Wednesday, April 16, 2014

HAMBURGER HILL (1) vs. PLATOON (5)



VS.
 
 
 



CLICHES
“Hamburger Hill” has several classic war movie clichés. Some are particular to the Vietnam War. There is a scene that emphasizes the cluelessness of the media about the true nature of the war. The soldier who is short is doomed to die before he can enact the joyful homecoming that he brags about. Two standards are updated for the war. A character receives a “Dear John” letter, but his girl friend advances one of the film’s themes by explaining that she is jilting him because of her anti-war college friends. There is the trite appearance of “Hanoi Hannah” who makes the obligatory reference to their unit. We also get the guy who talks about the car he is going to buy back in “the world”. Even though the movie focuses on the five replacements, that does not stop it from killing them off. On the other hand, the unit is not overtly heterogeneous and the grunt who shows off his girl friend’s picture does not die. C

“Platoon” also has several classic war movie clichés. In fact almost immediately we get a double dose with the fat guy ensuring his doom by showing off a picture of his girl. The movie helped establish some uniquely Vietnam tropes. The LT is green and incompetent. The sergeants run the platoon. There is a psycho in the unit who enjoys the killing. The incompetent leader calls in the wrong coordinates, resulting in a friendly fire incident. In one refreshing twist, the short-timer (King) is evaced before the final battle. The unit is heterogeneous, but not in a barracks identification scene sort of way. C

FIRST QUARTER SCORE

Hamburger Hill = 7
Platoon = 7


DIALOGUE

The dialogue in HH could be described as stilted and it tries too hard to sound authentic to the way the grunts talked. I have read a lot of eye-witness accounts and found several of the lines and the sincerity with which they were uttered to be laughable. There is a monologue by Worchester about his experience back home that is painful to listen to because it is so melodramatic. On the positive side, for those who have not read a lot on the war, you do get the greatest slang hits. C

“Platoon” was written by a combat veteran and although Stone can be faulted for excesses in many of his movies, his dialogue is restrained in this film. He interweaves slang into the soldier speak in a natural way. There are some fine dialogue driven scenes like when Elias explains the evolution of his war view to Taylor. The companion scene with Barnes in the doper’s bunker nicely bookends this. There are some great lines and they are spread a out among the characters. Some are critical of Taylor’s narration, but I feel that although flowery at times, it does add to the theme of lost innocence. A

HALF TIME SCORE

Hamburger Hill = 14
Platoon = 16


IMPLAUSIBILITIES

HH does not have any glaring implausibilities. The most ridiculous moment is a key moment in the film. Worcester recounts his return to the states and the litany of abuses he encountered. It is a montage of urban myths about the treatment of returning vets. Hippies throw dog poop on him, a hippie is shacked up with his wife, and everyone he meets is hostile. This is gross exaggeration pushed by the anti-anti-war movement. The film fulfills the short-timer must die by putting McDaniel on point. This would have been highly unlikely in reality. Similarly, when Duffy takes a bullet in the shoulder, he is not sent back off the line. The movie offers a lame excuse for this. As is typical for most war movies, artillery fire support is called in much too close to the friendlies. B

Much of the implausibilities in “Platoon” are designed to advance the main plot theme of the dysfunctional platoon dynamics. The whole idea of a platoon divided not only between two sergeants, but divided into dopers and boozers is clearly a plot device. Resolving this with two fragging incidents is pure Hollywood. However, most of the incidents that develop the theme are plausible, including the atrocity. B

THIRD QUARTER SCORE

Hamburger Hill = 22
Platoon = 24


EDUCATIONAL VALUE

You can learn a few things from HH.
1. The Chieu Hoi program encouraged VC to defect to the ARVN. (In the movie, the defector is NVA and he is helping the U.S. Army.)
2. The NVA were nicknamed “Nathanael Victor” as opposed to “Charlie” for the VC.
3. The NVA were respected by the Americans and were worthy adversaries.
4. Contact with a single enemy would bring an American unit to ground.
5. New guys (FNGs) were not welcomed with open arms.
6. There were racial tensions in units, but the closer to the front line, the more the men put color behind them. There was an unofficial segregation of the races in the rear areas.
7. The Battle of Hamburger Hill is pretty accurately portrayed, but the movie flubs a teachable moment by not including a post script pointing out that the hill was abandoned soon after its bloody conquest. Probably purposefully because this historical fact clashed with the theme of flogging the anti-war movement. B

Although not based on an actual battle, Stone insists the incidents and characters in his film are based on his Vietnam experience. Taken as just a tutorial on the Vietnam experience, “Platoon” teaches a number of things to an audience not well-read on the subject.

1. Replacement soldiers (i.e. Cherries) were treated like dirt.
2. Sergeants ran the platoons in many cases.
3. Every soldier knew how many days that they had left in their tour.
4. If a Vietnamese civilian ran, it was assumed they were the enemy and you could shoot them.
5. Villages were burned if they were considered sympathetic to the Communists.
6. Some soldiers injured themselves to get out of combat.
7. Volunteers felt they were fighting for our society and freedom.
8. Latrine waste was burned using kerosene.
9. Drug and alcohol use was common in rear areas.
10. Young Americans sometimes committed atrocities due to stress or revenge.
11. The Vietnam War gave some sociopaths an outlet. A

FINAL SCORE

Hamburger Hill = 30
Platoon = 33


ANALYSIS

This is my fourth March Madness tournament and once again the #1 seed does not win. I suppose this is partly explained by using “Rotten Tomatoes” for the seeding. My theory is that generic movie critics look at war movies differently than I do. I’m a lot more specific to what makes a movie good within the genre. That is not to say that HH is not a very good movie. It deserved to be highly seeded. On the other hand, “Platoon” was criminally seeded at #5. Four Vietnam War movies better than “Platoon”? No way. I am aware that the film is polarizing and its victory will upset people, but I think that I am on firm ground here. Fire away.

12 comments:

  1. Thank you for writing this post, War Movie Buff. I've been trying to wrap my head around which of these two films is more accurate than the other for a long time. This blog has helped me answer that question.

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    1. Thank you. If you go back to previous rounds you can find the "historical accuracy" descriptions for each.

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  2. Always liked Hamburger Hill. Disappointing it's not up there with Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. All three movies portray very different experiences from that war, brilliantly. Your analysis covers most of what I have never been able to articulate in discussions about Platoon vs Hamburger Hill. Agreed, Platoon is the slightly better movie.

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  3. Personally I've always be a HH fam over Platoon, maybe because ut just didn't have the "hey war is cool" stigma about it. For me HH & FMJ are 1 & 2. But then I put Thin Red Line over Private Ryan but that's just me.

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  4. I was in a VA hospital back in the '80s with 3 Army vets who fought on Hamburger Hill. One had wet brain & used to occasionally go off the handle. All 3 used to sit around & talk about the battle. They essentially never left Hill 937.

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    1. Where was this VA? I have a vet in Vermont who is trying to get his service recognized. He was interviewed by the lady who wrote hamburger hill. Do you know if these three vets are still alive. A VA doc told my friend, most were dead who served and went were he went. He was in the army. The first scene were the guy is shot immediately trying to bulldoze an airfield really happened to his crew.

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  5. I've talked to plenty of Vets who came back who acknowledged they had been abused by the public..everything from being spit in to having blood thrown on them to being called baby killers. So I completely disagree with your assertion that HH pushed a fake narrative about the "anti anti-war" and that it was all a lie. Sounds like you have no idea about history or the facts to back up your "opinions".

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    1. I did say it did not happen. I said it was exaggerated. I have researched this issue. My father was a vet so I am disposed to believe the stories. However, I have found that most evidence supports that the claim is exaggerated. I do not dispute your "evidence", but I will stick with reputable researchers. I know you won't check out this article, but anyone else following this exchange can go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spitting_Image or https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/opinion/myth-spitting-vietnam-protester.html

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    2. Sorry, WMB, but in your review you go farther than that, referring to Winchester's account of poor treatment as "urban myths about the treatment of returning vets." Even if mistreatment of Vietnam veterans was rare it would be acceptable for the scriptwriter to have Winchester experience it.

      But there is ample evidence that numerous Vietnam Veterans were treated badly by members of the public and yes, even spat upon. This is an inconvenient fact for those on the left who wish to romanticize the anti-war movement, and so I am not surprised that obliging researchers would give cover to those who would like to deny the existence of these ugly episodes.

      See, for instance, www.startribune.com/disrespect-for-vietnam-vets-is-fact-not-fiction/160444095, giving one veteran's account of abuse seen and personally experienced, criticizing the methodology of the researcher referenced in your above link, and noting contemporaneous media reports of veteran mistreatment.

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  6. The lady who wrote hamburger hill came to vermont and interviewed a vet. She used most of his stories in this film. He never got paid a thing. That is not why I am writing this. Does she still have her notes? He was in places the government say he wasn't. He was exposed to chemicals the government says he wasn't. All his records are locked up. He is a hell of a character. I would love to help him get the financial compensation he is owed. They were sent places they were never supposed to come out of. He should donate his body to science. When he goes to the VA, they meet him with the police. His father bought what was considered a useless piece of property on the backside of a lake here in Vermont, Harvey's Lake. The town keeps trying to take it away from him. I would like help unsealing his records. He never knew anyone's name, they were all nicknames. Are you interested in talking to him? Kathy Lanctot I think at least he should get some royalties from the film. And he keeps getting told that he and his wife will get disability.

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    1. Fascinating story, but I'm a reviewer not an activist. Good luck.

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