Hamburger Hill (1987)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

John Irvin

Writer:

James Carabatsos (writer)

Release Date:

28 August 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War | Action

Tagline:

War at its worst. Men at their Best.

Plot:

A very realistic interpretation of one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.

Plot Keywords:

Hill | Vietnam | Vietnam War | Slaughter | Uniform

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Nov. 16

9:00 AM

AMC

Cast

Anthony Barrile	...	Vincent 'Alphabet' Languilli
Michael Boatman	...	Motown (as Michael Patrick Boatman)
Don Cheadle	...	Pvt. Washburn
Michael Dolan	...	Murphy
Don James	...	McDaniel / Mac
Dylan McDermott	...	Sgt. Frantz
Michael A. Nickles	...	Galvan (as M.A. Nickles)
Harry O'Reilly	...	Duffy
Daniel O'Shea	...	Gaigin
Tim Quill	...	Pvt. Joe Beletsky
Tommy Swerdlow	...	Pvt. Bienstock
Courtney B. Vance	...	Doc Johnson
Steven Weber	...	Worcester
Tegan West	...	Lt. Eden
Kieu Chinh	...	Mama San

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (Special Edition DVD) | New Zealand:M | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 (cut) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Philippines

Company:

RKO Pictures

Trivia:

Near the end of the film, there is a scene where a soldier, his face covered with bandages, is blindly reaching out to his comrades as they hurry past him. This is taken from a famous picture taken at the real Hamburger Hill.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Although the practice of subduing unit shoulder patches was officially adopted during the Vietnam war, there were some units that refused to subdue their patches because of unit pride. The 101st Airborne Division was the major one that never subdued their shoulder patches. The 101st did not subdue the patch until BDUs started to be worn.

Quotes:

Worcester: We had a short-timer once. Johnny I-forget-his-name. He wore a flak jacket, two helmets and armor underwear. Ashau Valley... your time's up, your time *is* up.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (1999) (VG)

Soundtrack:

I Second That Emotion

A fierce and very thoughtful film.

Extremely brutal and fierce true story about one particular group in the 101 Airborne Division, who spend ten days and eleven battles trying to claim a muddy and well-occupied hill that's dubbed "Hamburger Hill".

The cast in this film were mostly unknown like Dylan McDermott (who made his film debut here) and Steven Weber who both play the platoon's two weary and determined sergeants, Don Cheadle is one of the five new recruits, Michael Boatman and Courtney Vance are also in the cast. It's certainly well-acted by McDermott and Vance..

John Irvin ("The Dogs of War") directed the film and here, he lets the emotions of the soldiers go very far but not too far and the same can be mentioned for the battle scenes. Also, Irvin take a page of Robert Aldrich's WW2 classic and unforgettable melodrama "The Dirty Dozen". Instead of making instant up close shots as Aldrich did, Irvin slowly moves the camera in and it captures the unpredictable feeling that any of the G.I.s have. I wasn't moved, yet I was amazed as well.

Jim Carabatos ("Heartbreak Ridge") wrote the movie's story and like Irvin, Carabatos is careful in making the tale absolutely clear and very understanding to the viewer. The point that Irvin and Carabatos are trying to make is fascinating and simple: No one here is trying to be the hero nor the villain because surviving the war is a more important factor than trying to be gutsy and wind up being killed.

"Hamburger Hill" isn't the type of war movie like Oliver Stone's "Platoon" or Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" were, but it tends to be like Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" was a few years ago. It's a fierce and very thoughtful film