Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writer:

Mitch Markowitz (written by)

Release Date:

15 January 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

Time to rock it from the Delta to the DMZ!

Plot:

An unorthodox and irreverent DJ begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the US Armed Services Radio station in Vietnam.

Plot Keywords:

Radio | Vietnam | Vietnamese | Teaching | Reference To Ethel Merman

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Robin Williams	...	Adrian Cronauer
Forest Whitaker	...	Edward Garlick
Tung Thanh Tran	...	Tuan
Chintara Sukapatana	...	Trinh
Bruno Kirby	...	Lt. Steven Hauk
Robert Wuhl	...	Marty Lee Dreiwitz
J.T. Walsh	...	Sgt. Major Dickerson
Noble Willingham	...	Gen. Taylor
Richard Edson	...	Pvt. Abersold
Juney Smith	...	Phil McPherson
Richard Portnow	...	Dan 'The Man' Levitan
Floyd Vivino	...	Eddie Kirk
Cu Ba Nguyen	...	Jimmy Wah
Dan Stanton	...	Censor #1 (as Dan R. Stanton)
Don Stanton	...	Censor #2 (as Don E. Stanton)

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #28046) | Brazil:Livre (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/12 (Q) | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Robin Williams ad-libbed all of Adrian Cronauer's broadcasts.

Goofs:

Factual errors: US Air Force enlisted men do NOT wear a US cypher on their overseas caps. Williams is shown in every scene in which he wears 1505's (Air Force tan uniform) in an overseas cap which has the USAF enlisted US on it.

Quotes:

Adrian Cronauer: The Mississippi River broke through a protective dike today. What is a protective dike? Is it a large woman that says "Don't go near there! But Betty- Don't go near there! Don't go down by the river!"... No, we can't say "dyke" on the air, we can't even say "lesbian" anymore, it's "women in comfortable shoes. Thank You."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saved by the Bell: Save the Max (#2.3)" (1990)

Soundtrack:

Five O'Clock World

Effective movie that is neither too funny nor too grim

I just sat through a DVD of this movie,the second(?)time I'd seen this film. The last time I could recall seeing this,it was on pay-per-view television in a hotel(the Red Lion I think it was) room,August of 1988,so my memories of this film could use a refreshing. I'm glad I got refreshed.

In 1965,Airman Adrian Cronauer(Robin Williams,in the first of his four Academy Award nominations)is brought on to do an Armed Forces Radio stint in Vietnam. Behind the microphone,Cronauer lets loose,much to the surprise and delight of many of the troops and servicemen around the area of combat. His combination of off-the-wall humor,impressions,sound gags and quick wit,mixed with his love of free-wheeling Rock music of the era,is pretty much welcomed in the area,save for a few angry sorts: a Napoleon-complexed intermediate CO named Hauk(Bruno Kirby,unrecognizable but for the voice) and a stiff-lipped,quietly vindictive middle commander named Dickerson(J.T.Walsh,so good here it would seem like this typecast him). As this is going on,Cronauer becomes smitten with a local girl(Chinatra Sukapatra,spelling?)and befriends her brother(Tung Thanh Tran),which leads the popular DJ down a road of self-discovery.

With excellent support from Forrest Whitaker(one of my favorites!he ends up sort of counter-balancing Williams' manic frenzy with nerdish normalcy as his buddy/assistant/guide),Richard Edson,Noble Winnigham,Robert Wuhl and Cu Ba Nguyen(as the oily GI bar proprietor)among others,this film,directed by Barry Levinson(whose work hasn't been this good in what feels like forever,certainly not since Avalon or Rain Man) and written by Mitch Markowitz,it is arguable one of the deftest films to create and maintain a balance between the horrors and inhumanity of war and the humor and pathos that are very much present in it. Robin Williams' fans may get much more out of this that those who aren't,but I think even many of those who don't consider themselves fanciers of his talents should be able to appreciate this. The images were powerful enough that they stuck with me some after the first time I saw GMV and after a second time I feel like can appreciate even more out of this movie.