Good Morning, Vietnam (Special Edition)
by Barry Levinson
List Price:
Our Price: $5.83
You Save: $9.12 (61%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.65 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bruno Kirby, Chintara Sukapatana, Forest Whitaker, Robin Williams, Tung Thanh TranDirector: Barry Levinson
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Cinematographer: Peter Sova
Editor: Stu Linder
Producer: Ben Moses
Producer: Harry Benn
Producer: Larry Brezner
Producer: Mark Johnson
Writer: Mitch Markowitz
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 121 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-10
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Product features:
- Academy Award(R)-winner Robin Williams shakes up 1965 Saigon in the role critics agree he was born to play -- irreverent, nonconformist deejay Adrian Cronauer. Imported by the Army for an early a.m. radio show, Cronauer blasts the formerly staid, sanitized airwaves with a constant barrage of rapid-fire humor and the hottest hits from back home. The G.I.s love him -- but the brass is up in arms! Ri
Movie Reviews of Good Morning, Vietnam (Special Edition)
Movie Review: One of the funniest and most thought-provoking films made.
Summary: 5 Stars
Beware the Spoilers.
"Good Morning, Vietnam" is a wonderful movie. From start to finish, you never doubt that it is set in 1965 Saigon, with the Vietnam War not yet at the pitch it reached with the 1968 Tet Offensive, but definitely heading in that direction. The unconventional, hopelessly unmilitary Airman Adrian Cronauer, fresh out of Crete "With women that look like Zorba", gets off an airliner and is greeted by the seemingly perpetually-happy PFC Eddie Garlick, who never stops calling Cronaeur "Sir" even though the Air Force radio DJ has no rank whatsoever. Assigned to AFRS- Armed Forces Radio Saigon- Cronauer rides in a M151 MUTT through Saigon's crowded streets. The ride is entertaining even before it begins: PFC Garlick forgets the MUTT is already running and tries to start it, causing it to emit a noise everyone, car fan or not, will surely dread. Airman Cronauer meets one of his soon-to-be-coworkers at AFRS over the radio before he meets him in person. Dan "The Man" Levitan, a friendly but appallingly bland radio jockey, rambles on as Garlick drives. A dismayed Cronauer remarks, "That guy's as boring as whale ****." It is an act of true kindness on Cronauer's part that he never tells Levitan this in person. We soon meet the rest of the AFRS staff, some of whom are enthusiastic, others indifferent, and still others hostile to Airman Cronauer's arrival. Chief among the last bunch is Sergeant Major "Where is this man's paperwork?" Dickerson, who was allegedly shot in the *** while on a combat patrol. Dickerson hates Cronauer with increasing passion and outright glee as the film goes on, despising his politics and finding nothing funny about anything he says. The station censors, two unnnamed twin sergeants played by Don R. and Don E. Stanton, are the indifferent crowd. All each of them says in greeting to Cronauer is a nod, a blank look, and eventually, "Hiya." I found one of Cronauer's remarks about their jobs quite funny- "Oh, yes! Censor, censor, censor! Join the Army and mark things!" Soon, we find Cronauer going on air for the first time. There is a moment of uncertain silence. We in the audience are uncertain, the listeners, the staff, even Cronauer himself seem unsure of what will happen next. Then he cuts loose with a joyous cry of "Gooooooood morning, Vietnam!" and nothing is ever the same again.
Airman Cronauer is hated by the bureaucrats and loved by the soldiers for the same reason- his manner is totally unconventional, entirely unpredictable, and he starts a wonderful tradition of busting the bureaucracy's rules by tossing the bland music selections aside and blasting across the airwaves with modern rock and roll. The first song he hits us with is the magnificent "Nowhere To Run" by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas. Yes! Going off the air, Cronauer spots one of the pretty Vietnamese girls he saw on his ride to the station earlier. He buys a bike with metal wheels and chases her across Saigon, leaving the hapless and distressed PFC Garlick to attempt to keep up. Seeing her go into an English class, Cronauer wonders what he can do to meet her. Garlick insists there is nothing that will work, that the cultural differences between Americans and Vietnamese are simply too much. But being the happy-go-lucky soul he is, Cronauer goes for it anyway. But what does he do? He walks into the class and buys it from the Army sergeant already teaching. His equally unconventional and hilarious way of teaching the class provides some of the greatest scenes in the movie. His first conversation with the class is this- "First thing I'd like to know is, what subject this is." A kindly middle-aged Vietnamese woman puts her hand up. "Is it English?" "Yes it is, thank you so much for playing!" It is after the class that we are introduced to Trinh and her brother, Tuan. The relationship he attempts to create with Trinh, and the friendship he does create with Tuan, are immensely influential in deciding the outcome of his tour in Saigon.
This movie is hilarious- just about knocked me dead when I first saw it. But there is far more depth to it than if it were simply a comedy. It has very sad and thought-provoking moments as well as happy ones, and does not shy away from the senseless horrors of war. More and more, it appears that Vietnam is a world gone mad, and that the insane folks are the ones who make the rules.
The degree to which SGM Dickerson loathes Airman Cronauer becomes apparent later on, when he has Cronauer kicked off the air after he violates regulations and reports on a bombing at Jimmy Wah's bar. Cronauer yells that Dickerson just wants everyone to think everything is fine in Vietnam when the opposite is true, and that the war is a couple of blocks away at most. Dickerson bellows that it is none of his blankety-blank business and replaces him with the horribly bland LT Steven Hauk. Cronauer is soon back on the air, to the tune of thousands of letters and calls from furious and bewildered GI's, who cannot stand to hear Hauk's awful comedy routine and the polka music he insists on choosing over rock and roll. The scene in which Hauk is fired as a radio DJ is one of the most significant in the movie, and has a surprisingly touching line from Hauk. Deeply hurt by Brigadier General Taylor's declaration that Cronauer is better at comedy than he is and *will* be reinstated, LT Hauk salutes and says, "Sir, in my heart I know I'm funny." Dickerson, still carrying on his vendetta against Cronauer, vows "This is not over yet." as he leaves. Dickerson sends Cronauer and Garlick into an area he knows is VC-controlled, hoping to get them killed, and only the intervention of Tuan prevents this. But even then it's not over- upon his return to AFRS studios, Cronauer meets with a gloating, triumphant SGM Dickerson, who gleefully informs Cronauer that he is gone. The reason? Tuan is not who he claims. He is a VC terrorist, responsible for many bombings in Saigon, including Jimmy Wah's. He was able to rescue Cronauer and Garlick because the guys hunting them were his friends. Dickerson has Cronauer beaten at last, but even then the Airman has the last laugh- he delivers one of the funniest lines I've ever heard in farewell to the good Sergeant Major, and as Dickerson pursues he is stopped by General Taylor. Why? Taylor, who has always loved Cronauer and is deeply sorry to see him leave, though mercifully with an honorable discharge, has at last had enough of Dickerson's unrelenting seriousness and hostility, and informs him that he, too is gone- SGM Dickerson, who had once boasted of his talent at sending people he hates to places they never even knew the Army had personnel in, is going to Guam.
Cronauer's confrontation with 'Tuan', his final softball game with his English class, and the goodbye he and Trinh give one another are beautiful. He leaves PFC Garlick, who has taken over his post as radio DJ, with one last broadcast, and tells him to take care of himself. Garlick readily acknowledges that playing the broadcast could get him in trouble. Having learned from Cronauer and become increasingly bold and outgoing through the course of the film, he says that Trouble is now his new middle name.
"Good Morning, Vietnam" is everything it promises and so much more- it makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you think about many things, and in the end, if you appreciate the movie as I did, you will walk away loving it. This is as good a film on the Vietnam War as any, and one I highly recommend.
"'scuse me, sir. Seeing how the former VP is such a VIP, shouldn't we keep the PC on the QT, 'cause if it leaks to the VC, he could end up an MIA and then we'd all be put on KP." Genius.
Summary of Good Morning, Vietnam (Special Edition)
GOOD MORNING VIETNAM SPECIAL EDITION - DVD MovieSimilar DVD Movies
Mr. Holland's OpusBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 1999-08-24; DVD
Best price: $3.85
Price in other shops:
Born on the Fourth of July (Special Edition)UNI DIST CORP. (MCA); Release date: 2004-10-19; DVD
Best price: $4.86
Price in other shops:
Platoon (Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2001-06-05; DVD
Best price: $5.50
Price in other shops:
The Fisher KingIMG; Release date: 2010-12-07; DVD
Best price: $4.46
Price in other shops:
JackBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2004-08-03; DVD
Best price: $3.61
Price in other shops:
Good Morning Vietnam: The Original Motion Picture SoundtrackRelease date: 1989-10-20; Music CD
Best price: $3.86
Price in other shops:
Dead Poets SocietyBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 1998-11-10; DVD
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
Air America (Special Edition)Lions Gate; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $4.33
Price in other shops:
Hamburger Hill (20th Anniversary Edition)Lions Gate; Release date: 2008-05-20; DVD
Best price: $6.24
Price in other shops:
Patch Adams - Collector's EditionUniversal Studios; Release date: 2002-06-11; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops: