2nd Best Vietnam Movie Ever

Rating: 9/10 (12 April 2019)

I don't know why I can't give this film a "10". There is simply nothing wrong with this film . It's loosely based on history of Lt. Col Hal Smith who was charged with establishing the 7th Air Cav in Vietnam. It is true that their first mission was to be dropped into the "Valley of Death", not knowing that 365 men were being sent straight into a full division of 4,000 North Vietnamese troops. It is a story so well written, that it captures sentimentality, heroisn, brutality, and survival in perfect order. Mel Gibson is stupendous as Col. Smith. And Sam Eliot is, well, Sam Eliot. Painstaking casting, with each supporting actor adding his own personality and enhancing the film. Brilliant direction and camera work. I especially was taken at 1:57 when the camera gets splattered with blood during the final army assault. All in all, a movie not to be missed by anyone. It is one of the two greatest Vietnamese War movies, along with Charlie Mopic.