Going Back

The above is what fell out of my mouth during the final 20 minutes of this film. I've never laughed so hard at bad acting, cheesy sentiment, and overwrought "drama" before seeing this farce. Utterly ludicrous dialogue permeates the film but it never seems overly unwatchable until we enter the home stretch. Until then, it is a mildly enjoyable exercise, filled with decent costumes, vehicles, and locations (including genuine Vietnam footage --- nice). I'd rented on a whim expecting nothing, so I was surprised that it at least looked accurate and wasn't boring.

However, the movie's ultimate undoing is its commitment to the most overt and silly sentimentality this side of the "tell me I'm a good man" framing sequence from SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. The filmmakers milk it for all its worth and believe me it isn't worth much. Endless 'crying' scenes in slow motion, repeated 'breaking down' scenes, slamming of fists against walls, brotherly hugs, etc, beg the question if this was not all meant as satire.

A handful of scenes work fairly well --- the battle for Hue City is harrowing and exciting, and a "tunnel rat" sequence is suspenseful even though preceeded by the silliest on-the-nose dialogue imaginable. One bit involving a spare fuel pod in a treeline is cartoonishly innovative but seems more fit to MISSING IN ACTION than a movie meant to be taken seriously.

Ultimately the movie fails as it adds nothing to the played-out genre of the 'Vietnam film.' "War is bad!" --- check. "You wouldn't understand because you weren't there!" --- check. "It was a massacre!!!" --- check. All it lacks is a gruff Air Cav officer admonishing his troops that CHARLIE DON'T SURF!!!! Then we'd have had something.

A reporter goes to Vietman with 6 former war buddy's to find out, What really happen'd in the War there. A movie played in the present,with flashback's to 1960's.

The same actors in the past and in the present,sometime's a good thing, sometime's not.In this case the actors did well.

Casper van Diem play's Cap.Ramsey a young leader of Echo Company. He knows what has happened and want's to let it rest,But the rest of 5 war buddy's don't...

A Good Vietnam movie with a good story. I give it a 6, in a scale from 1 to 10.

This is a fairly morbid yet emotional war drama, starring Caper Van Dien and Carrie Otis. It is about a group of ex vietnam soldiers re-visiing aold battle gorunds years after the war. THye re-live memories of the war and remember things that they had tried to forget.

The film doesn't delve into the cliche bucket to many times as war films usually do and the script is fairly good. The actors perform well in some good roles but Casper Van Dien, who has the most important part, just cannot act. He almost ruins some emotional and effective scenes but is thankfully just rescued by some superior performance by people such as Jaimz Woolvett. The film is low budget but veteren director Sidney J Furie handles preceedings well, the guy definitely knows what he is doing. There are some good battle sequences, particularly in the last half. Overall this could have been better but it isn't bad, it is certainly better than some big budget stinkers like Windtalkers. 6/10

Since the ending of the Vietnam War, two principal styles of feature films have been produced revolving about that baleful event, one that emphasises scenes of frantic combat activity, the second stressing off-center characterization of United States military personnel, most often encumbered with tiresome politicizing anent the evil actions of corrupted American servicemen in contrast with the apparently innate dignity and humanity manifested by Vietnamese people; within this grotesquely melodramatic piece is included the worst aspects of each, with triteness lavishly added for good measure. The film opens with a military reunion organised by cinema documentarian Kathleen Martin (Carrè Otis) who has assembled six veterans from a heavily depleted U. S. Marine Echo Company, bringing about their rendezvous held in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) for the purpose of filming their impressions of erstwhile battlefields, and eventually to restage, if all agree, a controversial incident that had occurred during the war, later resulting in a court martial of the Company's leader, Captain Ramsey (Caspar Van Dien). The film wants narrative clarity, indeed even basic credibility, while plot execution is muddled; an altogether plodding and unpersuasive affair with wholesale utilisation of bromidic scenes, one even comprised of slow motion lovemaking by Van Dien and Otis. Stock footage of crowded streets in Ho Chi Minh City provide mild interest, while combat segments are largely effective, and editing is quite successful with flashbacks. However, the depiction of on-scene battle photography is unrealistically presented, and a droning score is of no assistance. It is best for this subject matter if it will be created by individuals who were there.

It is not serious "vietnam movie". It is melodramatic and unconvincing. Casper Van Dien's character is a plastic toy but not a real man. Story may be is not hopeless but realization is poor. Ending is funny.