The Green Berets
The John Wayne Collection
DVD
The Players
John Wayne as Colonel Mike Kirby
David Janssen as George Beckworth
Jim Hutton as Sergeant Peterson
Aldo Ray as Sergeant Muldoon
Raymond St. Jacques as Doc McGhee
George Takei as Captain Nim, ARVN
Bruce Cabot as Colonel Morgan
Patrick Wayne as Lieutenant Jamison
Luke Askew as Sergeant Provo
Jack Soo as Colonel Cai, ARVN
Irene Tsu as the ARVN spy
Directed by John Wayne and Ray Kellogg
The Story
Col. Kirby is a Green Beret, whose company is sent on a special mission to Da Nang, South Vietnam. The Special Forces are to defend a joint U.S.-ARVN command post that is crucial to an advantage over the enemy. The command post is being regularly harassed by the Viet Cong, and the survival of the CP is crucial to furthering operations in the Da Nang area. Col. Kirby will train his Green Berets so that they can overcome any obstacle, and with the help of ARVN Captain Nim, the Viet Cong will have be stopped in battle.
Film Review
Like in any John Wayne movie, the protagonists have a tendency to kick ass and take names. This is a fun, action-packed movie, but it’s guaranteed to offend any Vietnam War veteran who sees it. Every man who went to Vietnam had his own unique experience, and a John Wayne western in the jungle wasn’t it. The most “popular” scene among Vietnam vets is where Col. Kirby and his assistants leap out of a falling helicopter.
This movie was made in 1967 and released in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War. The Green Berets could be considered as a propaganda movie, because of its pro-war message. For those who have any doubt about its pro-war message, those doubts are quelled during the press conference scene when a reporter asks Sergeant Muldoon if the South Vietnamese even want us [U.S. troops] there [in Vietnam].
Sergeant McGhee replies to her, “…If this same thing were to happen here in the United States, every mayor in every city would be murdered, every teacher that you’d ever known would be tortured and killed, every professor you’ve ever heard of, every Governor, every Senator, every member of the House of Representatives and their combined families all would be tortured and killed, and a like number kidnapped. But in spite of all this, there’s always some little fella who’s willing to stand up and take the place of all those who’ve been decimated. They need us… and they want us.”
Despite the movie’s pro-war sentiment and widespread opinions on the politics of the Vietnam War, it was a good movie and I was genuinely entertained. I did notice that the terrain didn’t seem quite right. I later found out that’s because the movie was filmed in Georgia and Alabama, which explains the forest and bayou instead of thick jungle. The flaw in terrain was redeemed by the exceptional combat scene. I will admit, for a John Wayne movie, the combat scene is very well done, showing the command post being overrun which happened all the time in the war. The NVA and VC often assaulted American or ARVN command posts using human wave tactics.
On top of the large combat scene, the Special Forces also carry out a covert mission to kidnap a North Vietnamese general. I won’t spoil anything, but when the airplane comes it’s pretty funny in a “you just got owned” way. The Green Berets is a good movie that any John Wayne fan would love (except for chrisgore666’s dad, who has set criteria for a good John Wayne movie).
Technical Review
The DVD I own of The Green Berets is from Warner Bros’ John Wayne Collection. The movie is rated G (this was back in the 60’s where a movie could have war violence and still be G-rated). The DVD is double-sided, with half the movie on side A and the other half resuming on Side B. The Special Features include a vintage featurette called The Moviemakers: Making The Green Berets, trailers for seven John Wayne movies, reel recommendations for other good films, and many detailed production notes. Oddly enough, both sides contain the same special features. I will say that the menus have beautiful artwork.
The movie is 141 minutes long, and the video is presented in letterbox widescreen format, and enhanced for widescreen TV’s. The audio options are English, French, and Spanish with subtitles in English and Spanish. This movie is a good choice for any war movie fans and fans of the Duke.
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