Forgotten Heroes

I've seen many "Vietnam" films in my life, but none have ever really portrayed a positive message of just how great the American GI can be. That is until now. A friend of mine bought this film from some web site and brought it over. At first I was a little reluctant, telling him, that I really wasn't in the mood to watch another 2 hours of a typical Vietnam vets "messed up and psycho/rapist story." i.e. Full Metal Jacket etc..

Damn am I'm glad I agreed to watch it.

My first impression was "where has this gem been and how come I've never heard of it?" The story is really about the American Ideal. It is not locked into Vietnam era. It reminded me more of a WWII story. Americans are sent into the jungle to get a Russian General who wants to defect to the USA. Veteran actor William Smith plays the general brilliantly. The acts that follow beautifully show how these selfless guys risked their lives for a positive pro-American "Ideal." In today's Hollywood, that is unthinkable with all the anti-American propaganda that is churned out. Even the individual characters in the film portray their roles with realism akin to the geographic regions of the US from which they come.

This is a great, great film done with subtly and insight to the true meaning of right and wrong. Unlike many of its counterparts, it doesn't try to turn wrong into right or right into wrong.

I'm going to buy this film for my own collection!

Highly recommended!

I didn't know what to expect out of Forgotten Heroes. Some of the press, not to mention other reviews here, lead you to believe it's a documentary or a flag-waving patriotic tribute to vets. But it's really a gritty little action pic, the kind that Audie Murphy used to play to perfection, the kind that made drive-ins prosper. I could practically taste foil-wrapped hot dogs while I was watching it. Good points: beautiful 35mm widescreen film stock—there IS no substitute. There's a solid performance from William Smith as the Russian general, the only name in the cast. The plot is decent and feels authentic. The climax generates genuine tension. Drawbacks: it's a small crew of stereotyped ensemble players (you got your Hell's Kitchen, you got your Hispanic, you got your born-again, you got your cowboy) and a couple of the performances are spotty to the point that I cheered when one of the good guys got iced. But if you want to have an old-fashioned night of drive-in fare, complete with blood and guts and Russkis, in a little corner of jungle where the plot doesn't center on G.I.s and dope, this is the action flick for you.

"Forgotten Heroes" is a good, solid, old-fashioned entertainment in a Vietnam setting without the distorted stereotypes of drug addicts, murderers, and rapist. I particularly liked the ending with President Kennedy's Inaugural ceremony pledge to defend freedom anywhere, anytime, at any cost. It was not only very effective but helped to put our Southeast Asian involvement in context. "

Apocalypse Now has the big movie stars. Platoon has the budget. Full Metal Jacket has Kubrick. But Forgotten Heroes has the truth. And when history does what history always does best and shakes itself loose of the blistering lies told of and about America's involvement in Vietnam, it will be Jack Marino's Forgotten Heroes that's first acquitted.

Watching the history of Vietnam through the eyes of mainstream Hollywood you'd never know our goal was to help a people retain their self-determination. You'd never know that what the critics wrist-flicked as a civil war was in fact a national act of fratricide; one brother trying to oppress and butcher another. You'd never know the consequence of our leaving -- our breaking our promise to our allies -- our caving to the anti-war left -- was a holocaust of millions. And you'd never know that our men and women over there were honorable, self- sacrificing, heroes. You'd never know this because in order to present its twisted view of the war mainstream Hollywood must demonize our troops. It must lie.

In Forgotten Heroes we finally see an honest portrayal of these good and decent men who left their homes and risked their lives for something bigger than themselves. Marino's film reminds us how that once meant something. Marino's film also reminds us that when those men are forgotten by a government unwilling to finish what it started, the price they pay doesn't end with the war.

Using relatively unknown actors and a meager budget, Marino expertly mixes themes larger than politics with a briskly paced emotional story and action scenes that defy that meager budget. And watching Forgotten Heroes is a reminder of just how far Hollywood has fallen.

There was a time Hollywood believed in spreading liberty and stopping tyranny. There was a time it marshaled every force at its disposal because it believed everyone, regardless of skin color or religion, deserved freedom. That belief died sometime in the late 1960's. And from it sprang an ideology of anti-Americanism and pro-Communism that has infested our films for forty years and lives on today in the form of Michael Moore, Oliver Stone, and all the others who find the tyrants Castro and Saddam more tolerable than our own President.

But that's just politics. We can disagree on politics. But what about the men? Why must the heroes of Vietnam be slandered in film after film to support the misguided political agendas of the Hollywood left? Can't we draw a line of decency somewhere?

Well, Marino has drawn a line. He put his money and talent and reputation on the line to tell the truth about these men. And for over fifteen years he's shown this film to anyone willing to listen. Anyone with enough of an open mind to consider that there are still stories left untold in Vietnam. Stories of heroism and sacrifice. In other words: The Truth.

Every viewing of Forgotten Heroes makes these heroes less forgotten. Every viewing jabs a finger in the eye of a Hollywood that lies about them. The forgotten heroes of Vietnam have a friend in Jack Marino. And so do maverick filmmakers everywhere with a dream. With a love of country. With a love of freedom. With a love of truth. - John Nolte

"In an age when heroism and patriotism have been consumed by guilt and shame, "Forgotten Heroes" offers a welcome and inspirational antidote. A heartfelt tribute to the young men who lived, served, fought and died in the jungles of Vietnam, "Forgotten Heroes" is a throwback to the great films of the World War II era, when traits like courage, camaraderie and conviction were revered and rewarded - no matter who won. As most Vietnam films continue to focus on the ideological and moral implications of the war, "Forgotten Heroes" dares to turn its sights on the brave young men who lived it. Producer/director Jack Marino has created a tale of courage, conviction and camaraderie reminiscent of the great films of the World War II era."