frannywentzel I have no issue with this being a movie in support of the US effort in Vietnam. It's too bad it's just not that good a movie - largely because John Wayne tried to graft a typical 'rollicking' John Wayne adventure replete with 'colorful' characters that like Chekov's gun don't really get used once the story gets "going" but neglected the actual task of... storytelling.First part of the movie consists of assembling the stock characters - I mean troops. Each is supposed to have a special talent essential for the mission - there's even a 'scrounger'. When we finally get to 'nam we get the local color in the form of 'Hamchuk' and his dog. The dog is the only character, once introduced, to get used again. Alas, it's for bringing up the feels.Now, I haven't seen this in a while but I bet there was a knock down, drag out bar fight in this somewhere - you can't get your Rollicking Content Certificate without one. What there wasn't much of - at least till the third act - was actual Special Forces being special. I mean, come the f*** on, two thirds of the movie is spent setting up and defending their jungle tree-house - I mean base.They finally show a Special Forces 'trick' in the way they evacuate some dude by shooting a loop of rope up to a plane dragging a hook. Then they ruin it with some other dude - the token Black Guy - getting splatted against a cartoon mat of bamboo spikes. Wile E Coyote died a little inside on account of that.Real people had to suffer from that government and the war that put that government into power. No need to suffer sitting through this lackluster motion picture...

ma-cortes Col. Mike Kirby (John Wayne who traveled to Vietnam in June 1966 and got the idea to make this picture about the army special forces on that trip) picks two teams of crack Green Berets ( Aldo Ray , George Takei , Jim Hutton , Edward Faulkner , Raymond St Jacques , Patrick Wayne , John's son , among others) from U.S. Special Forces troops for a mission in South Vietnam . Being accompanied by cynical War correspondent George Beck (David Janssen) briefing about the American military involvement in the war in Vietnam . First off is to build and control a camp that is attempting to be taken by the Viet Cong , the second assignment is to Kirby and a select group of his men are then ordered on a special mission to capture a high-level enemy Colonel . This exciting wartime picture contains thrills , violence , noisy action , breathtaking battles and absurd situations . Don't miss the ending scene where the sun sets in the East , including a patriotic as well as famous music . Nice acting by John Wayne , as usual , he was prompted to make the film as a response to the growing anti-Vietnam War movement in the US . John Wayne's character , Col. Mike Kirby, is based on the real-life Lauri Törni, who later on called himself Larry Thorne . The latter was a Finnish army captain who fought in the Second World War during the Winter War (1939-40) and Continuation War (1941-44) against the Soviet Union . He emigrated to the US in the late 1940s and in 1954 joined the US Army . Very good support cast , plenty of familiar faces such as Jim Hutton , Aldo Ray , Raymond St. Jacques , Bruce Cabot , Patrick Wayne , Edward Faulkner and Luke Askew . The film was panned by reviewers , general public and many soldiers serving in Vietnam found the film offensive . Being partially based on real events , as the defensive battle that takes place during the second half of the movie is very loosely based on the Battle of Nam Dong , during which two Viet Cong battalions attacked a small outpost in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam . Even George Takei (he missed nine episodes of Star Trek) has admitted in interviews that while he was grateful to be cast in this film , he nevertheless strongly disagreed with the film's pro-war message and felt the finished movie was very bad . Green Berets was released soon after the Tet Offensive and the My Lai Massacre getting negative critiques , too . However , a lot of critics deemed this war film much better than its reputation would suggest . Possibly due to the film's extremely lousy critical reactions , it's been a long-held belief by many people that it was also a box-office flop . Actually , it was one of John Wayne's biggest box-office successes , attracting millions of moviegoers and ending up being the 13th highest grossing movie of 1968.Colorful cinematography in Panavision by Winton Hoch , filmed on location in Columbus, Georgia , and Ft. McClellen, Alabama . Much of the film was shot in 1967 at Ft. Benning, Georgia, hence the large pine forests in the background rather than tropical jungle trees . Good production design , some of the "Vietnamese village" sets were so realistic they were left intact, and were later used by the Army for training troops destined for Vietnam . Impressive and rousing musical score by Miklós Rózsa , similarly composed to previous epics as Ben Hur , King of Kings , El Cid . Lavishly produced by Batjac , Wayne's company and Warner Bros was concerned about letting John Wayne direct the movie because of the fact that his previous directorial effort , El Alamo (1960), had been an expensive flop . They therefore only agreed to let him do the film if he agreed to co-direct with a more experienced director, and Wayne chose Ray Kellogg . The studio agreed, despite Kellogg's only having ever directed a few "B" pictures such as : ¨The Giant Gila Monster , My dog buddy , The killer shrews¨ , because of his impressive track record as a second unit director on a number of major studio releases . Being John Wayne's final war film , although Undefeated (1969) and Río Lobo (1970) contained some war scenes .

Ben Larson You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that a Vietnam War movie starring and produced by John Wayne would be hugely pro war. Every time someone had anything to say, they came out in favor of the war. Sure, Charlie was ruthless, and the boogieman (commies) was everywhere, but to produce a war movie that shed not one drop of blood is a real stretch. Everything is so nice and neat. All brutality takes place off camera, and we listen to the stories of Charlie's ruthlessness. The one good thing about the film was seeing the versatility of the C-130.1968 also gave us Lee Marvin and The Dirty Dozen, and much better acting, with back up by John Cassavetes and Jim Brown.

utgard14 John Wayne picks two "A-teams" of green berets for a special mission into South Vietnam. He has to bring along reporter David Janssen, who believes America should withdraw from the war. This one's controversial and divisive, principally among political types. I gotta tell you that sort of thing bores me to tears. Still, I've avoided watching this for years because of its reputation. I had no desire to see Duke in a clunker if I could avoid it. I was happily surprised when I finally did watch it. This is a pretty good war movie with some solid performances and a great theme song. The little Vietnamese kid was pretty treacly stuff, though. If you enjoy John Wayne movies, you should enjoy this one.