The Green Berets

Plot synopsis:
At Fort Bragg, cynical newspaper reporter George Beckworth (David Janssen) is at a Special Forces briefing about the American military involvement in the war in Vietnam. The briefing at Gabriel Demonstration Area (named for SGT Jimmy Gabriel, the first "Green Beret" soldier killed in Vietnam), includes a demonstration and explanation of the whys and wherefores of participating in the Vietnam War.
Skeptical civilians and journalists are told that international Communism is what the U.S. is fighting in Vietnam. Proof: weapons and equipment, captured from North Vietnamese soldiers and Vietcong guerrillas, manufactured in the Soviet Union, Communist Czechoslovakia, and Communist China. Despite that, Beckworth remains skeptical about the value of intervening in Vietnam's civil war. When asked by Green Beret Colonel Mike Kirby (John Wayne) if he had ever been to Southeast Asia, reporter Beckworth replies that he had not, prompting a discourteous acknowledgement of his opinion. Realizing his ignorance, Beckworth decides to go in-country to report on what he finds there so he may better his argument that America needs to stop participating in this unwinnable war.
Colonel Kirby is posted to South Vietnam with two handpicked A-Teams of Special Forces troopers. One A-Team is to replace a team at a basecamp working with South Vietnamese and Montagnard soldiers while the other A-Team is to form a counter guerrilla Mike force. While selecting his teams, Kirby intercepts a Spc. Petersen (Jim Hutton) from another unit who is scrounging supplies from Kirby's supply depot. Realizing Petersen's skills, Kirby promotes him and brings him onto his SF team. The A team includes: Captain MacDaniel, (Edward Faulkner), a replacement for Captain Coleman; Lieutenant's Sachs, (Frank Koomen), and Moore, a Savoy 8 team leader; Master Sergeant Muldoon (Aldo Ray) the senior NCO; Sergeant First Class "Doc" McGee, (Raymond St. Jacques) the teams medical sergeant; Sergeant First Class Kowalski, (Mike Henry) the teams communications specialist; Sergeant Provo, (Luke Askew) the team's heavy weapons specialist; Sergeant Watson, (Eddy Donno) teams Mortar crewman; and Sergeant Parks, (Rudy Robbins), a man from the Southern United States.
Arriving in South Vietnam, they meet Beckworth whom Kirby allows to join them at the base camp where he witnesses the humanitarian aspect (irrigation ditches, bandages, candy for children) of the Special Forces mission. Still, he remains skeptical of the U.S.'s need to be there.
During this period, Petersen befriends a young native boy named Ham Chuck (Craig Jue), a war orphan who has no family other than his pet dog and the soldiers at the base camp. Also introduced is the ARVN base camp strike force leader Captain Nim (George Takei), who was a former Viet Minh officer from Hanoi during the previous war and is now fighting for the anti-communist South Vietnamese government. He's obsessed with having to "kill all the stinking Viet Cong" to win this war. He also claims that there is a spy network within the camp and ARVN strike force.
During Captain Coleman's (Jason Evers)) final night of his tour, he spends some time in the Team House writing a letter announcing his return. Beckworth, and several of the A detachments, Sergeant's Provo, Watson, and Lark are playing cards. One member, Parks, cannot play in the game as his reputation for cons and luck-playing was well known, Coleman instructs the men to check their guard duty rosters before they turn in to rest. He bids everyone good night and Coleman returns to his own sleeping quarters. Not long afterwards, the camp begins to get hit with Viet Cong mortars in a harassment action. The mortar fire strikes the dispensary, "communication bunker" and the team house before it suddenly stops. However the team house is in flames when other soldiers hastened to check on Coleman who was known to be inside at the time of the attack. MacDaniel dispersed nearby soldiers on various assignments to check if there is any damage done to the communication bunker as well forming a reconnaissance patrol. However Coleman is found dead by Sergeant Provo and a soldier amidst the flaming debris. After Coleman's death MacDaniel informs Colonel Kirby of his demise, Provo observed the fact that Captain Coleman was due to return home the following day,
One day, Sergeant Muldoon, while supervising a group of U.S. Seabees clearing part of the jungle around the base camp and evacuating the civilians in preparation for a potential Viet Cong attack, notices an ARVN soldier pacing unusually outside the team house and mess hall and slugs him out. Upon interrogation by Captain Nim, the ARVN soldier denies being a Viet Cong spy, until Nim discovers a silver cigarette lighter in the ARVN soldier's possession, which belonged to a Green Beret medical specialist, a friend of Kirby's, recently murdered by the VC. After Beckworth sees Nim beat and torture the Viet Cong suspect to get a confession from him, he confronts Kirby about it. The Colonel justifies the interrogation by telling Beckworth about the cigarette lighter the Viet Cong suspect had, and how the VC are ruthless killers who deserve no protection of any kind in this new kind of war.
Another few days later, Beckworth accompanies Kirby and his team on a patrol to a local village in the nearby mountains. It is here that Beckworth changes his mind about the American involvement in the Vietnam war after witnessing the aftermath of a Viet Cong terror attack on a nearby Montagnard village in which the young granddaughter of the village Chief he had befriended earlier, as well as the Chief and most of the male villagers, are tortured and executed by the VC for cooperating with the Americans.
Another evening or so later, the Special Forces camp is attacked in a massed nighttime attack by thousands of enemy Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops. Kirby and Muldoon fly out to assess the situation. Their helicopter is shot down by enemy fire, but they are soon rescued by a patrol where they secure a field as an landing zone (LZ) for US and ARVN reinforcements as a 'Mike Force' to aid the besieged camp.
Meanwhile, the ferocious North Vietnamese Army attack upon the SF camp continues relentlessly. Beckworth is forced to take a rifle from a fallen ARVN sergeant and fights alongside the Green Berets as well as helping move the local villagers into the camp to protect them from the enemy onslaught.
As the battle rages, Ham Chunk's pet dog is killed and the young boy tearfully buries his faithful companion. Symbolically, the boy uses the stick he had used to dig the dog's grave as the tombstone. He is found by Petersen who takes him to safety with the other refugees. As ARVN soldiers rush to their defensive positions, the stick is knocked away, leaving an unmarked grave.
At this time, the perimeter of the camp is breached by enemy sappers who blow up holes in the barbed wire fences around the camp, and the Green Berets and ARVN soldiers are forced to fall back to the inner perimeter however, though the battle costs the lives of Lieutenant Sachs, Sergeant Sooby, and many are killed in the battle. Captain MacDaniel, (Seabee) Lieutenant Jamison, (Patrick Wayne), Sergeant Griffin (Chuck Roberson) are both wounded. Provo is mortally gunned down by double agents posing as South Vietnamese soldiers. Nim sets off the hidden explosives which kill the double agents. Parks is hit wounded badly but still alive. Just then, Kirby and Muldoon arrive with the Mike Force reinforcements, supported by a US airstrike in which A-1 Skyraiders drop napalm on the attacking enemy troops with little success. Nim is killed by enemy artillery as he is detonating claymore mines to kill more attacking enemy soldiers within the camp's lines.
By dawn, with the enemy attack still continuing, Kirby orders the troops to fall back and withdraw from the camp, which is then taken by the enemy. At a nearby LZ, more US Army helicopters arrive to evacuate the refugees and Petersen puts Ham Chuck on one of the helicopters and promises to return for him in Da Nang. With the base in VC/NVA hands, Kirby orders an airstrike by "Puff the Magic Dragon" (an AC-47 Spooky armed with three Vulcan Miniguns) on the camp, which kills the occupying Viet Cong troops. When the enemy departs, Kirby and his team re-occupy the destroyed camp.
Afterwords, Kirby has a talk with Beckworth where the reporter admits that he probably will be fired from the newspaper where he works for filing a story supporting US involvement in the war. He then thanks Kirby for the experience and returns to Da Nang with the Mike Force reinforcements. Jamison says that Provo is requesting Colonel Kirby's presence. However Provo starts to almost die of his wounds but tells Kirby to request for his memorial sign name to the public to be known as Provo Privy.
After that battle, Beckworth temporarily disappears from the story, while Kirby meets with his superior officer Colonel Morgan (Bruce Cabot) as well as Kirby's ARVN counterpart, Colonel Cai, where he is told about a top-secret mission they have been planning to kidnap a very important North Vietnamese field commander named General Pha Son Ti who is currently living in North Vietnam. The capture of General Ti is seen as a bargaining chip to ending the war on South Vietnam's terms as well as disrupt the leadership of the Viet Cong. Colonel Cai uses his sister-in-law, a top Vietnamese fashion model named Lin, as a honey trap to lure General Ti to a guarded former French colonial mansion located in a well guarded valley deep in North Vietnam.
Kirby, Muldoon, Peterson, and a handful of Green Berets, Montagnards (Degar), and ARVN soldiers are selected for this secret mission by Cai, who will be accompanying them. At nightfall, they are airlifted in a C-130 transport and parachuted into the North Vietnam jungle. After Kirby's point man, Kowalski, is killed by a patrol of local enemy militia, all of whom he kills single-highhandedly, the group continues on. Muldoon, the medical specialist Doc McGee, and two of Cai's men, are to stay behind at a local bridge over a river to set explosive to blow it up to prevent the team from being chased by the NVA forces.
At nightfall, Kirby and the group arrive outside the guarded plantation where they witness the enemy general arrive at his plantation with Lin. After Kirby and Cai and their men kill all the sentries around the mansion, they quietly enter, subdue the enemy general with Lin's help, and hoist him outside, where they put him in the trunk of his car. Kirby, Cai, Petersen, and Lin drive off, but Watson and the rest of the team is killed in a hail of bullets by the North Vietnamese guards while attempting to escape.
At dawn, the survivors drive over the bridge which is rigged with explosives, but Doc McGee is seriously wounded after being shot in the back by an NVA guard. The bridge is blown up and the group is reunited in the nearby woods where they dispose of the General's car and successfully airlift the captured General out of the area by a Skyhook device.
While Kirby and the group advance through the woods to the LZ for the helicopters to pick them up, Petersen is killed by an enemy booby-trap when he is gorily impaled on punji sticks. Kirby and his team are forced to leave his dead body behind.
Back at Da Nang Air Force base, Beckworth watches as Ham Chuck awaits the return of the helicopters carrying the survivors of the raid. He realizes the toll of the war as Ham Chuck runs crying from helicopter to helicopter, searching for Petersen, who is not there. Beckworth then accompanies a group of US soldiers who have arrived in the country and are sent to the war zone area. Kirby, in a touching moment, walks over to the boy and tells him the sad news. Ham Chuck asks plaintively, "What will happen to me now?" Kirby places Petersen's green beret on him and says, "You let me worry about that, Green Beret. You're what this thing's all about." The two walk holding hands along the beach into the sunset.

Tags: revenge, murder, violence

Review:
It's hard to find a Vietnam war movie that DOESN'T come full of distortions based on the film makers political agendas; it's just this time "The Green Berets" comes from the pro-involvement side.We've heard the negatives about this movie, and most of them are basically correct but there are a few things to say that, if not positive, put the movie in a less negative light.First, this isn't your usual piece about 19 year old conscripts being called up to fight in a war they don't understand.
Yes, the Duke is on the right wing campaign trail but other film makers have used the Vietnam war to promote the liberal left agenda so I don't get why that is acceptable and an alternative view that doesn't conform to that is inherently wrong.
I'm not advocating that the US's involvement in a war in Vietnam was right, just that people understand the involvement of other nations as well.For those who think this movie is bad because it doesn't depict American atrocities, drug taking and insubordination like other Vietnam war movies have merely bought into another set of falsehoods.
A lot of reviewers of this film seem to be more upset by the alleged leftist political views of those who dislike the movie, rather than taking a look at why this motion picture is, sadly, an embarrassing joke.Prior to the Tet Offensive, there was still a good deal of support for the Vietnam War in the USA.
It isn't its sloppy attention to detail (yeah, sorry previous posters, but the sun setting on the wrong side of the planet IS terrible film making, even if it is possible to see it that way in some portions of South Vietnam), it's the jingoistic simplicity of the film's entire approach and cardboard characterizations.You've got every form of tired, old stereotypical World War II soldier...
Nice acting by John Wayne , as usual , he was prompted to make the film as a response to the growing anti-Vietnam War movement in the US .
Actually , it was one of John Wayne's biggest box-office successes , attracting millions of moviegoers and ending up being the 13th highest grossing movie of 1968.Colorful cinematography in Panavision by Winton Hoch , filmed on location in Columbus, Georgia , and Ft. McClellen, Alabama .
"The Green Berets" clearly follows the genre of war movies for which John Wayne is famous.
It makes the same kind of social and political statement that John Wayne's World War II movies make.
Although "They Were Expendable" is a better film overall, "Green Berets" is also quite good, and both movies have a lot in common.They show the enemy as the enemy - vicious killers.And they show Americans as being flawed, but good & brave.They were both made *during* the war.Which means the outcome was unknown - would we win or lose?
In this context, the film is one I will never forget.John Wayne made this as a political film in an attempt to counter the rising tide of what he and others like him saw as treasonous protests against the government and the military over the conflict in Viet Nam. This horrid almost-war was tearing many families apart in controversy.
In this context, the film is one I will never forget.John Wayne made this as a political film in an attempt to counter the rising tide of what he and others like him saw as treasonous protests against the government and the military over the conflict in Viet Nam. This horrid almost-war was tearing many families apart in controversy.
And take a look at the based-on-true-stories movies "The Hanoi Hilton" and "The Killing Fields" to get an idea of how brutal the South-East Asian communists were to P.O.W.s and ordinary people."The Green Berets" also has some excellent battle sequences.
The only thing wrong with this movie was that John Wayne's character, COL Kirby, was not Ranger qualified.Forget the trite lines and poor special effects.
True of The Alamo and true of The Green Berets.The Duke's problem was simply that he made a World War II film about Vietnam.
I well remember when The Green Berets first came out, Renata Adler wrote an absolutely hysterical review of it, cursing out the film and its producer/star every name in the book in that well known paper that only prints news fit to print.Even World War II films as well as Vietnam ones done now have the value of some historical perspective if they're done now.
Pro-Vietnam War. Probably the only major motion picture to actively support the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict, John Wayne leads an elite team of Green Berets on a search-and-destroy mission to capture a leading NVA general.
It just happens, as if it were undertaken in the next few days.While I have versions of "Apocalypse Now" and its "Redux," I do not have other Vietnam war movies such as "Platoon" (an aberration), "The Deer Hunter" (preposterous), "Hamburger Hill" (stumbling) or "Full Metal Jacket" (another aberration), although I have subjected myself to having watched them all at one time or another.I watch "The Green Berets" for another chance to get mad at Maltin and other speculators who were not out there and do not understand at all.
It was John Wayne and the Green Berets was Hollywood's first depiction of our most controversial war when it was still being fought (the movie was released the same year as the Tet Offensive).
The film has been to overly picked on for decades.It is not a masterpiece.The jungle looks not like Vietnam.The helicoptor shot is horrible for se at this time in history.It stands out horriblely.John Wayne gives a good performace in the film.The plot is centered on the green berets fight to protect a few camps and mission.The film has a few good actors.I love Sergant Mulldoon's fighting spirt.He is the sarge.The politics may seem a bit jaded.At the time of the film,we had not lost or left vietnam.See it in the context of the time....
Even if you don't like the politics in the movie, I think you can still enjoy it as an action/war film.One final thing about the movie.
The movie critics enjoy making fun of the final scene where John Wayne and the Vietnamese boy walk on the beach as the sun sets in the east.
i havent seen many john wayne movies but the only reason i saw this one is because my grandpa and i were talking about his time in the war.
Apocalypse now, the Deer hunter, Platoon, etc., (you know the ones) are just a few of the movies that ignored the barbarism of both the Viet Cong and Khamer rouge in indo-china, conveniently overlook the global political realities of the time as well as unfairly mock the military.Years later, the Green Berets actually offer a different viewpoint.
Left wing film reviewers worth what they are: nothing :-) And don't call me a redneck, I'm French.Thank goodness there were actors like The Duke.Great movie.
time.In honor of John Wayne, it is my third favorite movie about the Vietnam War.This movie is neither as bad as credit given to it, or as good as it could have been.It is really a JW western set in Vietnam and that is fine.
Where the conventional warfare military leaders thought that European land battle tactics could win an Asian war.The special forces then and of today got the message...the cold war wasn't the true war, it was the war of the flea being waged in south America, east europe, asia, and Africa.Enjoy the movie for what it is...Wayne's unashamed tribute to a new breed of American soldier...the special operator.
Chances are if you can walk and keep your sex life reasonably private like GOP Congressmen and mega church preachers try to, they will have you.To its benefit, "The Green Berets" is no more or less a distortion of the Vietnam War than most Hollywood efforts at telling the "truth" about that conflict; it's just that its hyped, gung ho and pro-war distortion is politically incorrect.
This enigmatic, forgotten man who performed the ballad on probably every "flyover country" variety show from Jimmy Dean to Ed Sullivan while the novelty lasted actually merits his own biopic movie."The Green Berets" is so riveting as a Vietnam movie, and as cultural history, because it is such a curiously misplaced and relentlessly absorbing mind candy variation of all those upbeat, thrilling, and overblown Frank Sinatra, Trever Howard, Alec Guinness (and John Wayne) World War II adventure movies that preceded it.
Produced it through his son, co-directed it, and starred in it.Don't blame John entirely for hapless production values either, such as the scrubby pine barrens of south Alabama and Georgia military reservations subbing for the defoliated bush of "Country." He wanted to film it in Country, just like Mankiewicz had partially done a decade earlier for "The Quiet American," but the U.
Perhaps if it actually had been shot on location a little reality might have seeped in by mistake, or maybe things were just too hot in Southeast Asia in '68 even for a John Wayne who finally wanted to do some morale boosting duty in a real war zone.It doesn't matter.
It presented a very interesting, emotional, and heartfelt view of the Viet Nam war from the perspective of a Green Beret played by legendary action film star, John Wayne, as well as a young Vietnamese boy.
I enjoy it because a) John Wayne is still one of the greats and b) the film portrays a good storyline and excellent action..
Had Wayne instead chosen to make this a WWII film about American special operatives then it would undoubtedly be a highly regarded and classic war film.With a neat cast and characters, especially Jim Hutton who I'd suggest was perfect for his role, 'The Green Berets' I would also suggest shows pretty accurately, the make up, doctrine and activities of U.S. Special Forces at the time; more experienced professional soldiers with specialised skills and training including in linguistics, medicine and the like, able to live alongside and amongst indigenous peoples and help to win their 'hearts and minds' and providing humanitarian and medical assistance as well as recruiting and training local militias.This film showcases who those guys are and what they do to an audience many of whom would have (both at that time in the 60's and now) very little idea about that sort of thing.
Of course it's not perfect and maybe some of the Green Berets are a little too old, carry their rifles funny and walk far too close together when in the bush, but it's a John Wayne movie (and one of my favourites).
By making this movie in the midst of The Vietnam war John Wayne proved he was man of courage and principle.Despite the growing anti-war moment in the US at the time, Wayne had the courage to make a film that stood up for and defended the troops fighting communism in Asia.
(I say "fair" not to down grade Janssen's acting ability but because it is hard to believe a reporter could have a conscience or a sense of patriotism!) It is great to see George Takei having a role outside of "Star Trek" and he turns in a great performance as Captain Nim, South Vietnam's version of Wayne.With its super battle scenes and typical war film dramatics, the movie is easy entertainment.
The film was an opportunity to see Wayne in a fresh venue, and for many fans that alone is reason enough to see the film.Just a great little film that had the nerve to look at both side of the Vietnam question and give the answers that Hollywood didn't want to hear, and he did it while the war was still going on!In his own words he did this one "for the boys over there, who answered their country's call and their families that have to wait here watching the garbage said about them on TV."This one is still for the Boys!
Having lived through that time (men of my generation served), John Wayne's commentary on the media and the war effects at home were "deja vu all over again." We hear the same thing about Iraqi people being unworthy of the effort, etc.
The film is in two parts the first showing what life is like living under constant attack,the second involves a dangerous mission.The film captures the tension of a war zone and the difficulty of knowing which side some of the soldiers are on,treacherous acts are never far away.The film shows the hatred of the south  for the north which John Wayne looks disaprovingly on.The cast includes the typical USA sgt played by Aldo Ray,the tragi/comedy part of the scrounger played by Jim Hutton and the kindly Doc. The village ransacked by the vietcong is movingly done and the battle scenes very well done and quite violent for the movies release date,so watch this movie and leave your prejuidices aside and you will be gripped by it.8/10.
The Best and Most Accurate Movie About the Vietnam War. While most of Hollywood was out trashing the United States for coming out against Communism, a few directors and actors had the courage to come out against such a mindset and they were able to escape the liberal censors and ground out a few projects, including "Red Nightmare," the "Rambo" trilogy, and..."The Green Berets." The main star, John Wayne, supported the war and expressed his support for it freely in this movie and it had very little effect on his reputation.
I don't know if John Wayne thought he was doing his country a service by making this film or if he even knew that at the time it was in production the KIA of Americans in Viet Nam was already at 20,000+.
If you were to ask me I would say it was made purely for propaganda reasons cause at this time in the war things were not going well, and who else to up the image of Viet Nam than John Wayne.
Great Object Lesson On Why We Didn't Come Out On Top. Seriously, if you ever need a demonstration on why the US Military did not "prevail" in Vietnam dig out THE GREEN BERETS with John Wayne.
On one plane of consideration it may be the best depiction of the way the war was being fought, which in this case was like a glorified version of THE ALAMO or FORT APACHE.Once you get down to brass tacks this is just another large scale war movie -- You've got John Wayne swaggering around, larger than life, the lovable Hamchunk with his even more lovable doggie pal, the misfit "Scrounger" with his bottles of Scotch and designer pajamas, Mr. Sulu from "Star Trek" aping an uncompromising ARVN officer who rigs his own troops' foxholes with explosives under the anticipation of them turning traitor, a goofy kid who's dying wish is to have a toilet named after him, and so on.
The problem is of course that Vietnam was it's own war and the tone of the film's 1950s era flag waving glory boy jingoistic pap comes off as nothing short of absurd, replete with wonderfully boneheaded touches like forests of Georgia blue pines, southern boy extras made up to play Charlie who nonetheless still look like good ole' boys, and even a closing shot of the sun setting over the Sea of China.
After Vietnam war was depicted with a kind of gloomy, introspective sense of guilt that is completely absent from Wayne's vision.That's because it didn't exist yet when this film was made, and you can't fault a movie for being true to it's times even when the ones that came after it may have resonated with the current cultural gestalt.
The much maligned "The Green Berets" was John Wayne's pro Viet Nam war statement.
The Green Berets is a great John Wayne film!
The one where the sun sets in the east.The Green Berets is certainly the least film in the John Wayne canon..
Ah well, what do you want with sets as fake as Hollywood backdrops and lines that drop like wood in an empty auditorium.You cant even call this a movie about Vietnam, its a John Wayne war movie that is set in the jungles of California.
(Unfortunately this young Marine veteran committed suicide a few years later, and I never knew if the war was a factor in his early death.)  As far as the film is concerned, the history is flawed, the storyline is well intentioned but too simple, and frankly you could have substituted the Old West and Native Americans as the enemy, and the same story could have been used.Now at age 50, and with a young family friend in the Green Berets deployed overseas, I have a different take on this movie.
Don't get me wrong I really wanted to like this movie, as I like John Wayne, and I appreciate this sort of film.
The film is actually two consecutive stories, the first following Col. Kirby (Wayne) as he prepares & deploys his Special Forces "teams" (as if the Army had taken to viewing war as nothing more than The Big Game) to Vietnam.
John Wayne always stood tall politically for American values during good times and bad.
John Wayne was seeking to make a film that would be an exciting action movie and that would win support for the war.
John Wayne picks two "A-teams" of green berets for a special mission into South Vietnam.
I'm sorry, but John Wayne's view of America ended after the mid-1960's and this film was totally out of step with the times.By the way, WE LOST IN VIETNAM!!!.
John Wayne set out to make a film depicting the "real" Vietnam based on a book.
Please believe me that I generally love John Wayne films--just not poorly made ones like this one.The plot is very pro-Vietnam War and this didn't really bother me.