I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

84 Charlie Mopic was a latter day entry in the late 80's cycle of Vietnam War movies. By this point in time there had been so many of these films that the sub-genre was running out of ideas. For that reason it seems likely that film-makers had to come up with new methods of presenting this material. To this end, 84 Charlie Mopic adopts a decidedly different approach in that it takes the form of a docudrama shot from a first person perspective via the video footage of a combat journalist sent out with an American platoon on a reconnaissance mission in the jungle. You have to remember that this was a very early example of the found-footage genre which was popularised a decade later by The Blair Witch Project (1999) and which has become very common place since. And while this was not the first film to use this technique, it was still very uncommon at the time and from this perspective has to be considered a commendably original approach.Having said this, I just wish I could say I liked the movie more. On paper, it sounds like a good concept that has considerable potential. In practice it doesn't really work so well. It's very low budget is always obvious and it never really feels like we are ever in Vietnam, it looks more like a forest in the American Everglades or something. Not only this but it is very slow-paced and relies on dramatics far more than on action. Nothing wrong with that but the problem is that for this to work the script has to be decent but sadly for the most part the dialogue is fairly poor and the characters are not especially well defined, not helped by quite mediocre acting. Don't get me wrong, it has moments of interest, such as a tense interview scene which illustrated how racial differences that are an issue in civilian life cease to be relevant in the context of a combat platoon. There is also a dramatic scene in which an enemy soldier is captured and the manner in which this is dealt with showcases the ugliness of war; while the ending of the film worked quite well even if it was a little sudden. So, there are good moments in this movie, yet for the most part I found it to be a plodding and overly limited production. I give it credit for ideas but its execution was very lacking.

Something like this might not look original now, but back when it was released it was probably refreshing and innovative. An army cameraman (code-name Charlie MoPic) films a small recon platoon to record the procedures of combat situations in the jungles of Vietnam. Think of its low-budget (and it shows) and especially competing with Vietnam war films of the late 80s like "Platoon", "Full Metal Jacket" and "Hamburger Hill". Looking for a different angle to set it apart… which I don't know how successful it was, as I only heard of the film for the first time a couple months back. It does remind me of the TV show "Tour of Duty", which if I remember correctly had an episode using this concept. Still "84 Charlie MoPic" is quite a personal, gut-wrenching and gritty look into the exploits on the front-line. It doesn't shy away either, giving the characters plenty of time to bond and open up with their differing perspectives. It's driven by its dialogues/characters, as it's in the details, commonplace but realistic. Sometimes a little slow and meandering, but those looking for constant action will be hugely disappointed, as when it occurs its only minor and the Viet Cong are kept mainly unseen, but it does have impact because we feel every inch of pain, discomfort and disorientation the soldiers encountered. This is where the intensity arrives from; the chemistry and respect between the men. That when they start getting picked off in quick concession, the intimate styling crafted gave it a more grounded sense that played to its strengths. It's primal, instinctive, as their combat training makes little headway in their quest for survival. There are no rules in this war, where danger is always there. The performances are raw, but believable and well-delivered by a bunch of no names. The low-scale handling gives it an organic, but tight and humid touch Written and directed by Patrick Luncan, he makes good use of the one idea concept and lets it flow accordingly to achieve maximum effect.

Watching 84 Charlie MoPic right after watching Rambo: First Blood Part II is like watching a difference between a Republican and a Democrat. You get to see all of the mindless, brawny stuff, the nonsense and the mayhem, and in the end everything is supposed to turn out alright when it really shouldn't. Then you get to see some sensibility, compassion, understanding, and there's still a tough quality when it's there and not hidden behind the speeches. It's a fascinating experiment to do if you're into movies in general, or have seen neither one particularly. Ultimately, MoPic won the double feature in terms of quality and durability, albeit with a smaller budget and sometimes a little *too* much on its mind. Neither film reinvents the wheel (and naturally Rambo blew maybe too many up to count), but with Patrick Duncan's film he gets to the heart and soul of what is best about these guys in combat: soldiers just making their way, some harder asses than others, who all just want to find a way home. Sadly, Rambo's home *is* the jungle, but that's for another review.One can tell the film is low-budget, if nothing else, because of the lack of action. It's possible that the director might have been tempted to up the ante if he had more to work with, or bigger-name stars. But as with other under-the-radar "B movies" about war, less can be more depending on the script and the actors given. No one is really too recognizable here (some actors went on to do TV, others didn't, they were all fresh faces to me), and that adds to the believability. No one is an action hero, and some are just scared so much you can feel it through clenched teeth. There's jokes told here and there, some big words, and steely glances. No one in this company going through Charlie's territory likes it one iota, not even LT, who is looking perhaps to rise in the ranks of what he sees as a "corporation" like Gulf & Western. Another soldier rightfully quips, 'or Engulf and Devour.'The approach that writer/director/former-vet Duncan does is not the first of its kind in terms of style (he was preceded by at least a few years by Cannibal Holocaust's method of first-person cinematography and point of view), but it's the first film I can think of that uses not only the approach but the person holding the camera as part of the story. MioPic is a guy who has been editing footage for a while at a nearby base, and gets cans and cans of films to look at; some have nothing, other ones, well, they keep him up at night. That this isn't just a passive observer adds to the tension when it comes time to shoot the combat footage (however little it is, though it makes sense after a while), since he's got to have the balls to keep up and not look away. It covers the problem that certain horror films have when one wonders why the camera wouldn't just turn off after a while. We are, as they are, stuck in a fixed position. Oddly enough it kind of is the predecessor of the real-life approach to filming most of the documentary Restrepo. Again, for another review on that one.While one could nitpick certain things with the style- such as, there being perfect sound but it being a camera circa 1968 or 1969, which means a sound guy or at least a boom operator would need to be around, and who isn't- but it's really about the men on screen, men that Duncan himself may have known to an extent. It should be noted that not all of the characters are originals either. There's the cocky guy, the quiet focused man (no interviews), the country white-trash guy (actually, he's not as conventional as you'd expect), and a few other types. The approach in how long we stick with the guys, just them talking, before a shot is even fired, does do something crucial: we are with them for so long that they become real and we can feel the pain when one is hurt, or , eventually, as they're picked off. Some of this is so powerful that one can overlook certain similarities to other war films (i.e. the 'sniper-shooting-soldier' scene in Full Metal Jacket, a heated exchange of one soldier to another from Platoon).It's a character piece that gets us feeling for what these soldiers had to go through, how insane it was just to get from point A to B to C, how its 'corporation' of sorts was neither a real business or a game, perhaps something in between. It's far from perfect, but it's alive and kicking as a testament to people in war. It never trivializes, or makes it very "fun", but it's hard to look away. Unlike Rambo (which I did not hate by the way), it's as true as it can be.

When I first watched this film I was in the 82nd at the time. It looked like an Army uncut documentary. My friends and I watched it several times looking for errors. The only error we could find (and it was a stretch) was the helicopter in the final scene had modified landing skids that were not developed till later. That helo also had a red checklist that probably would not have been used.The boots were tied right and worn-out in the right places. The rucks were heavy and carried like people who did that a lot. They wore their equipment right and each had the fitness level of an infantryman. The short-timer caught the spirit of what it meant to be short. Our short timers said the same stupid comments. "I'm so short I could halo off a dime" is funny the first time you hear it, not the 50th.Every squad seems to have the same people in it. This movie captured that to a "T." They talked way to much for a LRRP unit but it makes sense if you put grunts in front of a camera.Hands down one of the most realistic war movies ever made. In subtle ways this captures what it is like to be a grunt.