Here are the ten best Vietnam War movies. All combined they give a pretty accurate picture of the war from beginning to end. They also give an excellent look at the courage and tenacity of the American soldier.
They’re in order of the war year(s) of which they depict.
Rescue Dawn (2006) depicts the experiences of German-born US Navy Pilot Dieter Dengler who in 1965 was shot down over Laos and taken prisoner. Near starving, Dengler and his fellow prisoners make a daring escape and then try to find their way into Thailand.
Playing Dieter Dengler, Christian Bale gives another outstanding acting performance.
We Were Soldiers (2002) is Mel Gibson’s Vietnam movie about the first major battle between North Vietnamese regulars and the United States Army during the late 1965 battle in the Ia Drang Valley.
Mel Gibson plays Lt. Colonel Hal Moore who leads his Air Cavalry unit into the Valley of Death and engages in one of the fiercest battles in US war history. It shows America’s early war gung-ho spirit.
The movie not only depicts realistic battles but it gives wonderful insight into what both sides endured.
It’s based on the eyewitness account of journalist Joseph Galloway in his book We Were Soldiers Once… and Young.
Casualties of War (1989) is based on the 1966 true story of a squad of five US soldiers who out on a long-range recon, kidnapped a young Vietnamese woman. Four of the soldiers gang-raped her but despite threats from his war-crazed sergeant (Sean Penn) a newly arrived private (Michael J. Fox) refused to participate.
The remainder of the story revolves around Fox’s attempts to bring his squad to justice. The movie not only depicts the tragic effect of war on young soldiers but also shows how difficult it is for good character to win out.
If you can stand the horrid treatment of the girl, including her terrible death, you’ll be inspired by Fox’s character and encouraged that in the end justice wins.
Green Berets (1968) was John Wayne’s counter to the anti-war sentiment that was burning hot in the US at that time. The movie is staunch anti-communist but also at tribute to the spirit of the US soldier. True to Wayne’s admirable patriotism the movie reduced the Vietnam War to simple terms; good vs. evil.
Full Metal Jacket (1987) is a fictional account of young Marine recruits who after training at Parris Island South Carolina end up in Vietnam in January 1968 just as the Tet Offensive erupts.
Platoon (1986) is Oliver Stone’s Vietnam movie based in part on his personal experiences during the war. The movie stars Charlie Sheen as young private Taylor and Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger as two battling sergeants. In contrast to We Were Soldiers, Platoon depicts America’s soldiers as despairing of the war and its apparent meaninglessness.
It’s 1968 and after two soldiers are killed by a booby trap, members of Taylor’s platoon enact revenge on Vietnamese villagers. Sheen is then caught in the middle of a conflict between the two sergeants, one who ordered the attack on the village and the other who condemned it.
The movie isn’t a feel good experience but then, war never is.
Hamburger Hill (1987) depicts the 1969 battle for Hill 937, a heavily defended but strategically irrelevant communist position. Nevertheless the US high command ordered that the hill be taken. The bloody ten day battle ended in a US debacle.
Bat-21 (1988) is loosely based on the 1972 actual story of the rescue of a downed aviation officer who must trek through enemy territory to reach a safe pick-up spot. Gene Hackman stars as the officer and Danny Glover stars as the Forward Air Control pilot who tracks and guides Hackman through the jungle.
Born on the Fourth of July (1989) is another Oliver Stone film and is based on the life of decorated US Marine Ron Kovic who in 1968 after two years in Vietnam suffered two severe wounds which left him permanently paralyzed from the chest down. After his return home, Kovic suffered he trauma of confinement to a wheelchair, the loss of everything he had before the war, and a crisis of questioning all his past beliefs. He eventually became an author and leading peace and anti-war activist
Tom Cruise gives an outstanding portrayal of Ron Kovic in this true life look at the hell of the Vietnam War its hellish aftermath and impact. The movie is graphic both visually and verbally.
I disliked the film’s soundtrack. It sounds like some Egyptian, Star Gate type music.
Bat-21 (1988) is loosely based on the 1972 actual story of the rescue of a downed aviation officer who must trek through enemy territory to reach a safe pick-up spot. Gene Hackman stars as the officer and Danny Glover stars as the Forward Air Control pilot who tracks and guides Hackman through the jungle.
Deer Hunter (1978) is a fictional account of the Vietnam War but it vividly explores the moral conflict of the war and the politically corrupt nature of it in addition to the physical and mental abuse exacted by it upon young soldiers.
It stars Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage as three hometown friends who in 1969 find themselves POWs in Vietnam. After escaping their captors, the three men float down a river and are spotted by a US helicopter. However, only one of the men is lifted aboard leaving the other two to walk through the jungle to American lines.
Back in the US one of the men (DeNiro) learns that one of his buddies lost both legs and is paralyzed but the other friend is still in Vietnam. It’s now 1975 and Saigon is about to fall. DeNiro finds his friend (Walken) now a half-crazed drug addict who earns money by money Russian roulette.
Watch the movie to find out what happens.
