Sorry, this movie sucks

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Best movie ever!

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

A small group of American military advisors and their Vietnamese allies try to defend an abandoned village from Viet Cong attack.It's a difficult movie to parse since the focus remains somewhat fuzzy. But that's probably just as well since the war itself remains fuzzy for many Americans. The enemy wore no uniforms, held no ground, and melted away after engagement. In short, it was a long way from the kind of war Americans were used to fighting, an example of what I believe they now call "asymmetrical" warfare. Here, it's 1964 and our level of engagement remains as advisors only. Big troop landings are still a year away. In the movie, we're introduced to the men of Major Barker's (Lancaster) small advisory command and why they've volunteered for hazardous duty. These range from selfless idealism to career opportunities to the one draftee. What they all lack, including the major, is any understanding of the country or culture they're fighting in. Instead, they depend upon their brutal Asian interpreter, Cowboy! Trouble is he's fighting a personal war against the Cong and cares little whether he's advancing the broader cause. Note that the film makes little or no mention of the politics swirling around our intervention. For the individual soldier, these larger issues may seem too abstract or simply reducible to evils of communist aggression. But either way, they're left to higher-ups. Nonetheless, it's the politics of national liberation from decades of Western occupation that drive the Viet Cong, ultimately galvanizing the ordinary peasant into joining. In terms of the movie, it's what's not really mentioned that's so important, rather than what is. And for the Americans, the bottom line is duty, not national liberation. Thus the apt comparison with the dutiful dead Spartans rings true. All in all, it's a tricky film that may or may not be the best on that bloody misadventure. But it does dramatize a serious level of disconnect.

"Go Tell The Spartans" gives the audience a pretty compelling look at the U.S. in Vietnam in 1964, before things escalated considerably. It shows how U.S. forces were unprepared for this particular military operation, and shows that perhaps the U.S. should never have got involved. The acting is good, and the characters are interesting.I did have some quibbles with the movie, however:(1) Because the movie was made independently (probably because Vietnam was still a hot potato with major Hollywood studios), the movie comes across as impoverished in a number of aspects. Also, southern California simply does not look like Vietnam.(2) Like just about any other movie dealing with Vietnam, the movie is very one-sided with its arguments. I'm not saying that the argument that the U.S. should have never got involved is without legitimacy - I'm saying that the Vietnam was was a very complex war. The movie fails to mention what the South Vietnam people thought of the U.S. helping them, nor does it mention how brutal the North Vietnam forces were to both opposing soldiers as well as civilians. (If the North Vietnamese were not so bad, why were there thousands of boat people fleeing Vietnam at the end of the war? Something to think about.) Anyway, I think a more balanced viewpoint would have made the movie more interesting as well as accurate.

Burt Lancaster plays a major during the Vietnam war when he was actually 65 years old and his age is impressed upon you in the first scene as he scrambles through the wire. His obvious age demands such a suspension of belief that it is difficult to focus on the movie. He makes a comment that he was once the General's commander so obviously got into trouble and was passed over for promotion in an attempt to "Explain away" the glaring visual age dysynchrony. But if he was a screwup at the rank of major he would have had his twenty years in and been discharged after being passed over for Lieutenant Colonel. I am sure the technical adviser pointed this out but hey they had Burt Lancaster starring. I was a major equivalent during the Vietnam War (US NAVY LCDR)and was 29 years old as were many of my peers + or - a couple of years so maybe it's not a problem with the non-military knowledgeable viewer.

This low-key, but thoughtful, examination of the early stages of The Vietnam War offers up a few clichés, but also does a nice job of presenting the conditions and experiences of the soldiers involved in it. Lancaster plays a rebellious Major, assigned to the disbursement of various soldiers in the field who are meant to aid and advise the South Vietnamese in their quest for democracy. Singer plays his cocky sidekick, a Captain with eyes on advancement. When they are instructed to set up a garrison at an abandoned site called Muc Wa, they send in a rag tag assortment of soldiers who don't always compliment each other. Wasson is an idealistic youth who tends to see only the good in people. Goldsmith is a grizzled veteran on the edge of burnout. Unger is placed in charge of the mission, but must overcome a troublesome physical reaction to the surroundings. Howard is a drug addict, assigned as medic. They are assisted by the hotheaded and brutal, but effective, native soldier Kim. Meanwhile, Lancaster is pestered by an efficiency expert-type (Clennon) who uses a computer to assess which areas of the conflict are most susceptible to attack. Other roles include Hong, as an elderly Vietnamese recruit and Kumagai, as a demure local girl who takes a shine to Wasson. Though the film is serious in it's approach to the material, it isn't without doses of humor, mostly coming from Lancaster and his offhand approach to the warmongering around him. He has a combative relationship with his no-nonsense superior Sweet and a flustered rapport with his ever-casual communications officer Hicks. Eventually, the events turn more toward the dramatic as it becomes clear that Muc Wa is going to be targeted by the Communist troops. Lancaster does a nice job in a role that suits his confident persona. The rest of the cast is solid as well with many of the actors enjoying lengthy TV and film careers afterwards. Goldsmith (best known as J.R.'s favorite private investigator on "Dallas") gets what is probably his best showcase ever here and rises to the occasion. Each of them, however, gets his chance to shine. A rather low budget gives the film a certain lack of polish, but also helps keep it rather grounded and prevents it from becoming an operatic, over the top epic as some war films have become.