Le triangle de fer

Although not that much original(see Boorman's "hell in the pacific"),this was an interesting subject,this meeting between an American soldier and a Vietnamese.But their dialog hardly exceeds ten minutes (all scenes put together that is):besides they are triteness itself.Besides,it's hard to swallow the fact that everybody speaks English,even the Vietnamese between them.The seventeen years old Ho speaks fluent English himself ,that's great comfort for his prisoner Beau Bridges.This good actor is totally wasted in this bomb.

The screenplay is completely incoherent,featuring characters who do not help at all:the propagandist woman (yes the land will go back to the people)and her French(!) bodyguard ,a legionnaire played by French pop star Johnny Hallyday-who quotes Renaissance King François Premier no less:" tout est perdu fors l'honneur"(all is lost except for honor)". Why did he land up here ? Simply because his ex-wife's husband,Tony Scotti is the producer of the movie.

In the end ,Bridges discovers that ,behind or in front of a gun,there's a man.(sic)

In Vietnam, after a battle in the jungle, Captain Keene (Beau Bridges) is captured by Ho (Liem Whatley), an educated Vietnamese commanded by Colonel Tuong (Haing S. Ngor). Although recently losing his father, a teacher killed by the Americans, Ho does not have the feeling of vengeance in his heart and treats the prisoner with dignity, inclusive saving his life. In the end, there is a retribution from Keene to the attitude of Ho. I have never heard anything about this movie. Based on the diary of an unknown Vietnamese soldier (Ho), this excellent movie is indeed a gem, which shows both side of the war with dignity and in a pacifist view. Americans and Vietnamese are presented as human beings, through the character of Captain Keene and Ho. Most of the narrative of Beau Bridges is in `off', when he describes each situation, including his feelings. Ho is a seventeen years old teenager fighting to protect his country against the invader, and Captain Keene is in the war because he is a soldier who follows orders. The dialogs in this movie are intelligent, specially between these two characters. Further, it shows the Vietnamese as persons, defending their invaded country, and not as animals, acephalous beings or numbers, like in most of the films related to the Vietnam war. It is great the way the story is disclosed, showing both sides basically at the same time. The cast and the direction are very sharp and it is amazing the lack of publicity about such a good story. I bought this unknown VHS from a rental for about US$ 1,00 (it was used). However, the lesson of life in the end of the story is priceless. Captain Keene develops himself as a man and learns that in front of his weapon, there was a human being. Before I forget, in the beginning of the story, Captain Keene is presented as a man who speaks Vietnamese language. Therefore, indeed, when the locals speak in `English', actually they would be speaking in their language. Captain Keene is able to understand them and also to maintain a conversation with Ho. Therefore, there is no problem the fact that the movie is spoken in English. It is common sense that Americans usually do not like and are not used to read subtitles, and I believe that was the reason why the story is not spoken in another language. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `Triângulo de Ferro' (`Iron Triangle')

This was really a good movie, should have got more traction or promotion. Only Vietnam War movie I've ever seen that gives both a Vietnamese and an American point of view. I would have never seen it had I not been visiting a friend who insisted I had to watch it. I wish more people had seen it because I've never met anyone else who has, and Its very hard to find now that video stores have gone the way of the dinosaurs. If you ever get the chance to see this movie I promise it wont be a waste of two hours of your time. The acting was spot on, the special effects were great, no CGI, they used real explosives in this. Good luck finding it if you can because it seems nobody has ever heard of it. If the Vietnam War is your genre you have to see it.

My review was written in January 1989 after watching the movie at a Times Square screening room.

"The Iron Triangle" does a switcheroo by presenting (sympathetically) the point-of-view of a 17-year-old Vietcong soldier during the war. Novelty grabs audience's attention, but weak scripting and execution mark this one for mild box office.

Eric Weston's film argues for an equal-time look at the conflict in 1969, with two good men on opposite sides singled out for attention and ultimate bonding in adversity. Beau Bridges narrates the tale as army captain who gets to know his enemy when young Ho (a persuasive performance by newcomer Liem Whatley) captures him and protects him against a fellow Vietcong meanie, Kohl (hissible James Ishida).

The reason for the kinship between Bridges and his black pajamas counterpart is rather flimsy, but the film develops some emotion in sentimental terms. At first disconcerting, the Vietcong speaking in unaccented English works to the film's advantage. Main trick here is that pic's political stance is mushy; there are bad apples on all sides with the two heroes individuals, and the Vietnamese nationalistic wish to boot out all outsiders (Chinese, French and American) endorsed.

Acting is fine, with Oscar-winner Haing S. Ngor as a communist captain playing it straight in a smaller role. Tech credits are good.

It's hard to review a movie by saying it was OK, but The Iron Triangle was nothing more than OK. The (true) story of the event during the Vietnam War was great. The cast had more strong points than weak and much of the special effects were decent. Still, the movie is far from being a great movie like other Vietnam war movies such as Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, and the Deer Hunter. More like the straight to video "dud" Hamburger Hill, the Iron Triangle failed to be a great movie because lack of funding (budget). With a bigger budget, I think the Iron Triangle would have been a huge hit. With more money to improve the production value and to have more of a shooting schedule, the movie could have been a better story. I did not care for having many of the "Vietnam" soldiers speaking better English than many of the American soldiers in the movie. I would have made all, if not most of the Vietnam soldiers talking in their native tongue if not in broken English. This would have made the movie more dramatic and realistic.