The Firebase

An isolated firebase faces human wave assaults from the VC at the start of Tet.

This is the Vietnam War just the way we thought or preferred to think about it at the time: the Americans are the good guys, Charlie's the bad guy, South Vietnamese civilians are the ones being protected, everyone loves being in the Corps, inter-service co-operation is something you can always take for granted. The reality was a bit more complicated, but it didn't seem that way to a lot of people then.

It's about time the guys who were over there, or sit-at-home strategists back here, got a movie that validates their recollections and good intentions, one that's realistic, but without being too gung ho on the one hand (like "The Green Berets"), or too negative about US involvement on the other (like most other Vietnam films). I don't think I buy this point of view personally anymore, but it's good to have it available as an option.

Lee Ermey is totally authentic as always. Wings Hauser is not at that level but he's good enough. The Vietnamese are generally played by Filipinos who don't completely look the part but do a decent job.

There's plenty of mayhem for action buffs -- much of the movie looks like the climax from "Glory" (or "Zulu"). Pot-smoking is frowned upon in this one, as is poor grooming (I did say old-fashioned). Everybody does his duty, especially Charlie.

The good guys win this time.

If you are tired of all of the Hollywood films that disparage the military in general and dedicated soldiers, sailor and airmen specifically, this is your movie. This also is not a gung-ho armed services recruiting film, because of its very real depiction of the horors of war, it received a well deserved "R" rating.

It's 1968. The Tet holidays is approaching and a ceasefire is expected. Hardnosed Sergeant Major Bill Hafner (R. Lee Ermey) leads a weary squad into a village where almost everyone has been massacred. They guard the remote Firebase Gloria and struggle against a tough guerilla campaign. Their superiors don't expect the coming full scale onslaught.

The production is Australian and filmed in the Philippines for Vietnam. I doubt that there is much involvement from the American military although they probably rented a lot of stuff from the Philippines military. It has lots of guns, men, and explosions. They're not filmed in the most exciting ways. It's a lot Rambo style mass shootings. It's a B-movie, but at least it's a solid B-movie.

The Siege of Firebase Gloria is not a very well known Vietnam war film. In fact it hardly gets a mention at all and is overshadowed by films such as Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and others.

The premise is as follows: a Marine patrol led by sergeant Hafner (the great R. Lee Ermey) ends up in a remote US Army outpost deep in the jungles of Vietnam right at the start of the Tet offensive. Hafner takes command and must fend off waves of attacks by the Vietcong and NVA.

The story is quite interesting of how these men, outnumbered and almost forsaken must defend themselves against all odds. Although Ermey's role isn't too big (the film focuses on a few key soldiers), he is great in every frame he is in. Having been an actual Marine, he reprises his role as a tough commander with a witty tongue. The film in general find a nice balance between the main story while at the same time showing how war takes its toll on men. Interestingly enough the North Vietnamese commanders are also portrayed and fortunately not as cartoonish enemies but competent leaders.

The production values are quite good, there are lots of real helicopters, the sets and location are grand and well built and the action scenes quite vast in their scale.

However the film doesn't reach the levels achieved by Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket. Despite that, its still worth a watch.

"The people were friendly. We liked them and they liked us... so it really hurt us to see their heads on stakes." This line, dryly spouted by R. Lee Ermey's character Sergeant Major Bill Hafner of the United States Marine Corps' Force Recon, begins a brutal portrayal of war at its worst. This film pulls no punches, showing combat for what it is: a slaughter.

Do not come into this film with a soft heart. If scenes showing piles of dead children, teenage Vietnamese prostitutes wrapping themselves in dynamite to act as suicide bombers or "sappers", American nurses and Embassy secretaries being machine-gunned by Viet Cong soldiers, the execution of prisoners by both the V.C. and Marines, and the wholesale slaughter of an entire generation of young men (both American and Vietnamese) have the potential to bother you, you might want to avoid this one. "Siege of Firebase Gloria" is frighteningly graphic and realistic and the only thing that keeps this movie from being little more than a snuff film is the humanity of the characters.

While the men on both sides commit acts that most people would consider atrocities, we can see them for what they are: scared human beings, some of them barely more than boys ("No way - Mighty Mouse could never get us out of this s**t," says Private "Shortwave" Coates) who don't know why they have to do these horrible things, only that they must if they want to survive.

In the end, it is the North Vietnamese Army Colonel Cao Van who gives the best summary of the situation: "The courage of your enemies does you honor."