The Battle of Long Tan

Brilliant documentary of a battle during the Vietnam War. More documentaries should be made like this. The survivors and participants telling the story without any grandiose glorification of war or the battle. I was transfixed and very moved. Thoroughly recommend this documentary. Lest We Forget.

I am an American Vietnam veteran (1st Air Cavalry, 1967-68), and was aware of the Australian involvement in the Vietnam conflict, but this was the first movie I knew of that related their experience.

The movie is a well made, proper documentary, relating the events of the battle by the people who lived it. The story was riveting, not for its special effects, big name stars, or CGI, but due to the stories of the men who were there, the simple, factual script, and the tone established by narrator Sam Worthington, who told the story accurately, and in gripping detail.

In its own way, the Battle of Long Tam parallels the American Battle of the Chu Pong Massif/LZ Xray a little less than an year earlier, in that a relatively small force engages what turns out to be an NVA battalion size force. While the Hollywood production of that battle (We Were Soldiers Once) was certainly exciting and star studded(Mel Gibson as Col.Hal Moore) and its special effects captured the horror of battle, the people who fought that conflict tended to get lost in the production values. In The Battle of Long Tam, the stories of the men shone like stars in the night.

Even if you are not Australian (I am) or a New Zealander, you would be well advised to watch this scary, but stangely fascinating story of The Battle of Long Tan during the Vietnam War if you like this sort of stuff. The 108 Aussies and Kiwis incredibly fought off two regiments of North Vietnamese numbering about 2500 troops, with casualties numbering 17 killed (one died of wounds) and 24 wounded. No matter which side you listen to, the VC/NVA casualty numbers were very high considering the size of the two forces, with most killed by artillery fire. The feature film Danger Close, which I am told by Vietnam vets is incredibly realistic, has some fascinating backstories that viewers might find interesting (true or not) as companion viewing.

Im surprised this documentary does not have any comments, It was put together extremely well and used some great cinematic techniques. This is how a documentary should be made, particularly Australian doco's. the production team kept the story humble, without the need to introduce over the top re-enactments focused more on the actors/extras ability rather than the story.

'Battle of Long Tan' deserves a shedload of credit and could only be produced by a team of people that had genuine enthusiasm getting this relatively little known story into the face of the public eye(unfortunate it will probably only be seen by the Aus/NZ public). Im sure this will be an Australia day TV fixture.