Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: DOLAN,MICHAEL
EAN: 9786306576067
Format: Anamorphic
ISBN: 6306576061
Label: Lions Gate
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
MPN: 028485114401
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Lions Gate
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2001-08-14
Running Time: 110
Studio: Lions Gate
Theatrical Release Date: 1987-08-28

Graphic portrayal of the ten day assault on Hill 937, beginning on May 10, 1969, that took 70% casualties from the Men of the 101st Airborne Division.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 21-OCT-2003
Media Type: DVD
Because it was released less than a year after Oliver Stone's Platoon and within months of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, this exceptionally well-made film about one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War was largely overshadowed and overlooked. It's a pity, because in some respects this is the best of the Vietnam films of the late 1980s, at least in terms of the everyday authenticity it depicts. Stripped clean of dramatically extraneous narrative, the movie opts instead for a straightforward approach to its day-by-day account of one of the war's costliest victories--a deadly siege on Hill 937 in the Ashau Valley, where soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division engaged the enemy over the course of eleven brutal assaults between May 10th and 20th, 1969. The film specifically follows the 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon, a mixture of "new guys" and battle-weary "short-timers" who fought against terrifying odds and suffered a 70% casualty rate. From first scene to last, Hamburger Hill traces the rise and fall of their battle experience, from the horror of firefights to the camaraderie of men who've faced death and survived. Racial tensions flare and subside, trusts are established, and courage emerges from unexpected places. Through it all, writer Jim Carabatsos and director John Irvin maintain a purity of focus that pays tribute to the soldier's life without promoting false patriotism or gung-ho theatrics. In addition, the film features a cast full of talented and well-known actors in the early stages of their careers, including Dylan McDermott (from the TV series "The Practice") and Don Cheadle, before gaining fame in Devil in a Blue Dress and Boogie Nights. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Rating:
Summary: 3 stars out of 4
Comment: The Bottom Line:

A gritty and realistic movie, Hamburger Hill more than makes up for its occaisional failures in characterization with gripping and bloody action sequences.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Look at the bright side, it can only get better from here.
Comment: The characters could not be less interesting. The battle scenes could not be more fake. This is a terrible movie!! It's a shame, there are not too many good Vietnam movies. Watch Rescue Dawn instead.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Heroism
Comment: Derision of war. May 1969, win at any cost and on a mountain in which Viet Cong troops are entrenched. The film is about the commitment of soldiers called the same profiles as those described in "Platoon", in this tragic mission to conquer this mountain, without understanding the strategic interest (is there? Absurdity?) that requires conquest as tribute blood shed. Scenes of terrible war. A story based on real facts - the conquest of a Mount has been a real butcher, gave him the name "Hamburger."

A film highlight of very high quality.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Raw Meat
Comment: This film portrays the Vietnam war with crude reality. You will experience how the soldiers were stressed physically and emotionally. One of the best Vietnam films I know.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: better as history than as a film
Comment: This is a very interesting film. It basically takes a very bloody battle from the middle of the war and recreates its from the perspective of the smallest unit on the front lines. The strength of the film is that all the events of the battle are incredibly accurate in terms of detail. The weakness of the film is that because of its "point of view", it doesn't always do a great job of explaining whats going on in the broader sense of the battle. The needed more exposition scenes in the second half of the film explaining what was going on and why things were happening. Especially from the first and second level officer's perspective.

Its interesting in that the viewer of the film not familar with the battle will see it just like the soldier on the ground saw it: a confusing mess. I'm not sure if that perspective at the cost of understanding what was going on was the right choice to make.

The only other flaw in an otherwise great movie is a bunch of political bitching about things going on at home that was tacked on at one point and sounded totally false. All those things happened to certain people, but they didn't all happen to one unit during their tour (opposed to after) and they guys didn't talk about it like they did in the film.

In terms of Vietnam films, this is with its flaws still 100x better than junk like "Platoon" or vietnam films not about vietnam like Apocolipse now.

---