Uriah43
This movie takes place during the early stages of the Vietnam War with an American military adviser named "Major Asa Barker" (Burt Lancaster) receiving orders to reoccupy an abandoned French garrison in the vicinity of a small deserted village called Muc Wa. Although he sees no strategic value in establishing a garrison there--and expresses his concern that this will only encourage the Viet Cong to begin operations in that particular location--his words fall on deaf ears and he is forced to comply with these orders. To make matters even more difficult, the only soldiers Major Barker can allocate to that area are a couple of newly assigned personnel along with a few ARVN troops and a handful of Vietnamese mercenaries. In any case, just as he feared, once the soldiers get to Muc Wa they begin to attract VC attention to the extent that it now becomes a major focal point of the current war climate and things go downhill from there. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, unlike "The Green Berets" made ten years earlier, this film essentially adopted a more left-wing sentiment which was shared by other films of this type for the next few years. But for what it's worth, regardless of the political bias, the realism portrayed in this movie was rather impressive and for that reason I have rated this film accordingly. Above average.
arma_dillo1
This film came out the year before 'Apocalypse Now', and possibly that's one reason why it's not so well known today, having been pushed out of the limelight by Coppola's monstrosity which set a disappointing trend for later Vietnam films. They became immersed in 'pop culture' (as another reviewer here notes) rather than having any historical or dramatic interest; 'Apocalypse Now', 'Platoon', 'Full Metal Jacket', etc., despite their respective claims to be hard-hitting, uncompromising, gritty dramas, etc. etc., are just glamour-fests that tend at times to degenerate into little more than music videos. This film doesn't have their glitz, and it certainly has its own faults, but on the whole it's more thought-provoking and interesting. The early-war (indeed, technically, 'pre-war') setting allows for reflection on just what a mess the Americans were gradually getting themselves sucked into, and its effects on the officers and soldiers who were sent out into the jungle without being told quite what they were actually supposed to be doing there.
filmjunkie101
Director Ted Post is incredibly talented when it comes to telling the audience a captivating story. His characters are believable and he helps create one of Burt Lancaster's finest performances. The story is told in a very entertaining and well-paced fashion while sustaining a feeling of tension. This film never received the attention it deserved when originally released. It's really worth your while and I hope when people see it in a video store they'll consider giving it a chance. It is definitely one of the most realistic and gripping accounts of the war in Vietnam. Ted Post proves to be a very talented director especially in the way he directs his actors. He manages to get great performances out of his entire cast (not only some of the stars). I highly recommend this film and hope that more people will appreciate the way I do.
hokeybutt
GO TELL THE SPARTANS (3 outta 5 stars)Not a bad movie... depicting the early days of the conflict in Vietnam and how it affected the American troops... but there are so many other *better* movies about that particular war that this one seems kind of lackluster in comparison. Still, it provides a nice, more modern role for screen icon Burt Lancaster (it is quite a shock to hear him liberally spouting profanity) and I've always liked Craig Wasson, who plays the new addition to Lancaster's group of battle-weary soldiers. Wasson is the green kid, still full of good intentions and the desire to win the hearts and minds of the people who actually have to live in that war-torn country... but over the course of the movie his altruism is put through the wringer. Lancaster has a great monologue about why he never became a general... which is probably the highlight of the movie. Other than the language, the movie kind of has the look and feel of a made-for-TV movie from the period... there is little of the style or flair that seems to enliven most other 'Nam movies... but it does get the job done. War movie buffs will love this... if you hate war movies... you might want to pass.
AD
