The Green Berets

source: The Green Berets

Trailer—The Green Berets

John Wayne's angry, vile, and obstinate Vietnam War movie is not subtle. The political posturings begin directly after the credits roll. Support for the US involvement must have been faltering badly when Mr. Wayne made "The Green Berets", since it identifies enemies on two fronts. The battle lines are distinctly drawn: the democracy-loving Vietnamese People and "Green Berets" are the side of good; and, the Viet Cong, American journalists, along with ignorant youth inhabit the dark side. Ex-"Fugitive" reporter David Janssen and lazy, guitar-strumming draftee Jim Hutton are physical representations of the latter. It helps when a wartime propaganda movie is good. This one isn't. * The Green Berets (7/4/68) John Wayne ~ John Wayne, David Janssen, Jim Hutton, Craig Jue

The Green Berets is a great John Wayne film! He is very good in the movie. The cast is also good. George Takei is excellent in the movie. The music is by Miklós Rózsa which is a very good score. The action is unbelievably realistic and I am amazed how the battles and fighting scenes were especially since it was made decades ago! The end of the film is quite emotional. The box of the movie has John Wayne on the cover which the picture has him as a tired and angry man. It is such an unusual picture. This is one of the best and finest war films I have ever seen. With its good acting, incredible and I mean incredible action, great special effects, and awesome directing this is a classic! It is arguably The Duke's best film! If you want to see a great war movie that is way ahead of its time then this is truly the ultimate one to watch!

This film is often criticised by the left wing film critics because they judge all films by their twisted politics.Its a film about men defending villages and people from cruel opressors. The film is in two parts the first showing what life is like living under constant attack,the second involves a dangerous mission.The film captures the tension of a war zone and the difficulty of knowing which side some of the soldiers are on,treacherous acts are never far away.The film shows the hatred of the south for the north which John Wayne looks disaprovingly on.The cast includes the typical USA sgt played by Aldo Ray,the tragi/comedy part of the scrounger played by Jim Hutton and the kindly Doc. The village ransacked by the vietcong is movingly done and the battle scenes very well done and quite violent for the movies release date,so watch this movie and leave your prejuidices aside and you will be gripped by it.8/10

John Wayne knew this film wouldn't be popular. He decided to make this film come hell or high water from a purely patriotic sense of duty. The Vietnam war was escalating and so was anti-war sentiment in this country. Wayne knew he'd be labelled a Hawk for making this but he didn't care. He wanted to show that there were two sides to the war and that he believed that the US belonged in Vietnam. The film is unashamedly pro-war and he forever remained unapologetic for making this film. It bombed at the box office (he knew it would), but has seen some resurgence in popularity in the rental arena. The film is very much slanted towards the US point of view, and there are no gray areas in policy or prosecution of the war. I have mixed feelings about the film. I respect Wayne's opinion but I believe the film is a little too pro-war, at least for me.

This is the only pro-Vietnam war film ever made. Most of the officers, like John Wayne or Bruce Cabot (Frank Pierce in 1967's "The War Wagon"), are much too old to be running around the jungle looking for the VC. Aldo Ray, though a bit too old for this part, pulls it off with a tough-as-nails portrayal of Sgt. Muldoon. Mike Henry, a lousy actor at best, actually has a decent scene, in which, unfortunately, he dies. Henry's character, Kowalski, shows what hand-to-hand combat with martial arts training can really do. Oliver Stone has denounced this film as racist; I have yet to find out why. I have seen this film at least a dozen times, and the ruthlessness of the Viet Cong is shown honestly. The scenes with American actors in blackface (greyface?) portraying VC are rather silly, since there weren't too many six-foot VC around, but the Malayan Swing and punji stakes are frighteningly realistic, at a time when most Americans had never heard of such barbaric weapons.

People might be surprised by this, but who was the first filmaker to make a film about the Vietnam war? It was John Wayne and the Green Berets was Hollywood's first depiction of our most controversial war when it was still being fought (the movie was released the same year as the Tet Offensive). Wayne turned down the role of Major Riesman in The Dirty Dozen to make this film. He had visited Vietnam and was really taken by the courage of the soldiers there especially the special forces and this was his tribute to them, how noble! Yes it is hokey and has a rather simplistic viewpoint (especially in the opening when they compare the Vietnam war to the thirteen colonies). The critics ripped the hell out of this film, but I think they just didn't agree with the viewpoint of it. Anyway, leave your brain on off and just enjoy it like another one of John's westerns or war pictures. Duke versus Charlie!