“Special Forces” is a French war film. The French title is “Forces Speciales”. It was directed by Stephen Rybojad. He went on location in France, Djibouti, and
Tajikistan. It was made for $10 million,
but made about one- tenth of that. I
guess the world was not ready for a French foray into the American dominated
subgenre of mindless special forces action.
The movie opens with a special forces raid in Kosovo
that results in the capture of a war criminal.
It’s the usual quick cutty cinematography that the subgenre is noted
for. The mission goes off without a
hitch so the unit can save ammunition for later in the movie and to prove that
sometimes these missions are actually accomplished without a hitch. Once is quite enough for a movie like
this.
Meanwhile in Kabul, it’s time to get the nonglitch
mission set up. Elsa (Diane Kruger) is
an intrepid and fearless female reporter (I realize the descriptors are
unnecessary). She is taken hostage
because she wrote an article about a woman.
The Taliban don’t like that sort of thing. The villain is a Bin Laden type named
Zaief. He beheads a colleague of Elisa’s
and tortures her. The French government
want her rescued tout suite because that’s what a cinematic American
administration would do.
The mission involves paradropping six commandoes into
the hostage area. They rescue Elsa, but
would you believe complications arise?
Suddenly, but not surprisingly, the team is now in a “who will survive?”
scenario. The movie has also become a
chase film. Since their radio has taken
a hit, as they are wont to do, the boring helicopter egress must give way to
the cinematically entertaining hike over the Khyber Pass. It may be entertaining for us, but it’s bound
to be force reducing for them. Except
for the white lady. The Imperial Storm
Trooper-like accuracy of the Taliban can’t last forever. The Taliban is very reluctant to give up his
prize female journalist. He does not
mind losing warriors like Geronimo didn’t mind in Westerns. Since the French soldiers don’t have to
reload, they are able to dispatch the Indians in satisfactory numbers. That pesky quantity over quality dynamic
comes into play, however. This takes
place over a ten-day period! There is a
lot of walking in this movie. It might have taken less time, but the French
command was apparently not looking for them.
Come on French, losing does not mean just giving up on your people. But then again, it is de riguer in action
movies to not have a back-up plan.
“Special Forces” is basically an excuse to kill a lot
of terrorists. If movies were reality,
we would certainly have gotten payback for 9/11 many times over. But there is reality and there is cinema. This movie is very unrealistic. At least the movie does not claim to be a
true story. I know special forces are
good at their job, but in the movies they seldom miss and their opponents
seldom hit. Until the dam breaks.
As entertainment, the movie is average for its
ilk. The acting is good from a fine
cast. There is little in the way of
character development and the villain is hiss-inducing. I did not really care about any of the French
soldiers, other than wondering who was next.
And wondering when all this
tedious walking will end. The bouts of
action are competent, for a French film.
Sorry, I couldn’t avoid that. Let
me be more positive. Welcome to the
subgenre, French. You now have your own
“Tears of the Sun”.
“The Green Berets” is considered THE WORST VIETNAM
WAR MOVIE EVER MADE. Let’s see if that
is an exaggeration. The movie was a
project dear to John Wayne’s heart. He
got the idea to make a positive movie about the Vietnam War during a trip to
the Nam to entertain the troops. He was
determined to make a movie that supported American involvement and reflected
his belief in military preparedness.
Wayne was famously conservative and a staunch proponent of “America
right or wrong”. One must be reminded
that at the time that the movie was made (pre-Tet Offensive), most Americans
agreed with Wayne. That does not mean
that the movie was an easy sell. In
fact, only Wayne could have gotten this film made. Once he got Warner Brothers to buck the
Hollywood aversion to making a major Vietnam War movie, he easily got
significant Pentagon cooperation with the production. The military was enamored with the project
and Wayne’s letter to President Johnson was not necessary. The only caveat the Army had was with the
script. The movie was loosely based on
the eponymous novel by Robin Moore. The
military had disavowed the novel because it had a Special Forces unit going
into North Vietnam for a raid. The
Pentagon insisted that the movie keep the raid within South Vietnam. The change was worth it because seldom has a
movie had greater support from the Pentagon.
The movie was filmed at Fort Benning, Georgia. There were plenty of helicopters available,
for instance. The movie spent $150,000
on a village set that was used after by the Army for training. The movie was directed by Wayne, but after
the disappointing performance of his debut “The Alamo”, the studio insisted on
a co-director in Ray Kellogg.
"the only good Indian or Commie is a dead one"
The movie does not claim to be based on a true story,
but it seems to be set in circa 1966.
America is clearly in the “hearts and minds” phase and the Green Berets
are in their early days. The movie
leaves no doubt where it is coming from by leading off with a choral
arrangement of “The Ballad of the Green Berets”. Hippies, leave the theater now! A presser is being held at Fort Bragg to
introduce America to the Green Berets.
Press: why are we fighting? Answer:
the commies are killing all the good people in Vietnam. Press:
why are we involved in a civil war?
Answer: it’s not a civil war, the
commies are on the march. One journalist
in particular is a panty-waisted liberal America-hater. Col. Kirby (Wayne) challenges Beckworth
(David Janssen) to come to Vietnam to see how wrong he is.
Our framing device takes up the challenge and arrives
at a camp the Special Forces are building in the jungle (actually the forest of
Georgia) in the middle of Viet Cong territory.
The camp is named “Dodge City” because “The Alamo” would be too
obvious. Kirby has brought the
obligatory scrounger Peterson (Jim Hutton) who bonds with an orphan named Ham
Chung (which is Vietnamese for Short Round, I guess).
The movie clearly delineates the good guys (candy and medical care) from
the bad guys (punji stakes and boobie traps).
When we torture it’s justified because the suspect killed a good guy and
besides, the VC are ruthless killers who do not deserve legal protections. Beckworth questions this method of
interrogation until a trip to the local Montagnard village finds all the people
killed, tortured, or taken captive. The
corpse of a cute little girl that Beckworth had befriended tips the scale. Before the movie is over, he will be a commie
killing SOB. That’s because the fort is
about to be swamped by Indians. I mean
the camp is about to be assaulted by the VC and North Vietnamese Army.
Now that it’s clear who to cheer and who to boo, the
movie enters its balls to the wall action segments. The night attack on the camp features human
wave attacks and ridiculous deaths. The
funniest moment occurs when a traitorous South Vietnamese soldier opens fire from a
tower, but an ARVN officer blows him up because he had anticipated the
development! The battle culminates with
the arrival of a C-47 “Puff the Magic Dragon” which contrary to its nickname,
does not drop joints on the enemy. Nudge
your girlfriend awake for the ten second demise of every commie in the camp. The movie should have ended here, but we
still have a Special Forces style raid to kidnap a VC general resulting in the
death of a beloved character.
was my Peter-san brave?
If you love mindless action and don’t mind the
heavy-handed propaganda that goes with it, you might find things to like in
this movie. After all, it was hard by
1968 to make a Western with the Indians depicted as evil. Plus how are you going to fit boobie traps,
napalm, and “Spooky” gunships into a cowboy movie? The movie
is basically a Western updated with many of the cool over the top aspects of
twentieth century warfare. So turn off
your brain and try to overlook all the stuff that drove critics catatonic. Granted, they were predisposed to hate the
movie, but you did not have to be a dove to see faults in the movie.
The acting is average with Wayne being rather wooden.
George Takei makes an impression as the
ex-Viet Minh who is now only interested in torturing and killing stinking
communists. (He missed nine episodes of
“Star Trek” including the Tribbles one to make the film.) Janssen and Hutton make the best of stereotypical
roles. (Both actors disagreed with
Wayne’s take on the war, but a pay checks a pay check, right?) Aldo Ray is there to add beef. The studio left Kirby’s wife on the cutting
room floor, but allowed a lame subplot involving a beautiful, vengeful Vietnamese
girl. Otherwise there would have been no
females speaking in the movie. By the
way, the dialogue is not terrible, although the soldiers do not talk like
soldiers.
sorry ladies, Aldo Ray keeps his shirt on
The movie is very simplistic and full of
clichés. The enemy are loathsome, ugly,
and bestial. We are bludgeoned with how
evil they are. Hell, they even kill Ham
Chung’s dog! There is a racist tinge to the depiction of the North Vietnamese as neo-redskins. On the other hand, the
people of South Vietnam are innocent seekers of independence. It goes without saying the movie is pro-Green
Berets. They can do no wrong. They make even torture right. The clichés include the scrounger, the
observing journalist, the child mascot, and the cavalry riding to the rescue. Speaking of which, the movie borrows two
Western scenarios. One is the storming of the camp
by the savages. It adds the war movie
trope of the commando raid to seize an enemy VIP. (“The Dirty Dozen” does it similarly, but
much better the same year.)
luckily, Wayne does not fire a shot in the movie
In conclusion, it would be hard for “The Green
Berets” to be as bad as its reputation.
It is certainly not a good movie.
You have to be an ultra-conservative to nod knowingly while you watch
it. But if you are a Wayne fan, there is
a lot to take comfort in. If you are
just an average war movie lover, you can enjoy the action and laugh at the
ridiculous moments that make it something of a camp classic. It is definitely not the worst Vietnam War movie, but it is probably the worst big budget one.
ACTING It would be hard
to find a Vietnam War movie with a better cast than “The Deer Hunter” although a
couple of the stars (Walken and Streep) were early in their careers. Walken
deserved the Best Supporting Actor award he won. He is absolutely amazing.
DeNiro anchors the film although the film is something of an ensemble effort. He
earned a Best Actor nomination. John Cazales is his usual solid self in what was
sadly his last role. Streep clearly shows why she became a superstar. There is
not a weak performance to be found. A+
“The Green Berets” is a John Wayne movie, ‘nuff said. Wayne plays Wayne
and this is the movie that cemented his reputation as the iconic American
warrior as far as Vietnam grunts were concerned. Wayne is pretty subdued and
does not dominate, which may have been a mistake because the rest of the cast is
weak. David Janssen embarrasses himself as the cynical newsman. He spends most
of his scenes with his chin on his neck. Jim Hutton is almost as bad as the
stereotype scrounger and comic relief. The rest of the cast is low rent with
exception of the super cool Aldo Ray as a tough sergeant. C
FIRST QUARTER
SCORE The Deer Hunter = 10 The Green
Berets = 7
PLOT
“The Deer Hunter” is different than all
the other movies in the tournament. The plot is divided into three parts. The
first is an extended wedding sequence that establishes the main characters and
the steel town atmosphere they are leaving to go to the Nam. In Vietnam, they
are scarred in different ways by a stint as VC prisoners. Two of them return
home to a world they no longer fit in while the third remains in Saigon playing
Russian roulette. The themes are hammered in. War impacts not just the warriors.
There are different types of wounds – physical and mental. Cimino comments on
working class patriotism and male bonding in a knowing way. B
“The Green Berets” is essentially a Western set in
the East. Wayne’s Col. Kirby heads off to S. Vietnam with a Green Beret unit and
is charged with defending a strategic hamlet / base camp. Newsman Beckworth is
in tow to evolve from dove to hawk. The film features an Alamo-like defense of
the camp and a behind enemy lines mission to kidnap a VC general. Numerous
clichés are thrown in to hammer the theme that the Communists are taking.
D
HALF TIME
SCORE The Deer Hunter = 18 The
Green Berets = 13
COMBAT
“The Deer Hunter” has very little
combat in it so it is hard to judge this aspect of the film. I almost did not
put it in the tournament for this reason, but I could not leave out one of the
seminal Vietnam War movies and a movie that won Best Picture. If we stretch to
call the scenes where Mike, Nick, and Steven are forced to play Russian roulette
combat scenes, we do get one spectacular scene where Mike engineers the trio’s
escape. I’m going to have to go with a default C in this category. C
“The Green Berets” certainly has a higher quantity
of combat. The VC assault on the camp is one of the longest battle scenes in the
tournament. It’s basically your human wave variety similar to what you see in
“Siege of Firebase Gloria” and just as laughable in spots. There’s a very fake
helicopter crash and an equally faux tower collapse. The enemy deaths are rote
and the American deaths are melodramatic. Just like in a Western, the cavalry
arrives in the form of Puff the Magic Dragon with its Gatling guns. Any
red-blooded American commie-hater got his fill of action from the film and the
movie was popular partly because of the combat. C
THIRD QUARTER
SCORE The Deer Hunter =
25 The Green Berets = 20
REALISM
“The Deer Hunter” is bipolar when it
comes to realism because the home front scenes seem true to the environment of a
steel town in Pennsylvania and the Greek Orthodox culture. The trio that go off
to war are all volunteers and patriotic. The movie reflects the attitudes of the
“silent majority” through the first half of the war. The movie vividly contrasts
their relationships with family and friends from before they leave to when they
come back. On the other hand, the scenes in Vietnam have little foundation in
reality. There is no evidence that the VC forced prisoners to play Russian
roulette. It makes for great drama, but is ahistorical. Also the time frame is
completely messed up. Nick would have been playing the game for years before
Mike finds him. That’s some incredible luck. C
“The Green Berets” is a realistic view of the war
if you are looking at it with hawkish glasses on and the year is 1968. If not,
it is a anti-commie, pro-Saigon propaganda piece. It is as realistic as a 1940s
Western. In fact, it is a 1940s Western! Hell, the camp is nicknamed “Dodge
City”. I’m no fan or apologist for the VC, but they get trashed unfairly in this
movie. They are punji-staking, booby-trapping, civilian-torturing, ugly-ass,
barbarians. Oh, and they kill the cute little mascots dog! With that said, the
big battle is not too far from an assault by VC forces in a Tet Offensive
scenario. As far as the mission to kidnap the VC general, give me a break! It
does give us the hilarious visual of Wayne escaping in a French Citroen.
D
FINAL
SCORE The Deer Hunter =
32 The Green Berets = 26
ANALYSIS
I have to admit that I had
not seen “The Green Berets” since it came out. I had avoided it partly because
of the incredibly bad reputation it has acquired over the years. It has one of
the iconic bad movie moments with the sun sinking in the east in the final shot.
On second viewing, it is not as bad as its reputation. There are some LOL
moments, but overall it is a decent Western that makes the mistake of trying to
be historical and relevant to the concurrent events it covers. It also takes an
untenable position on the nature of the war. “The Deer Hunter” is on the other
end of the spectrum. It is art! Flawed art. Slightly bloated art. It deserved
the Best Picture award and you would have to be Rush Limbaugh to think “The
Green Berets” should have won this match.
