The Hanoi Hilton

I really do love the smell of conspiracy theories in the morning. Sadly the post of jw_55767 proves once again that most people prefer their ideological myths to reality.

So lets look more closely at some of JW's myths about this film. First, the theory that Hanoi Hilton disappeared because of a cabal of the rights favourite demon, "Hanoi Jane" and her media mogul husband Ted Turner. Turner. Wrong. Hanoi Hilton was released theatrically. It made, as IMDb notes less than a million dollars. All things being equal this means, if the market is always right as right wing apologists and polemicists usually maintain, Hanoi Hilton was voted down by American consumers and was not systematically hidden away by Ms. Fonda or her media mogul husband so no one could see it.

Second, another favourite strategy of right wingers is to play up the atrocities of the enemy, which did occur, war after all is hell, and play down those of their own country. In reality, however, Americans committed atrocities in Vietnam just like the enemy did. One of many examples: My Lai. Atrocities, of course, have occurred in each and every modern war and they were committed by all sides.

I generally don't like to write negative reviews and this one isn't however it's not a glowing positive one either.

After listening to a few podcasts and reading a few articles about what life was like during this timer for the soldiers I really think that this movie could have been so impactful however it just turned out to be a little bit lacklustre.

This war drama is set in the 'Hanoi Hilton' prisoner-of-war camp. It focuses on a selection of American soldiers who are incarcerated there by the North Vietnamese over the course of the Vietnam War.

The potential for something quite powerful is certainly there in the serious subject matter that this film is based on. But sadly this is a movie that never really gets out of second gear and is ultimately a mediocre take on a serious subject. The movie's politics are fairly unambiguous and it depicts the communists as being fairly one-dimensionally evil. The portrayal of life in the camp seemed a bit overly idealistic too, with the American POWs more or less at liberty to disrespect their captors with very little consequence. I'm sure it was never quite as carefree in reality as it was depicted here. The cast has no stars and is serviceable at best but none of them really brings much dimension to their characters and consequently they are essentially rather lifeless. Ultimately, the film as a whole comes across as being somewhat underwhelming and is mainly redeemed by the fact that it's based on a real historical situation which at least makes it educational at least to some extent.

Just read US House International relations committee, Nov 4, 1999 hearings. electric shock was used and used a lot against quite a few US POWs in Vietnam. scores of witnesses testified to that it was used against our POWs including victims, our POW's, and third party witnesses such as Cuban observers who were present. In fct the Kremlin archives show Soviet observers saw this as well. would the Russians be lying about their own allies?

The Hanoi Hilton is an excellent film, that sadly never found an audience due to the fact it was an independant film with a cast of relative unknowns (except for Michael Moriarity and David Soul). This is a shame because it spotlights the men of the Vietnam war who were the true heroes. The prisoners of war who went though hell for our country. We are spared no details of that hell they went through in this film. It is a terrible story, but one that needs to be told and one we must never forget.

One thing I wanted to add, its a mistake that few have corrected. Many people believe that the longest held prisoner of war in Vietnam was Navy Commander Everett Alvarez. He was shot down in August of 1964 and held until February 1973. This is not true, the longest held POW of the Vietnam War (indeed the longest held prisoner of war in American history) is Army officer Floyd James Thompson. I read a book about him called Glory Denied by Tom Philpott that told his heartbreaking story and I want to tell it as well. Jim Thompson was born in New Jersey in 1933. He started out life working in a grocery store and married his sweetheart Alyce in 1953. In 1956, he was drafted into the Army. He grew to love the Army and planned to be a thirty year man. He went through Officer Candidate School, Airborne and Ranger training and became a Green Beret Special Forces Officer at Fort Bragg North Carolina. In December of 1963, Captain Thompson was sent to a then unknown country called Vietnam for a six month tour. In March of 1964 (I wish to point out this is almost six months before Alvarez's capture) Captain Thompson was on a small spy plane that was shot down. He was badly wounded and taken prisoner. Thompson spent nine years in hell. He was kept in mostly jungle camps that were even worse then the Hanoi Hilton. At one point, he had no contact with other human beings for five years. He underwent starvation and horrible torture before finally being realeased in March of 1973. However, Thompson's sad story was in many ways just beginning. He and his wife divorced and he was never able to really connect with his four children (his three daughters were only 6,4 and 2 when he was shot down and his son was born after he was taken prisoner). Although he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, he had lost the nine most important years of his career. He was a Lieutenant Colonel who didn't even have a Captain's experience. He married again but divorced shortly afterwards. Thompson began drinking heavily and even attempted suicide. Then in 1981, ironically after he finally conquered his alcoholism, Thompson suffered a massive heart attack and while hospitalized also suffered a massive stroke that left him permanently disabled. In 1990, he had to go thru the agony of seeing his son imprisoned for murder. Last year, Colonel Floyd James Thompson, a true American hero, died at the age of 69. This was one of the saddest stories that I have ever heard in my life a man and his family destroyed by war. I hope many people read the words that I am writing now because we need to remember the sacrifice of Colonel Thompson and the many like him who were POWs. The Hanoi Hilton helps us do just that.