[Jamie Russell]Vietnam War Movies (Pocket Essentials) (pdf){Zzzzz}

It has been over twenty-five years since the Americans pulled out of Vietnam, their most ignominious defeat ever. With nearly 60,000 dead and over 300,000 wounded the long-fought war was seen as a PR disaster by some and a focus of anti-war sentiment by others. The war helped defeat two Presidents, left hundreds of thousands suffering, and is still one of the hottest debating subjects across America. From The Deer Hunter to Platoon the Vietnam cycle of films that America has been producing since the 1970s has had an impact on audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. The Pocket Essential Vietnam War offers an overview of the genre - including its many sub-genres: the training film Full Metal Jacket, the anti-war diatribe Platoon, the Vietnam Vet saga Rambo: First Blood, and the surreal Apocalypse Now. The book aims to show the ways in which these films operate as fantasy wish-fulfillment (re-writing the war in The Green Berets and Rambo II), an attempt to come to terms with the war as an event (The Deer Hunter) and simply as the opportunity for action (Hamburger Hill). Loved by audiences, debated over by critics, and frequently used on film studies and history courses, the Vietnam War film has a wide appeal.

Publisher: Pocket Essentials (5 January 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1903047935
ISBN-13: 978-1903047934

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Impressive in scope and insight 19 May 2005
By reviewer -
For such a short, little book (just over 90 pages), I was really impressed by the detail and thought put into it. Jamie Russell is a terrific writer and shows some real insight. I don't agree with his anlysis of some films, but he offers sound arguments that are difficult to rebut.

Almost all of the Vietnam War films you can think of are given worthy review here, and certainly many you would'nt immediately think of as well (e.g., Taxi Driver, Forrest Gump, Tigerland).

Beyond the Intro and Conclusion, there are 5 chapters to this book, reflecting Russell's demarcation of the major themes of the Vietnam War Movie genre: "Hard Core, Man": The Vietnam Combat Movie, "This Is This": The Vet Movie, "Charlie Don't Surf!": Drugs and Surrealism in the Combat Zone, "Hell No! We Won't Go!": The Counter-Culture & The Protest Movement, "Do We Get To Win This Time?" The 1980s Return To 'Nam, and finally "When Heaven and Earth Collided:" Telling a Differnt Story.

This book is more than just a synopsis of each movie. It is a thoughtful and intelligent look at a cultural phenomenon, and well worth the price.