Gardens of Stone

Plot synopsis:
A hardened Korean and Vietnam War veteran, Sergeant Clell Hazard (James Caan) would rather be an instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, to train soldiers for Vietnam but instead he is assigned by the Army to the 1st battalion 3d Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at Fort Myer, Virginia.
The Old Guard is U.S. Army's Honor Guard. It provides the ceremonial honor guard for the funerals of fallen soldiers and guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Hazard calls them the "toy soldiers" and hates his job until Jackie Willow (D. B. Sweeney), the son of an old friend and fellow veteran, is assigned to his platoon and he sees an opportunity to make sure at least one man comes home alive.
Hazard tries to warn Willow about Vietnam but the young man sees it as his duty as a soldier to fight for his country, no matter what kind of war. Hazard hates how the war in Vietnam is being fought and feels that good soldiers are being wounded and killed in the "wrong" war in which the U.S. is not fighting to win.
Among the others in Hazard's life are his longtime friend and superior, Sergeant Major "Goody" Nelson (James Earl Jones), and his girlfriend Samantha Davis (Anjelica Huston), a writer for the Washington Post who is against the Vietnam War for different reasons.
Willow marries a Colonel's daughter named Rachel Feld (Mary Stuart Masterson). Rachel at first refuses to marry Jackie as long as he is a soldier. Rachel also hates the war in Vietnam and is afraid for her husband.
Hazard is divorced and hasn't seen his son in years due to the bitter divorce. After Willow's father, who is a retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant and a former Korean War comrade in arms of Hazard's as well Sgt. Major Nelson's, dies of a heart attack, Hazard comes to look upon Willow as a "son." He tries to teach Willow all he can about soldiering and surviving in combat.
Willow in turn tries to teach his platoon mate Private Albert Wildman, a chronic screw-up, how to be a soldier. Wildman is later ordered to Vietnam, where he distinguishes himself as a heroic soldier and effective combat infantryman. He returns from Vietnam promoted to the rank of Sergeant and is a recipient of the Medal of Honor for heroism in combat. Sgt. Flanagan (Larry Fishburne), a fellow member of Sgt. Hazard's platoon, receives his orders for Vietnam at the same time.
Willow excels, is promoted to the rank of Sergeant and then is recommended to attend Officer's Candidate School, which he completes and is commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He is ordered to serve in a combat unit in Vietnam. Willow writes Hazard from Vietnam about all the good men in his platoon that he is losing in combat. Hazard then finds out that Jack Willow has been killed in action when he sees the burial orders for Jackie's remains at Arlington National Cemetery while on duty with the "Old Guard" at Fort Myer.
Hazard requests to be sent to Vietnam for his third tour of duty as a platoon sergeant in a combat infantry unit. He places his C.I.B. Combat Infantryman Badge, on Willow's flag-draped coffin at the chapel at Arlington National Cemetery. Jackie had aspired to serve in combat and receive his own C.I.B., just like his late father had in Korea. Wildman and Flanagan, at that time sergeants and just recently returned from Vietnam, are also present at Willow's funeral.
The film ends with military honors being rendered at Willow's graveside at Arlington and Hazard speaking to the mourners prior to the firing of the rifle salute and the playing of "Taps".

Tags: anti war

Review:
Military Life and the Prize of the War. In the late 60s, during the Vietnam War, the idealistic soldier Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney) arrives at Fort Meyer expecting to go to the Academy and then to the Vietnam War. Jackie is the son of a veteran sergeant and soon he becomes the protégé of the former friends of his father, Sergeant Clell Hazard (James Caan) and Sergeant Major 'Goody' Nelson (James Earl Jones).Jackie is promoted and gets married with his childhood friend Rachel Feld (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Hazard and Goody convince their superior, Captain Homer Thomas (Dean Stockwell), to recommend Jackie to the Academy.
He is promoted to lieutenant and asks to go to the Vietnam, returning to the Arlington National Cemetery."Gardens of Stone" is another movie by Francis Coppola (without Ford) about the military life and the prize of the Vietnam War, after one of his masterpieces, "Apocalypse Now".
The cinematography is magnificent and the cast is top-notch, and it is so good to see the actors, like James Caan, James Earl Jones and Dean Stockwell still young and actresses, like Anjelica Huston and Mary Stuart Masterson, charming and beautiful.
My son said " Coppola did a superb  job of following military protocol  to make the film as real as possible "  The story line is so right on.
I thought the movie was very moving, lacking in nothing .It was  tragic that Coppola's son was killed in a boating accident while out with Ryan Oneal's son during  the making of this excellent movie.As you can tell I'm not a professional writer,  but I just had to say something  about how good this film is.
This is a great movie and it makes a very interesting pairing with Apocalypse Now to achieve Coppola's complete take on the Vietnam war.
While Apocalypse Now was a surrealistic view of the front lines and insanity of war, Gardens of Stone is pulls no punches with a realistic portrayal of the home front, which presented its own type of warfare during Vietnam.
This movie is little-watched compared to Coppola's other Viet Nam movie, "Apocalypse Now", which is unfortunate, because it's a gem.
Instead, like "The Persians", it considers the war through its effects on those at home, and does a generally excellent job.It is particularly good at showing the view from inside the military "family", both of that life in general, and the effects of Viet Nam in particular.
James Caan and James Earl Jones (the latter especially) turn in fine performances as veteran non-coms (the backbone of any army).
One reviewer condemned D.B. Sweeney's portrayal of the young gung-ho recruit Willow because he sounded as if he were reading his line from cue cards - which rather misses the point, which is that because the green Willow doesn't know what it's really like, the slogans he repeats inevitably sound tinny and false.Despite a few flaws (e.g. Mary Stuart Masterton's character is rather under-developed, and a few scenes are clangers), overall this is one of the greatest of all Viet Nam movies..
The movie has a great cast that includes James Caan, Anjelica Huston, James Earl Jones, Dean Stockwell and several more people.
Caan plays a solider who fought in Korea and Vietnam but is now in charge of Arlington national Cemetery and wants to train young soldiers going into Vietnam but is turned down.
It's a really great movie that is one of Coppola's best films..
War in general, and particularly the Vietnam War, is an issue which required socially conscious and intellectual rumination...This was a story about the home front, and how the overzealous, and wet behind the ears soldier wanted to get involved...Hovering around the travesty of the TET Offensive, oblivion to what was actually happening on the other side of the ocean, made acts such as combat, and grenades carried by four year old Vietnamese girls, just a little more glamorous!!
This film allows the moviegoer to look at things through the eyes of the entire military rank and file involved in the Vietnam War!!
The bulk of this film focuses on the development of a soldier, the anxious fortitude he possessed to serve his nation...While protesters balked at what they believed our government was doing was wrong, the military men and women were doing what they thought was right...THUS THEY SHOULD BE COMMENDED FOR IT!!
If a soldier loses his life in combat, he is cast away in Arlington National Cemetery to THE GARDENS OF STONE...Bear in mind that a soldier has a different perspective as to whether or not a soldier's life was lost for no reason whatsoever!!
There's turmoil...A young men wants to serve his country...he gets killed!!!...Underneath it all, all of the characters in the movie are hit with the bittersweet reality that they are only human and they make mistakes..Their patriotism to the cause of War by way of contributing to the military was something they thought was in the best interest of their nation!!
There are other Americans who even believe that we should get involved in a war merely for purposes of strengthening our national resolve..."Gardens of Stone" is a film which brilliantly delegates tragedy, and appropriates anger..When a young soldier is killed in Vietnam in the line of duty, the reactions of the characters in the movie are not derivative, nor is there just an obligatory deference, rather, there is a heart felt empathy and sorrow for the loss of a picture book example of a soldier as well as a man!!
The issue that the Vietnam War was a miserable tragic error, and the issue that the Military must execute their duties to defend the honor and integrity of her nation, are dichotomous!!!
Tremendous acting performances make "Gardens of Stone" a movie worth watching...Especially if you are in the mood to just be a human being!!
Francis Ford Coppola captures the sentiments of the time in this grossly underrated movie.
When I think of Vietnam movies, I immediately think of Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, The Deer Hunter, Casualties of War...
Both movies show the Vietnam war, without actually showing a lot of action.
It's more about the families and friends that are left behind and about the soldiers that once served in Vietnam and came back as a completely different person.While The Deer Hunter is one of my all time favorites, I can't say the same about Gardens of Stone.
He doesn't want to do that job, he wants to go where the real action is, he wants to be in Vietnam harvesting honor and medals, which eventually will really happen to him, but at a certain cost.Although I expected more from this movie, I have to say that I liked it.
Thanks to the real action footage incorporated in the movie, the good acting by all the actors and the interesting story, this movie was certainly worth a watch.
Those who fought in Vietnam had a very different experience.As a 66-year old history teacher, and an infantryman in the 1950's and a protestor in the 1960's, I feel this superb movie captures the true trauma of that war for America as a whole better than any other movie on the war which I have seen.
James Caan's best role - and perhaps James Earl Jones'.This movie captures the honor, and the tragedy, and the pain, of the professional soldier..
After 'Apocalypse Now', it's hard to believe that this film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola with such sensitivity.
Truly a testament that in many ways demonstrates that Coppola is one of film's greatest directors.This film shows the lives of many different people and their backgrounds in opposing the Vietnam war.
James Caan is a military officer working as a home guard at Arlington National Cemetery during the casualties of America's most tragic conflict.
D.B. Sweeney and Mary Stuart Masterson are great as the younger and more naive observers of the times.Part documentary style, part sentiment and all inclusive drama showcase its impact in a more sedated manner than most other films dealing with its subject but worth a look as an alternative..
Sergeant Major Goody Nelson (James Earl Jones) and wife Betty Rae set up Hazard with anti-war Washington Post reporter Samantha Davis (Anjelica Huston).
So caught up in the glory and demoralization, the film loses the family aspect (example: Mary Stuart Masterson plays a cardboard and generic character.
Perhaps detached from the *war* but not from the *soldiers*.James Caan and James Earl Jones saved this film from utter disrepair.
They made this film a hell of a lot better than it deserves to be (kind of like what Charles Dutton did to Alien 3...or what Morgan Freeman did for Kiss the Girls...) And James Earl Jones is especially good, because, as always, he plays a character that is *very* different from what would be expected from him.
He's truly one of the few diverse character actors around ('To the guys like us...Damn few left!!')Look for an unfortunately small role by Laurence Fishburne (reminiscent of Apocalypse Now...) and a *very* young Elias Koteas, and even *younger* Casey Siemazsko.Overall: The potential was there, but, as always, Coppola is a very up and down director, and this is not one of his better efforts.
The film was filled with stereotype characters; the dedicated lifer who needs to train "his boys" so they can survive the war in Viet-Nam: the soldier with two left hands who ends up winning the medal of honor: the journalist who is a hippie jack-ass: and the hero who is hated by his father-in-law, yet marries his daughter, but gets killed in Viet-Nam. As is typical in almost every Hollywood movie about the military, 99% of it is pure bull.
James Caan was his typical angry, hot headed, over emotional character that he played in most of his movies.
Gardens of Stone is the second film Francis Ford Coppola has made about the Vietnam War, after 1979's Apocalypse Now. This movie is unfairly compared to Apocalypse Now, but the films are totally different.
This film focuses more on the home front and the feelings Americans felt about the war.
The film is also a romance film and I liked the main romance between the sergeant and the reporter, but the romance played between the two kids seem a tad underdeveloped.Coppola's film is about a battle-hardened sergeant who is an opponent of the Vietnam War and is desired to save the lives of soldiers sent abroad, but is continuously denied doing so.
James Earl Jones is as always excellent as Caan's best friend.
D.B Sweeney was solid in his role, but I felt Mary Stuart Masteron's character could have been a little more developed.Overall, Gardens of Stone is a solid movie about the Vietnam War and the conflict it brought to the home front.
The proposal of Coppola was show this anti war picture under two different chains of thinking,the first one around US Army perspective where the soldiers must to defend own country in any menace situation that's means whatever will be such menace they'll get ready to fight wherever the place,in other hand as James Caan's character such thing are unacceptable starting of point of view that the Army should be maintened to defent against foreign's powers which put the USA under attack only,then the main subject about these two kind of understanding are in clash,Caan has another convincing acting like always,he don't stay alone acctually he has been accompanied by James Earl Jones, Dean Stockwell and Anjelica Huston,in time D.
It's Dec. 4, 2005 and I've just watched "Gardens of Stone" on T.V. The importance of this movie is impossible to rate as it specifically addresses the absolutely critical and horribly unfortunate issue of our collective ability to forget.
It's hard to imagine a better setting for a home front reflection on the horror of Vietnam, half a world away, but any war film so far removed from the battleground runs a risk of being too remote and detached, which is exactly what happens here.
War is seen from the perspective of those who stay at home: two officers, young soldiers, left-wing journalists.
Of course, America is a nation that has been engaged in more conflicts than most other nations in the past half-century and, while that isn't intended as a criticism, it does perhaps provide the key to America's seemingly endless fascination with the arena of war in all its guises.Coppola's return to the theme of the Vietnam war is as different from its predecessor as any two films with the same backdrop can be.
The story of Gardens of Stone takes place in America, amongst the soldiers detailed to bury the bodies that are shipped back to Arlington National Cemetery from the scene of the conflict with monotonous and terrifying regularity.
B. Sweeney) who is incredibly one-dimensional for a film that is attempting to offer an insight into the mentality of the soldier away from the battlefield at a time of war.
James Caan, in his first movie role for five years, makes good use of a much stronger role as Sgt. Clell Hazard, the experienced soldier frustrated by the impotence of his position, who believes he should be fighting in the field or at least training youngsters on how to stay alive out there instead of burying them when they come back.
Both he and James Earl Jones in another good part, display a healthily jaundiced view of the war.
At a time when Vietnam films were all the rage, Coppola is to be applauded for choosing a different  but no less relevant  perspective, but any message he may have wished to deliver is hopelessly weakened by a mediocre script and uninvolving storyline..
Anjelica Huston in a rather controlled, understated role is also interesting as Caan's love interest and anti-war reporter.
Lonette McKee who was so good in Coppola's Cottin Club is wasted in this flick as James Earl Jones wife though Jones uses his famous voice particularly well in this movie.
The movie itself is a brilliant overview of naivety of war versus the reality, powerful performances so deep and moving and having the real life parents of Mary Stuart makes all the difference in the reality of the movie.
This movie's score, written by Carmine Coppola (Francis Ford's father) and is beautiful, lyrical, understated and very unusual for a military themed film.
Mostly a movie on how war affects those at home, especially during times of tragedy, and the relationships involved.
Francis Ford Coppola, who gave us three of the greatest movies in history - Apocalypse Now, The Godfather and The Godfather II - plus the excellent The Conversation, is not in his best form here.
Best performances come from the old hands - James Caan and James Earl Jones - who give the movie gravitas and feeling.Anjelica Huston is unconvincing and touch irritating in her role.Interesting to see that real-life father and daughter Peter Masterson and Mary Stuart Masterson play father and daughter in the movie.Worth watching for Francis Ford Coppola fans but not a must-see otherwise..
A fine film with a different perspective on Vietnam.
Caan tries to make her see his point, that he doesn't love the war, but has the knowledge hat could save some of the men who have to fight it.DB Sweeny has some fine moments as the young soldier who is itching to be in the middle of the war.
The other huge difference is that "nothing happens" in the play in a fun and entertaining way, while the film...doesn't.James Caan tries very hard playing a military man, but he looks and sounds like James Caan wearing a uniform.
I guess (and I found myself guessing at a lot of the deeper meaning of some of the dialogue and scenes), it is to show that Caan is a soldier who has seen too much war, is in a place he doesn't want to be in (burying young dead soldier's whose sacrifice is scorned) when he would rather be fighting, and is surrounded a nation hostile to the war and the soldiers who fight it.However, if Coppola wanted to present that, he should have presented it differently than this.
The effect of the scene is to make us either want to call a cop and have him taken away, or to get the hell away from him to avoid brushing into him accidentally and having the same thing happen to us.In the end, Caan tells his peace activist girlfriend that he has decided to sign on for another tour of duty as an "errand of mercy" to try to save more young lives from being senselessly wasted.The movie ends shortly thereafter, with Caan saluting a dead soldier's coffin at a funeral.But let's back up here for a moment to the poignant moment when Caan tells Huston he is going back to 'Nam, to save young men's lives.Caan knows this is a losing war.
He would be seen as a traitor to the military of course, but he would be speaking his mind, truthfully, (as he has privately to his girlfriend and his friend James Earl Jones), could testify before Congress, and could join the cause to end the war.
I don't know why Francis Ford Coppola thought he had to make another film about Vietnam after he had made the best possible with "Apocalypse Now", but with this film he definitely destroys a part of his reputation as being critical about the United States' role in the war.
It all seems as if Coppola would use the dead soldiers' bodies or Anjelica Huston's role as an excuse for saying: "Hey, I know that maybe not everything was alright, but you have to do what your country asks you to." This movie is so obsessed with the military and tries so hard not to decide whether it's for or against the war, that it doesn't even notice, that it already has decided with its blind patriotism and denunciation of the peace movement.