Go Tell the Spartans
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Movie Reviews of Go Tell the Spartans
Movie Review: Hard to find movies
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this movie a long time ago and I was wondering if I could find it in dvd format which Amazon made it possible. Thanks Amazon.Movie Review: Region 2 in Widescreen Format
Summary: 5 Stars
This DVD is available in widescreen format in Region 2 via Amazon.co.Uk. Quality is good.Movie Review: Death of Illusion
Summary: 4 Stars
Based on the fine novel INCIDENT AT MUC WA by Daniel Ford, here is a gem of a war movie; full of insights, barbs, politics, exciting battle scenes, and caustic wit. Burt Lancaster played Maj. Asa Barker, a 30 year career officer, long ago adjusted to being assigned to "garbage details"--after a disastrous incident, a youthful and macho escapade, left him vulnerable and in need of being "punished" for the rest of his career. His terrific one-liners and anti-hero weariness initially created a kind of M.A.S.H. environment, whereby it seemed that all the foul-up in the U.S. Army was sent to his outfit. But in no time the film shifts its serio-comic aspects into a grim primer about the price of arrogance and ignorance strutting around in some else's country.
A young Marc Singer, fresh from his theatrical triumph as Petrucio at ACT San Francisco, played Capt. Olivetti -a very brash second-in-command who felt that "a little combat" put him on the fast track for career advancements. The delicious scene between him and Lancaster, as Maj. Barker explained why "after 30 years and a bucket of medals" he was still a major is priceless; a real high point to be added to Lancaster's lexicon of great scenes in great films.
Craig Wasson played Cpl.Courcey, a draftee who "volunteered for combat", who felt the need to reach out to the people, the villagers, until he was disastrously betrayed by his own naiveté -having to accept the fact that no one was trustworthy, not women or children. Jonathan Goldsmith, a very good actor who spent most of his career doing television roles, shined as Sgt. Oleonowski. For a time, his take-charge non-com saved everyone's bacon, until the terrible ghosts of his past and PTSD caught up with him and pulverized him emotionally first into lethargy and then into suicide. Goldsmith's character stole every scene he was in. We wanted to see more of this sergeant, and to let this character have more focus; like a shining story within a story. In just a few brief scenes it was obvious that his back story was very clear to this actor.
Dolph Sweet was Gen. Harnitz, who was determined that by God no Americans would ever face the humiliating defeats that the French had experienced. We watch as America's great mistakes in Southeast Asia were planted as seeds of hubris, underestimating the enemy, and attempting to fight a conventional war against guerillas -against an indigent population who had fought all their lives, first against the Japanese, then the Chinese, the French, and now the ugly Americans.
The movie was directed by Ted Post, a veteran TV director from the golden age of television who did not graduate to feature films until the 60's; but he never had the verve or style of say a Robert Altman, John Frankenheimer, or Sydney Pollack. His directing on GO TELL THE SPARTANS (1978) was a bit lackluster at best. Some of his earlier efforts included HANG `EM HIGH (1968), BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES (1970), and MAGNUM FORCE (1973). He did have a good but uninspired cinematographer, Harry Stradling Jr., and with a modest budget, a brilliant script, and a powerhouse cast, Ted Post gave use a very good military film that paved the way for other anti-war films to follow it. One of my favorites was HBO's A BRIGHT SHINING LIE (1998) with Bill Paxton.
Movie Review: Powerful Vietnam film set in 1964
Summary: 4 Stars
Go Tell the Spartans is an excellent war picture about a topic not often dealt with in movies, the American involvement in Vietnam in the early 1960s. In 1964, Major Asa Barker is an American advisor at Advisory Group 7 in Penang. He receives orders to send out a garrison for an abandoned outpost that has little to no strategic value. When the outpost as Muc Wa comes under heavy attack by the Viet Cong, Barker must deal with some unexpected problems that he did not see coming. This is not the most well-known movie about Vietnam, maybe because of the topic, but it is an excellent movie telling the story of the American advisors in Vietnam before a significant number of American troops became involved in the conflict. The cast is excellent, the battle scenes are not epic but are very well choreographed, and you really get a sense of what the situation in Vietnam in 1964 was like for these American advisors. And for $8.99, what can you lose?
Burt Lancaster is the lone "big name" in Go Tell the Spartans as Maj. Asa Barker, the American advisor who must keep command of understaffed and underequipped outposts in Vietnam. Lancaster, who was 65 when this was released, brings a sort of world-weary to this role as his character is a veteran of both WWII and Korea. Some of the other "advisors" include Craig Wasson as Cpl. Courcey, the idealistic draftee, Jonathan Goldsmith as Sgt. Oleonowski, the frazzled but experienced vet, Marc Singer as Capt. Olivetti, Barker's executive officer, Joe Unger as Lt. Hamilton, the inexperienced and once again idealistic officer, and Dennis Howard as Cpl. Abe Lincoln, the medic. The movie also stars Evan Kim as Cowboy Nguyen, the Vietnamese scout, John Megna as Ackley, the radioman, David Clennon, Hilly Hicks, and Dolph Sweet. The DVD features the movie in its standard presentation, pan-n-scan, and a trailer, so you're not getting much extras-wise, but the movie is pretty cheap anyways. So for an excellent anti-war Vietnam movie set in 1964 with a great performance from Burt Lancaster, check out Go Tell the Spartans!
Movie Review: Spartans Were Not There!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is not a bad war film. I have to confess I am not much of Vietnam interest person. I tend to be more interested in conflicts from other periods and times. I think Vietnam is a byword that is still over-used in this country. Other nations have sustained for worse set-backs in their history and have gott'en over it without all the agony that this conflict still seems to have on us. Perhaps it is because we have not matured as a nation as much, nor is our history as long and bloody as others.
Nonetheless, this is still a pretty good film for what is is. The film concentrates on the early years of US involvement in Southeast Asia. Burt Lancaster leads a mixed outfit of US advisors and rag-tag volunteers agaisnt the Cong. The film shows how haphazzard operations were in that early stage of the war. Politics and senseless operations were already beginning to rear their ugly head. The movie shows a lot of the prejudice that US personnel harbored toward a people and conflict they little understood. This would certainly be considered not politically correct today! Also the brutality of Vietminese toward each other is amply shown. This was a Civil War as much as a war of idealogies. Burt Lancaster and his crew of misfits are eventually overwhelmed at the desolute sounding place of mud-huts called Muc Wu. The film seems based losely on a historical event.
The Spartan quote I think it somewhat mis-used, but the niaveness of the US personnel thinking they could do better than the French before them is amusing. In the end, even with all our firepower and might, we would lose more men and resources than the French! This film shows the beginnings of that tragedy that would ruin much of the social fabric of this country at the time. We are still suffering from it. Some will no doubt make comparisons to Iraq of course! Well worth a look.