Main Cast: Anthony Barrile, Michael Boatman, Don Cheadle, Michael Dolan, Don James
Release Year: 1987
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Though the anti-war sentiments of Hamburger Hill come through loud and clear, the film is squarely on the side of those courageous, much-maligned Americans who fought and died in Vietnam. Based on a true incident, the story takes place in 1969, as the 101st Airborne Division confronts the Vietcong in a bloody battle over Hill 937 (aka "Hamburger Hill") in the Ashua Valley. During the next 10 days, both sides incur heavy losses, but the Cong refuse to surrender the hill. The ultimate American "victory" turns out to be a hollow one indeed. Scripted by Vietnam war vet Jim Carabatsos, Hamburger Hill not only underlines the futility of the war but also the pressures brought to bear upon the troops by an insensitive, often hostile media. By utilizing a cast of unknowns, director Jim Irvin deftly avoids the Hollywoodized slickness of such bigger-budgeted efforts as Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
John Irvin's visceral, grunt's-eye-view of one of the most notoriously savage battles of the Vietnam War is a solid, beautifully directed film somewhat undercut by a perfunctory script. The film focuses on a dozen or so members of a rifle platoon assigned to take Hill 937 in the Ashau Valley in May of 1969. In Oliver Stone's Vietnam War film Platoon (1986), the unit's dissension reflected the reality of a divided nation. Hamburger Hill, however, raises an equally painful issue from this unique conflict: most U.S. front-line troops were simple, uneducated, and often apolitical kids, trying to come to grips with fighting a war on which public opinion was split. This is most poignantly illustrated by a scene in which one of the grunts (Tommy Swerdlow) is deeply hurt by a letter from his girlfriend telling him she can no longer write to him because she has been told that the war is immoral. While the film doesn't hide its hawkish sympathies, it's essentially about the muddy, bloody horror of this gruesome action, in which 70 percent of the platoon was either killed or wounded. Irvin emphasizes the grunt sense of Sisyphean futility, as they battle their way up and down the side of the hill over the course of 11 brutal days, and his stunning combat photography can stand comparison with any on film. It is less successful in its non-combat sequences, which feature too-familiar scenes reflecting the tensions and friendships among the soldiers. Their mantra, "Don't mean nothin," also suggests what's missing from the film in terms of an ordering pattern of metaphor. But at its best, in the thick of combat, this is a stirring tribute to the men who fought and died on Hill 937. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Dylan McDermott - Sgt. Frantz; M.A. Nickles - Galvin; Harry O'Reilly - Duffy; Daniel O'Shea - Gaigin; Tim Quill - Beletsky; Tommy Swerdlow - Bienstock; Courtney Vance - Doc Johnson; Steven Weber - Sgt. Worcester; Tegan West - Lt. Eden; Kieu Chinh - Mama San; Doug Goodman - Lagunas; J.C. Palmore - Healy; J.D. VanSickle - Newsman
Credit
Tot Castillo - Art Director, Ken Metcalfe - Casting, Mary Colquhoun - Casting, Larry de Waay - Co-producer, Soc Jose - First Assistant Director, John Irvin - Director, Peter Tanner - Editor, David Korda - Executive Producer, Jerry Offsay - Executive Producer, Philip Glass - Composer (Music Score), Alfred Cleveland - Songwriter, Bob Dylan - Songwriter, Calvin Lewis - Songwriter, Barry Mann - Songwriter, Carl Penzabene - Songwriter, Helga Penzabene - Songwriter, Rodger Penzabene - Songwriter, Spencer Savis - Songwriter, Mel Tillis - Songwriter, Cynthia Well - Songwriter, Muff Winwood - Songwriter, Steve Winwood - Songwriter, Norman Withfield - Songwriter, Andrew Wright - Songwriter, Cecille Baun - Makeup, Neville Smallwood - Makeup, Austen Spriggs - Production Designer, Peter MacDonald - Cinematographer, Jim Carabatsos - Producer, David Korda - Producer, Marcia Nasatir - Producer, Jerry Offsay - Producer, David Hildyard - Sound/Sound Designer, Jim Carabatsos - Screenwriter, Smokey Robinson - Featured Music
The series of assaults (which resulted in heavy casualties to both the American and North Vietnamese forces) commenced on May 10, 1969, with the hill finally being taken on May 20.
The film portrays fighting, combat, courage, camaraderie and dedication to the mission among troops. It also brings up painful questions about the Vietnam War, such as the stigmatizing of replacement troops ("newbies" or, more crudely, "FNGs", for "Fuckin' New Guys") and of the seeming caprice of high command in the conflict, specifically the lack of strategic value of the hill and subsequent unnecessary casualties. Other issues include the effect of anti-war sentiment on morale, and racial tensions among troops (especially the overcoming of racial tension by gradual friendship and earned respect). It also showed exploitation of Vietnamese women who catered to the sexual needs of the soldiers. There are several scenes with nudity and scantily clothed women in the film.
One aspect of the war portrayed is how the soldiers in the field felt betrayed by people back in the United States, particularly college students. In one scene a soldier gets a letter from his girlfriend saying she will not keep writing because her college friends told her it was immoral. In another scene, Sgt. Worchester (Steven Weber) from the Southern United States says that when he got home he faced discrimination for being a veteran. When he got off the plane, hippies gave him and his fellow soldiers bags of dog feces. When he got to his house, his wife was sleeping with another man. None of this bothered him until he discovered that his local bartender had lost his son in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley and was sent home in "a rubber bag with 'members missing' labeled on it." To make it worse, college students kept phoning him saying they were glad his son was killed by "the heroic people's army", causing the bartender to start using heroin. This event caused Worchester to sign up for another tour in Vietnam.
