Typical Hollywood Action Potboiler

I dislike Mel Gibson as a person and as an actor so I passed on this movie when it was released. Just recently a couple of friends talked me into watching it and asking questions about Vietnam.

I saw this as a pretty typical Hollywood war movie of the type made in the 50's. Although it portrayed a real battle it did not come very close to depicting what actually happens in close-up battles in the hills and brush of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It was more along the lines of all those Korean War movies where hordes of Chinese swoop down on outnumbered Allied troops or WWII movies featuring Japanese Banzai charges. I am not aware that happened in Vietnam.

There was also the Hollywood gore aplenty which is also somewhat unrealistic but a real battle probably doesn't make for exciting theater-going. Suffice to say that if the NVA had that many skilled shooters getting all those neck shots the war would have ended much earlier. I am also unsure where they got the idea for that NVA command post. While the NVA did dig tunnels they tended to be very small in size and were not capable of holding a full-fledged command post.

My dad and his two brothers were all in WWII and said in years afterward that Hollywood could not realistically capture the full effects of battle.

As a Vietnam vet I can concur.