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★ 9 / 10
The Green Berets (1968) stands as a powerful
RoyMcKenzie
The Green Berets (1968) stands as a powerful and unapologetic tribute to American courage and resolve. John Wayne delivers a commanding performance as Colonel…
The Green Berets (1968) stands as a powerful and unapologetic tribute to American courage and resolve. John Wayne delivers a commanding performance as Colonel Mike Kirby, leading a team of elite Green Berets in the jungles of Vietnam. The film captures the spirit of the era with bold storytelling, impressive battle sequences, and a clear message of duty. It remains one of the few major Hollywood productions that presented the Vietnam conflict from a perspective of pride rather than doubt.
At its core, this movie celebrates patriotism in its purest form. It portrays American soldiers as brave men who answered the call to serve something greater than themselves. They fight not for glory but to protect freedom and stop the spread of communism. Wayne and the cast bring sincerity and conviction to every scene, reminding audiences of the values that define the United States military tradition. The film refuses to shy away from showing the high stakes and the honor involved in wearing the Green Beret.
One of the most moving aspects is how it depicts American soldiers doing their best to help the Vietnamese people. The Green Berets build schools, provide medical care, and work closely with local villagers to improve their lives and defend them from enemy forces. These scenes highlight the humanitarian side of the mission alongside the combat, showing soldiers as protectors and builders rather than mere warriors. This balance gives the film heart and underscores the positive impact American forces sought to create in a difficult situation.
The action sequences are thrilling and well executed, with strong direction that keeps the pace engaging from start to finish. Supporting performances from David Janssen and the rest of the ensemble add depth and camaraderie that feels authentic. The movie effectively uses its runtime to honor the real life Green Berets who inspired the story, blending entertainment with respect for those who served.
Decades later, The Green Berets continues to inspire viewers who appreciate straightforward storytelling and strong national pride. It offers a refreshing counterpoint to more cynical war films and serves as a heartfelt thank you to the men who fought with honor. If you value classic cinema, John Wayne at his finest, and a patriotic view of American military history, this film deserves a proud place in your collection. Highly recommended.
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★ 6 / 10
***The only Vietnam War flick shot during the
Wuchak
***The only Vietnam War flick shot during the war*** An intrepid colonel (John Wayne) and a team of Green Berets defend a firebase camp in Viet Cong-controlled…
***The only Vietnam War flick shot during the war***
An intrepid colonel (John Wayne) and a team of Green Berets defend a firebase camp in Viet Cong-controlled territory in Vietnam accompanied by a cynical journalist (David Janssen). The colonel and a select group of his men eventually implement a special mission to capture a high-level Viet Cong general. Aldo Ray, Raymond St. Jacques, Jim Hutton, George Takei, Patrick Wayne & others are on hand.
Co-directed by John Wayne, "The Green Berets" (1968) is notable as the only Vietnam War flick made during the actual conflict (I’m talking about theatrical releases). The events take place well before the Tet Offensive of 1968 and the story isn’t about your average grunt conscript, e.g. “Platoon” (1986), but rather Special Forces personnel, who are highly trained & disciplined career professionals. The movie is curiously notorious because it’s pro-involvement, but it’s NOT pro-war seeing as how the flick clearly shows the horrors of war. It’s just that it honestly details the noble reasons WHY the USA got involved in the first place.
The tone & story mixes the style of 1960’s War-in-the-Pacific movies like “Ambush Bay” (1966) with a dash of “The Dirty Dozen” (1967). “We Were Soldiers” (2002) is similar, but more effective because it lacks the old-fashioned humor and quaintness. “Go Tell the Spartans” (1978) is in the same ballpark.
There’s a lot of action (with fake-looking bright red blood), but it takes forever to get to it. Still, the characters are likable and you have to respect a movie that takes its time to establish the setting and protagonists.
The film runs 2 hours, 22 minutes and was shot in Fort Benning & Columbus, Georgia; Ft. McClellen, Alabama; and WB Burbank Studios. Actually, Georgia works surprisingly well for the SE Asia sequences. It’s not like Vietnam is all palm trees; they DO have pines and deciduous.
GRADE: B-
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About as viable as most Vietnam war movies
ubercommando
No, seriously. "The Green Berets" is about as viable and creditable as "The Boys in Company C" or "Casualties of War". It's hard to find a Vietnam war movie…
No, seriously. "The Green Berets" is about as viable and creditable as "The Boys in Company C" or "Casualties of War". It's hard to find a Vietnam war movie that DOESN'T come full of distortions based on the film makers political agendas; it's just this time "The Green Berets" comes from the pro-involvement side.We've heard the negatives about this movie, and most of them are basically correct but there are a few things to say that, if not positive, put the movie in a less negative light.First, this isn't your usual piece about 19 year old conscripts being called up to fight in a war they don't understand. The real Special Forces are career professionals who have very high standards of training and discipline. "The Green Berets" isn't a movie about your average grunt; it's about commandos and a lot of the training, tactics and equipment is accurate for the time. The experience of the special forces in Vietnam was widely different from line conscripts; and they won a lot of victories.Second, it was a bold move to make a movie about the Vietnam war whilst it was still going on. The movie was made shortly before the Tet Offensive of 1968 when the initiative was still with the US and South Vietnamese forces. This is a Vietnam war movie from the early part of the war...something "Platoon" falls down on is depicting the unit in a state of disorganisation, with the usual drug taking and indiscipline scenes that have become cliché, in 1967 when the reality was that discipline and cohesion in the field in '67 was a lot tighter. Stone depicts events that would not become common in front line troops until '69-'70. Yes, I know he served a tour of duty over there but a number of his fellow veterans have called his depiction of events into question.Third, the early part of the movie with the relationships between US Special Forces officers and ARVN counterparts is fairly well done. The SF had been present in Vietnam from '62 onwards and by '67-'68 had built up a good working relationship with ARVN Ranger units (the only South Vietnamese army units that were well trained and led).Now the pine tree issue. Well, I hate to break it to people but not all of Vietnam is palm trees and jungle. In the area of Cochinchina just north of Saigon and into the hilly Montangnard country, there are a lot of deciduous and evergreen trees. I was surprised to find this when doing research on the US 25th Infantry Division and finding a lot of their patrol area wasn't in jungle but hilly woodland. Pine trees maybe stretching things a little bit though but it's not impossible.The politics. Yes, the Duke is on the right wing campaign trail but other film makers have used the Vietnam war to promote the liberal left agenda so I don't get why that is acceptable and an alternative view that doesn't conform to that is inherently wrong. The scene at the beginning of the movie has Aldo Ray explaining how China, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union were sending aid to North Vietnam...so Oliver Stone's assertions that the VC were self-liberating and proudly defiant are deeply wrong. The VC and NVA were tools of a communist regime that were being heavily supplied and subsidised by other Communist regimes. I'm not advocating that the US's involvement in a war in Vietnam was right, just that people understand the involvement of other nations as well.For those who think this movie is bad because it doesn't depict American atrocities, drug taking and insubordination like other Vietnam war movies have merely bought into another set of falsehoods. This goes back to my original point; "The Green Berets" isn't particularly realistic...but then again, neither are most other movies about that war.
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