Rank These Vietnam War Movies

Lulz, the link in your sig quote still goes back to Pio.

Give "˜The Siege of Firebase Gloria' a go. One of Brian Trenchard-Smith's best.

that's like ranking magic vs bird. you can't go wrong with any of 'em.

you got the order right.

but what about Hamburger Hill

no good morning vietnam? lol

i reckon apocalypse now was pretty epic

On what basis are we to rank these films? Entertainment factor? Realism? Best action sequences? Most anti-war message?

Where was Tropic Thunder set?

It's hard because beyond the most obvious common themes, they are very different films.

The Deer Hunter has more of a what happens to relationships back home feel. I didn't really see it as much of a war movie at all.

Platoon has a good vs. bad theme going on where characters like Sheen's and Defoe are just categorically good guys and Berenger, Dillon, and a few others (Red? - the gay cop from Wild Hogs) are just categorically bad ass. In other words, its the characters who are divided collectively between themselves.

Full Metal jacket, on the other hand, is just the oppositte where, and I'm taking this from how one analyst analyses the film (I'm paraphrasing here since I don't remeber what he says all too well), you have a character like Modine's who personifies a sort of self-division ("born to kill" on the helmet, and then a peace sign on the other side of the same helmet) - he's like Platoon's Defoe character and Berenger all wrapped into the same guy. And, he, the analyst, seems to say, this self-division is the perfect personification of how the very military infrastructure is itself divided: the military wants their soldiers to be obedient and the ultimate badasses and yet they want them to be compassionate and disobedient if the situation demands. They want their soldiers to dehumanize the enemy to make them more effective and less psychologically traumatized fighters and yet they want them to know when to have a conscience. Modine, in his self-division is the perfect soldier: he identifies with brutal military rhetoric but doesn't in the end take it too literally.


Apocalypse Now - it's been such a while since I've seen it I don't even remember anything much.

But Platoon wins hands down for the sheer bulk of actors who went on to become the most succesfull.

Apocalypse Now
FMJ
Platoon











The Deerhunter (self indulgent and pretty vapid, frankly)

1) First half hour of FMJ
2) Apoc
3) Deerhunter
4) Rest of FMJ
5) Platoon

1. FMJ 2. Apocalypse Now 3. Platoon 4. Deerhunter.

1.) Apocalypse Now!
2.) The Deer Hunter
3.) Full Metal Jacket

4.) Platoon

First three are among the all-time outstanding movies all categories. Internal order can easily be turned upside down. Platoon is good but not up to that level.