MovieChat Forums > Good Morning, Vietnam (1988) Discussion > Attention all posters! I need your help ...

Attention all posters! I need your help to resolve a disagreement.......

posted 20 years ago by mitchmitchell
77 replies | jump to latest

Okay, here it is.

I am of the opinion that this movie is not a Vietnam movie, but my colleague disagrees with me.

His point is that it is a Vietnam movie because A: It has Vietnam in the title and B: it's set in Vietnam.

My point is that it's not a Vietnam Movie because, well, it's just not. It's a Love Story, that is set in vietnam, but is not actually a Vietnam Movie.

If someone says that last night they saw a Vietnam Movie, you wouldn't ask them if they saw this movie, you'd probably ask if they watched 'Platoon' or 'Apocalypse now' or even 'full metal jacket'.

Anyone see what I'm saying here? A Vietnam movie is about a guy or a couple of guys who get thrown into the darkest, deepest, world of hell you could ever imagine. They shoot a couple of people, get into more trouble, smoke some ciggarettes, shoot some more people, wade through water with guns held high, get bitten by a snake, get drunk, get laid, get their legs blown off, shoot some more people and by the end of the movie - they have changed their perspective on life, war and Jimi Hendrix.

THAT'S a vietnam movie.

Not some DJ chasing after a girl, cracking jokes.

Ay, don't get me wrong, Robin Williams is a great actor an' all, but this is no Vietnam Movie!

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Okay, all I need is a few good posters, to agree or disagree, be as detailed as you like, but this argument needs resolving FAST.

Thanking you all in advance,

MM

[–] RobBase086-1 15 years ago

It is a Vietnam movie set in the backgrounds of not on the front lines. It is suppose to be based upon a real story that actually happened.

Dedicated to USA UP ALL NIGHT and the fans of the show! www.deefilmroll.com/usa-uan/

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jgrayson_au 13 years ago

It's an American movie based in the Vietnam war and is a comedy love story drama.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nightmisc 12 years ago

9 Years of posts. Wonder if the disagreement was solved as of yet? :)

I have not read the comments but I think the hang up was simply the type of movie that it is. It is not an action movie but is a movie about the country during the 'police action' in country.

And although a lot of focus was on romance there was also the view of the underlying drug trade (free flow to US troops), the way soldiers were 'protected' from language/drinking,etc even though they could lost their lives at any time, etc. Also a great deal of political directly and indirectly inserted into movie.

[–] oregon-5 12 years ago

Seeing how the OP, mitchmitchell, hasn't responded in 5 1/2 years, I doubt we will get an update on his opinion. I will throw my vote for "its a Vietnam movie" How can it not be.

Not every film has to centered around being 'in country'. The humor that Robin brought to the film certainly made it more mainstream. Sure, the romance never happened, but thats Hollywood for you.

[–] mitchmitchell 11 years ago

I totally won the argument btw, thanks for the contributions though.

MARVIN
"Man, I don't even have an opinion"

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] meLazlo1953 9 years ago

If you said this is "not a Vietnam war movie" that would be a little clearer - this is most definitely a Vietnam movie, but the war is somewhat incidental.

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It's all in the reflexes!

[–] Kawada_Kira 9 years ago

It is a Vietnam movie because it's specifically set in the US occupation of Vietnam. Not just in Vietnam the place, but in Vietnam the war, and almost all of the main characters are involved in the war in one way or another. Not necessarily shooting, but as he was technically a soldier, and he was in Vietnam during the occupation, and he was running a radio show specifically targeted at the occupying soldiers in Vietnam (and the goal of that show was essentially to keep morale up and thereby aid the war effort, as Taylor makes quite clear), Robin Williams' character was involved in the Vietnam War. Trinh is the only main character who just happens to be there and isn't involved in the war.