Movies Thoughts on the film Casualties of War.

[AFanNotAFighter]

Well, it wasn't really Platoon that kicked off the vietnam thing, it was mainly Rambo 2 and Reagan's rah-rah patriotism. Platoon was actually a reaction to Rambo 2 and it's dumbed down version of vietnam, it was probably the best of the entire lot but it was one of many, many, most of which looked too stupid to even watch. Born On The Fourth of July was a good one and another good rebuttal to the mindlessness of the Rambo franchise. I still recall coming out of the theater after Rambo 3 and some vietnam vets handed us flyers and told us not to fall for the bullshit, that we were being propagandized, i remember thinking they were nuts at the time, I was too young to know anything about anything and now I'd admire them for taking time to try and tell us not to be fools for the country.

Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter predated Rambo though.

 

[mozfonky]

Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter predated Rambo though.

of course, but America didn't go through the post-vietnam weird patriotic faze until Rambo's macho antics. It was Rambo that created that wierd macho, patriotic shit that lasted for a good while and spawned a lot of what looked like stupid copycat movies, I think Norris had a series of them which I never saw. Platoon was Stone's direct rebuttal to Stallone's Rambo 2. First Blood was the better Rambo movie and it didn't rely on manipulating the patriotism of stupid audiences to make it good. And lets be honest, a ton of these artistic works were ambiguous. Bruce Springsteen was accused of doing a Rambo thing with a guitar, even getting wrapped in a flag at some concerts but the song itself (Born In The USA) was not patriotic, it was a song about getting fucked by the government but the fist pumping in the vid as well as music that didn't fit the lyrics obsfucated the message. In the end, most people do things for money and power so they're all guilty of being insincere to some degree but Stone was probably the most sincere and the most straight forward as well as probably having the best of the entire lot, including Deer Hunter and Apocolypse which were real cinema and not the low brow bull that came later.

I can't really say too much for most of these films because they looked so stupid from the start that I never watched most of them. I think Full Metal Jacket was decent and doesn't go into the category but most of them were just insipid trash for stupid people.

 

[AFanNotAFighter]

of course, but America didn't go through the post-vietnam weird patriotic faze until Rambo's macho antics. It was Rambo that created that wierd macho, patriotic shit that lasted for a good while and spawned a lot of what looked like stupid copycat movies, I think Norris had a series of them which I never saw. Platoon was Stone's direct rebuttal to Stallone's Rambo 2. First Blood was the better Rambo movie and it didn't rely on manipulating the patriotism of stupid audiences to make it good. And lets be honest, a ton of these artistic works were ambiguous. Bruce Springsteen was accused of doing a Rambo thing with a guitar, even getting wrapped in a flag at some concerts but the song itself (Born In The USA) was not patriotic, it was a song about getting fucked by the government but the fist pumping in the vid as well as music that didn't fit the lyrics obsfucated the message. In the end, most people do things for money and power so they're all guilty of being insincere to some degree but Stone was probably the most sincere and the most straight forward as well as probably having the best of the entire lot, including Deer Hunter and Apocolypse which were real cinema and not the low brow bull that came later.

I can't really say too much for most of these films because they looked so stupid from the start that I never watched most of them. I think Full Metal Jacket was decent and doesn't go into the category but most of them were just insipid trash for stupid people.

I wonder if some of that patriotic faze had to do with Reagan taking office at that time who was a very pro-military president who didn't shy away from armed conflicts(Grenada, Libya). And don't waste your time on the Norris film series(Missing in Action) about Vietnam. They are horrible. And I'm a Norris fan too.

 

[mozfonky]

I wonder if some of that patriotic faze had to do with Reagan taking office at that time who was a very pro-military president who didn't shy away from armed conflicts(Grenada, Libya). And don't waste your time on the Norris film series(Missing in Action) about Vietnam. They are horrible. And I'm a Norris fan too.

Reagan had a lot to do with it, in fact, he tried to use Bruce's name in a speech and Bruce replied in concert with a more somber tune about America. Bruce was a bit of a trickster and a con, which he admits freely, so if he was misinterpreted, he meant to be. Reagan is still a hero to some people today who see his term in a good old days fashion. People are so stupid, even smart people get stupid when it comes to politics.

The funny thing about Stallone and Springsteen, word was they both went to lengths to avoid vietnam. In Springsteen's case, he felt guilt and later gave to a lot of viet vet causes and formed a friendship with Ron Kovic. Stallone I don't think ever spent much time feeling guilty, he was too busy being a movie star. The war, just like todays crisis' really divided the nation. Ali avoided the draft and is still hated for it by some folks. I don't think anyone should have felt any guilt for avoiding it but maybe making a buck off of it was kinda low.

 

[Aegon Spengler]

Yeah it was three years after Platoon, but in the long run it seemed like that was the film more people saw and remembered.

Kind of like The Thin Red Line being overshadowed by Saving Private Ryan.

I remember thin red line as a steaming pile of shit but then again I haven’t seen it since it came out

 

[Michaelangelo]

7

It was good. I thought Michael J Fox performance was a little too melodramatic, especially once they get back to base.

But it is indeed disturbing and a true story. Also, I know the perps more or less didn’t serve any real time for it(despite the end credit captions).Which means it’s not a movie I’ve wanted to re-watch more than the 2-3 times I’ve seen it.

Looks like a lot of the sentences were commuted or reversed

The one guy who got 20 years ended up serving 4