well as unfairly mock the military.

Years later, the Green Berets actually offer a different viewpoint. If one is to keep it into perspective it comes across quite well as it highlights how the US was welcomed in many parts of Vietnam and how indifferent the North Vietnamese were to their own people. The millions of people murdered in the communist controlled parts of Indo-china during and after the American withdrawal are well documented. Check the movie out

The film has been to overly picked on for decades.It is not a masterpiece.The jungle looks not like Vietnam.The helicoptor shot is horrible for se at this time in history.It stands out horriblely.John Wayne gives a good performace in the film.The plot is centered on the green berets fight to protect a few camps and mission.The film has a few good actors.I love Sergant Mulldoon's fighting spirt.He is the sarge.The politics may seem a bit jaded.At the time of the film,we had not lost or left vietnam.See it in the context of the time...

I don't know if John Wayne thought he was doing his country a service by making this film or if he even knew that at the time it was in production the KIA of Americans in Viet Nam was already at 20,000+. This film is in insult to the men and women who served over there. If you were to ask me I would say it was made purely for propaganda reasons cause at this time in the war things were not going well, and who else to up the image of Viet Nam than John Wayne. This movie plays as a cheap western and I almost expected Mr. Wayne to go riding off into the sunset at the end....And speaking of sunsets, the ending of the film has the sun setting over the ocean. The coast of Viet Nam faces East.

Every one who was a part of this production should apologize.

It is probably impossible to assess the content of this film in other than the context in which it was developed and presented. My own first viewing was in 1968 a matter of mere weeks before having to report for duty in the US Armed Forces. At that time I did not know whether or not I would have to go to Viet Nam as many of my friends already had. Some had already been killed or wounded in action. In this context, the film is one I will never forget.

John Wayne made this as a political film in an attempt to counter the rising tide of what he and others like him saw as treasonous protests against the government and the military over the conflict in Viet Nam. This horrid almost-war was tearing many families apart in controversy. Wayne wanted to make a patriotic statement of support for the Armed Forces who had been so good to him. He was denied several attempts at enlistment in WWII and was classified 4F. He made films to support the allied war effort then and hoped to show support again even though this was never a real war. Instead he was widely ridiculed by a rabid leftist press.

Yes, the film was definitely not accurate in the way we have come to demand of today's films. Such accuracy may have been impossible in the political climate of the day. There was deep seated anger in the upper military echelon for not being allowed to wage an actual war. Every engagement between forces was won by the Americans, but they were forbidden from the beginning to the end from pressing an attack. The result was perhaps history's worst military "Catch 22"; fight and then wait for the enemy to regroup, rearm and reattack. I still know military people who hate the entire media for the brow-beating they gave the military and Congress, who - in turn - forbade the military from pressing more aggressive action.

Wayne was also attempting to counter people in the entertainment industry whom he and others considered traitors (then and still) such as Jane Fonda, who visited and spoke in support of North Viet Nam.

It was this climate Wayne stepped into. His effort was genuine but it resulted in a cameo of the war rather than something palpable. Something that good has yet to be made. Much of what went on, real high drama and touching personal stories, has been almost entirely ignored by Hollywood. Thus, this also remains one of the few films of the hugely controversial era.