Vietnam War in film

Viet Cong poster for a 1967 film about the death of war hero Nguyen Van Be

This article lists notable films related to the Vietnam War.

Representation of the Vietnamese in film

According to a study by Martin Novelli, the depiction of the Vietnamese in American war films is woefully stereotyped. Vietnamese civilians are usually shown as passive victims, prostitutes, or conniving with the enemy, while North Vietnamese or NLF guerilla fighters are frequently drawn as cruel torturers or effeminate cowards, and the ARVN are described as incompetent. In Walsh and Louvre's opinion, "the ideology of such films speaks of several basic and widespread public attitudes towards the war".^[1]

Donna Alvah reported that students writing an introductory essay on the war often reflect the perception shared by most Americans born after the war. According to Alvah, students' conceptions of the Vietnam War are "largely gleaned from movies, documentaries, music, and .. relatives who served in the war, or who in any case hold strong opinions about it."^[2]

Post-war films

After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, there was an increase in American films that were more "raw", containing actual battle footage. A FilmReference.com article noted that American filmmakers "appeared more confident to put Vietnam combat on screen for the first time" during that era.^[3] These American post-war film representations have generally been more realistic and gritty, such as The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalypse Now (1979).^[3]

Feature films

Year	Country	Title	Director	Events depicted
1964	USA	A Yank in Viet-Nam	Marshall Thompson	A USMC pilot is shot down, but meets a female guerrilla; filmed in South Vietnam
1965	USA	Motorpsycho	Russ Meyer	A US motorcycle gang is led by a disturbed veteran
1966	USA	To the Shores of Hell	Will Zens	A US Marine officer leads a rescue attempt of his brother who is held prisoner by the Viet Cong
1968	USA	Targets	Peter Bogdanovich	A disturbed Vietnam veteran goes on a sniper shooting spree after killing his wife and mother.
1968	USA	The Green Berets	John Wayne, Ray Kellogg	A tribute to U.S. Special Forces, starring John Wayne, filmed mostly in Georgia.[4]
1968	USA	A Torn Page of Glory[5]	Bobby Davis	US soldiers in Vietnam have flashbacks to civilian life
1969	USA	The Ballad of Andy Crocker	George McCowan	Made for TV film begins with a Vietnam firefight the deals with a veteran's readjustment problems
1970	USA	The Losers	Jack Starrett	An American motorcycle gang is recruited for a mission into Cambodia
1971	South Vietnam	Người tình không chân dung	Hoàng Vĩnh Lộc
1971	South Vietnam	Đất khổ	Ha Thuc Can
1972	North Vietnam	Vĩ tuyến 17 ngày và đêm	Hải Ninh	Life of Vietnamese living on both sides of the 17th parallel that splits Vietnam into North and South
1972	Canada	Deathdream	Bob Clark	War veteran returns home as a living corpse
1972	USA	The Visitors	Elia Kazan	Returned Vietnam veterans confront each other over war crime
1974	North Vietnam	Em bé Hà Nội	Hải Ninh	Operation Linebacker II
1976	USA	Taxi Driver	Martin Scorsese	A mentally disturbed Vietnam veteran comes to New York City after the war, and gets a job driving taxicabs due to insomnia. He is unable to fit into society, displays obsessive behavior, and is driven to violence.
1977	USA	Heroes	Jeremy Kagan	Amnesiac Vietnam veteran seeks out former comrades
1977	Hong Kong USA	The Boys in Company C	Sidney J. Furie	A group of Marines go through basic training and a tour of service in Vietnam in 1968
1978	USA	Coming Home	Hal Ashby	Homecoming of a Vietnam veterans.
1978	USA UK	The Deer Hunter	Michael Cimino	Three friends from Pennsylvania go off to fight, and come back changed men.[4]
1978	USA	Good Guys Wear Black	Ted Post	Former CIA assassin battles duplicitous US government official.
1978	USA	Go Tell the Spartans	Ted Post	US military advisors during the early part of the war (1964)
1979	USA	Apocalypse Now	Francis Ford Coppola	A special forces officer is called in to locate and kill a rogue colonel[4] in a retelling of Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
1979	USA	Hair	Miloš Forman	Film adaptation of the 1968 Broadway musical of the same name about a Vietnam war draftee who meets and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to the army induction center.
1979	Vietnam	The Abandoned Field: Free Fire Zone (Cánh đồng hoang)	Nguyễn Hồng Sến	An "unnerving and compelling .. subjective-camera-eye-view" of life under helicopter fire in the Mekong Delta. The film cuts to an (American) "helicopter-eye view", contrasting painfully with the human tenderness seen earlier.[6]
1979	Australia	The Odd Angry Shot	Tom Jeffrey	Follows a group of Australian soldiers in Vietnam
1980	USA	The Exterminator	James Glickenhaus	Vietnam veteran turns vigilante
1980	Italy	The Last Hunter	Antonio Margheriti	US officer goes on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines
1980	USA	Return of the Secaucus 7	John Sayles	Reunion of anti-war protesters
1981	UK	How Sleep the Brave	Lyndon James Swift	A group of new soldiers go on a mission in the jungle
1981	South Korea	Guns of Victory [5]	Howard Donald	ROK soldiers in Vietnam
1982	USA	First Blood	Ted Kotcheff	John Rambo, a highly decorated special forces veteran traumatized by his experiences as a prisoner of war, goes on a rampage in a northwestern U.S. town against law enforcement officers who push him too far.
1982	Hong Kong	Boat People	Ann Hui	The Fall of Saigon and its aftermath
1982	Vietnam	Ván bài lật ngửa	Lê Hoàng Hoa	Biopic of the North Vietnamese spy Pham Ngoc Thao
1983	USA	Streamers	Robert Altman	Four soldiers awaiting deployment to Vietnam
1983	USA	Uncommon Valor	Ted Kotcheff	Father organizes a group of Vietnam veterans to go back and rescue his son who is secretly held prisoner in Vietnam.
1984	USA	Missing in Action	Joseph Zito	Vietnam veteran goes back to Vietnam to free secretly held POWs
1984	USA	Purple Hearts	Sidney J. Furie	Love story between a surgeon (Ken Wahl) and a nurse (Cheryl Ladd) who are serving in the U.S. Navy during the war.
1985	USA	Missing in Action 2: The Beginning	Lance Hool	U.S. POW breaks out of Vietnamese prison camp.
1985	USA	Rambo: First Blood Part II	George P. Cosmatos	Vietnam veteran goes back to Vietnam to free secretly held POWs
1985	Vietnam  USSR	Coordinates of Death [7] (a.k.a. Target for Death)	Samvel Gasparov, Suan Tian Nguyen	Stranded Soviet sailors witness American war brutality.
1986	USA	Combat Shock	Buddy Giovinazzo	Vietnam veteran goes insane (Troma film)
1986	USA	Moon in Scorpio	Gary Graver	Three Vietnam-vet buddies go sailing and are attacked by the back-from-the-dead victims of a bloody war crime.
1986	UK USA	Platoon	Oliver Stone	A new recruit's service in a platoon of soldiers patrolling the Cambodian border[4]
1987	USA Philippines	Eye of the Eagle	Cirio H. Santiago	US officer hunts down rogue GIs.
1987	UK USA	Full Metal Jacket	Stanley Kubrick	Battle of Hue Tet Offensive[4]
1987	USA	Good Morning, Vietnam	Barry Levinson	Loosely based on the experiences of AFRS radio DJ Adrian Cronauer
1987	USA	Hamburger Hill	John Irvin	Battle of Hamburger Hill in the Ashau Valley[4]
1987	USA	The Hanoi Hilton	Lionel Chetwynd	Mistreatment of U.S. POWs in the Hỏa Lò Prison.
1987	Italy  Philippines	Phantom Soldiers [8]	Irvin Johnson	Special forces operator searches for brother who was captured by a mysterious group of soldiers
1988	USA	Braddock: Missing in Action III	Aaron Norris	Vietnam vet goes back to Vietnam to rescue left behind wife and child
1988	USA	Off Limits	Christopher Crowe	Two US Criminal Investigation Command agents investigate murders of Vietnamese prostitutes by high-ranking US officers
1988	USA	84C MoPic	Patrick Sheane Duncan	Found footage-style mockumentary follows a US Long-range reconnaissance patrol
1988	USA	Platoon Leader	Aaron Norris	An inexperienced officer learns the ropes of fighting in Vietnam
1988	USA	Bat*21	Peter Markle	Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton's experience of survival while MIA
1988	USA	Operation Warzone	David A. Prior	A squad of US troops attempt to locate an agent who has information detailing an arms shipment that could win the war in their favor
1989	USA	The Iron Triangle	Eric Weston	Viet Cong soldier protects captured GI who spared his life
1989	USA  Philippines	The Siege of Firebase Gloria	Brian Trenchard-Smith	Marines defend a firebase during the Tet offensive
1989	USA	Jacknife	David Jones	Vietnam veterans have trouble adjusting to civilian life
1989	USA	Casualties of War	Brian De Palma	The incident on Hill 192[9]
1989	Philippines USA	Eye of the Eagle 2: Inside the Enemy	Carl Franklin	US soldier goes to rescue Vietnamese girlfriend who has been kidnapped by superior officer
1989	Hong Kong	A Better Tomorrow 3	Tsui Hark	A crime story involving the struggle of Chinese mobsters and their family trying to get back to Hong Kong during the fall of Saigon.
1989	USA	Born on the Fourth of July	Oliver Stone	Based on the experiences of Ron Kovic, who joins the Marines and is paralyzed in battle, evolving into a significant protester against the war.[10]
1989	USA	The Expendables	Cirio H. Santiago	Commando trains a group of misfit soldiers for dangerous mission
1990	USA	Air America	Roger Spottiswoode	Air America pilots uncover U.S. plot to smuggle narcotics
1990	USA	Jacob's Ladder	Adrian Lyne	Vietnam vet is haunted by his past
1990	Hong Kong	Bullet in the Head	John Woo	Hong Kong mobsters travel to Vietnam during the war to smuggle illegal goods. They get entangled with both sides in the war.
1991	USA	Flight of the Intruder	John Milius	A-6 Intruder pilots go on an unauthorized mission to bomb targets in North Vietnam
1991	USA	For The Boys	Mark Rydell	Characters Bette Midler and James Caan entertain the troops and experience turmoil
1992	South Korea	White Badge	Chung Ji-young	Story of two South Koreans who served in Vietnam
1993	USA France	Heaven & Earth	Oliver Stone	Based on the experiences of Vietnamese civilian Le Ly Hayslip of the Vietnam war and its aftermath.
1994	USA	Forrest Gump	Robert Zemeckis	Title character serves in Vietnam
1995	USA	The Walking Dead	Preston A. Whitmore II	In the waning days of the war, a group of Marines are sent to rescue US POWs
1995	USA	Operation Dumbo Drop	Simon Wincer	Green Berets bribe Vietnamese villagers with an elephant
1995	USA	Dead Presidents	Albert Hughes	Characters serve in Vietnam
1998	USA	A Bright Shining Lie	Terry George	Experiences of US Lt. Col. John Paul Vann, military advisor to the South Vietnamese
1999	USA	Faith of My Fathers	Peter Markle	Experiences of US Navy Lieutenant Commander John McCain (later senator) as a POW
2000	USA  Germany	Tigerland	Joel Schumacher	US recruits go through basic training before going to Vietnam
2001	Canada USA	Under Heavy Fire	Sidney J. Furie	Reunited veterans visit Vietnam 25 years after the war, flashbacks to their battles
2002	USA	Path to War	John Frankenheimer	The Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of US President Lyndon B. Johnson and his cabinet members.
2002	USA  Germany	We Were Soldiers	Randall Wallace	Battle of Ia Drang
2003	Vietnam	Hà Nội 12 ngày đêm	Bùi Đình Hạc	Operation Linebacker II
2004	South Korea	R-Point	Kong Su-chang
2005	Vietnam	Sống trong sợ hãi (Living in Fear)	Bùi Thạc Chuyên	A Vietnamese farmer is supporting two families after the end of the war - one in the north, which he abandoned after fleeing during the war, and his new family in the south. To get enough money he sets on to re-cultivate a field full of mines. His life and psyche is changing while he removes each mine by himself.
2005	Vietnam	Giải phóng Sài Gòn (Liberate Sai Gon)		Fall of Saigon
2006	USA Canada	The Veteran	Sidney J. Furie	Vietnam veteran and state senator returns to Vietnam 30 years after the war, and is secretly probed for information on missing GI
2006	USA	Rescue Dawn	Werner Herzog	Dieter Dengler's experience as a POW
2007	Canada USA  Germany	1968 Tunnel Rats	Uwe Boll	U.S. "Tunnel rats" who go into Viet Cong tunnel complexes
2007	USA	Across the Universe	Julie Taymor	The main character's best friend is drafted to fight in the war
2007	USA	Journey from the Fall	Ham Tran	Vietnamese experience of post-war reeducation camps and life as refugees
2008	South Korea	Sunny	Lee Joon-ik	Wife of South Korean serving in Vietnam takes job as singer to be near her husband

Documentary films

Year	Country	Title	Director	Events depicted
1967	France	The Anderson Platoon	Pierre Schoendoerffer	Follows a deployed US infantry platoon in Vietnam.
1968	USA	A Face of War	Eugene S. Jones	Day-to-day activities of active duty Marines.
1969	USA	In the Year of the Pig	Emile de Antonio	History of the war.
1970	USA	Street Scenes	Martin Scorsese	Follows two demonstrations against the war, interviews with participants and bystanders.
1970	USA	The World of Charlie Company	John Laurence	Follows US troops of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, of the 1st Cavalry Division.
1971	USA	Vietnam!, Vietnam!	Sherman Beck	A United States Information Agency film, narrated by Charlton Heston, was shot on location in Vietnam in October–December 1968 but not released until 1971.
1972	USA	Winter Soldier		Follows the Winter Soldier Investigation.
1974	USA	Hearts and Minds	Peter Davis	Interviews with Americans and Vietnamese.
1979	UK	Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia	David Munro	The war in Cambodia and its aftermath under the rule of the Khmer Rouge.
1980	Canada	Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War (TV miniseries)	Michael Maclear (producer)	History of the conflict from the First Indochina War to the Fall of Saigon.
1982	USA	The Uncounted Enemy	George Crile III (producer)	The film alleges that general William Westmoreland presented false numbers of enemy combatants to the US public.
1983	USA	Vietnam: A Television History (TV miniseries)		Based on Karnow's book Vietnam: A History.
1987	USA	Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam	Bill Couturié	Based on letters from US soldiers serving in Vietnam.
1989	UK	Four Hours in My Lai (Yorkshire Television documentary)		My Lai Massacre.
1990	USA	Berkeley in the Sixties	Mark Kitchell	Anti-war protesters at Berkeley University.
1998	USA	Regret to Inform	Barbara Sonneborn	The director, a US war widow, goes to Vietnam to explore the loss of her husband.
1999	Vietnam	The Sound of the Violin in My Lai (Tiếng vỹ cầm ở Mỹ Lai)	Tran Van Thuy	My Lai Massacre
2001	Netherlands	First Kill	Coco Schrijber	The psychology of war is explored through interviews with Vietnam veterans.
2001	USA	Unfinished Symphony: Democracy and Dissent	Bestor Cram, Mike Majoros	Follows a three-day protest against the war in Lexington, Massachusetts over Memorial Day weekend in 1971, staged by newly returned war veterans.
2001	USA	Investigation of a Flame	Lynne Sachs	Story of the Catonsville Nine, Catholic activists who burned draft files in 1968 to protest against the war.
2002	USA	Daughter from Danang	Gail Dolgin, Vicente Franco	US woman, daughter of US soldier and Vietnamese woman goes to Vietnam to meet her biological relatives.
2003	USA	The Fog of War	Errol Morris	Interview with Robert S. McNamara, US Secretary of Defense during the war.
2004	USA	In the Shadow of the Blade	Patrick Fries, Cheryl Fries	Huey helicopter on cross-US tour reunites veterans and veterans' relatives.
2004	USA	Stolen Honor	Carlton Sherwood	The film connects the testimony of John Kerry with increased mistreatment of US POWs.
2004	USA	Going Upriver	George Butler	U.S. Senator John Kerry's military service and his subsequent participation in the anti-war movement.
2005	France [8]	Enemy Image	Mark Daniels	Examines the impact of televised war reporting, starting with the relatively unrestricted reporting during the Vietnam War.
2005	USA	Sir! No Sir!	David Zeiger	Anti-war sentiments within the US armed forces.
2007	USA	The Camden 28	Anthony Giacchino	Follows twenty-eight members of the Catholic Left who were arrested in 1971 for attempting to break into and vandalize a draft board.
2007	USA	Bomb Harvest	Kim Mordaunt	Aftermath of the bombing of Laos during the war, the problem of large amounts of Unexploded Ordnance in the country.
2009	USA	The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers	Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith	About Daniel Ellsberg and his leaking of the Pentagon Papers, a secret US government history of the war.
2012	USA	Into Harm's Way	Jordan Kronick	West Point Class of 1967 and their experiences during college and in the Vietnam War.
2014	USA	Last Days in Vietnam	Rory Kennedy	About the evacuation of American and South Vietnamese Citizens.

See also

• Category:Vietnam War films
• War in popular culture

References

1. Louvre, Alf; Walsh, Jeffrey (1988). Tell me lies about Vietnam : cultural battles for the meaning of the war. Open University Press.
2. Bradford, Laurence (7 July 2013). "Pop culture dictates the American version of the Vietnam War". Inside Investor. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
3. Vietnam War: American Cinema After the War, FilmReference.com, retrieved 2009-03-18
4. Neale, Stephen (2000). War Films. Genre and Hollywood (Psychology Press). pp. 121–124. ISBN 978-0-415-02606-2.
5. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1961336/
6. "The Abandoned Field-Free Fire Zone (Canh dong hoang)". University of California, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
7. IMDb, plus RUSCICO DVD, 2000, ALL region, with menu and subtitles in English, French; subtitles only in German, Spanish, and Italian.
8. IMDb.
9. Clarke, 2006. pp. 193–202
10. Clarke, 2006. pp. 181–192

Further reading

• Anderegg, Michael A. (1991). Inventing Vietnam: The War in Film and Television. Temple University Press. ISBN 0-87722-861-2.
• Clarke, James (2006). War Films. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-753-51094-0.
• Dittmar, Linda; Michaud, Gene (1990). From Hanoi to Hollywood: the Vietnam War in American film. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-1586-6.
• Hixon, Walter (2000). Historical memory and representations of the Vietnam War. Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8153-3536-9.
• Taylor, Mark (2003). The Vietnam War in History, Literature, and Film. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-1401-6.