Hamburger Hill DVD

Advantages: Realistic depiction of war, plenty of action
Disadvantages: A bit slow in places, very graphic violence

Hamburger Hill is the supposedly poor cousin of the two highly acclaimed Vietnam War films, Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. While the latter two films were released to critical acclaim, Hamburger Hill received a somewhat mixed reaction from the press. Hamburger Hill is directed by John Irvin and was released in 1987 and unlike the other two films is based around an actual battle that occurred during the war. The film follows the fortunes of the 101st ...
...commanders during the war. Hamburger Hill aims to retell the story of the battle and highlight the ferocity of the fighting that took place during those ten days. The film starts with a group of soldiers bogged down in the A Shau Valley, (the area where the hill is located) and under heavy enemy fire they are forced to retreat back to their camp. The camp is then the setting for the first half of the film and we are shown how the American soldiers ... Read review

Advantages: Realism,great scenes,action packed.
Disadvantages: makes you think to hard!

...a song in the film Hamburger Hill) I spent the afternoon today watching one of my husbands "war" movies, not my choice I can tell you! I can quite honestly say that I have not been affected by a film in the way Hamburger Hill has affected me. Directed by John Irvin and set in May 1969, the film is about a company of brave soldiers from the 101st Airborne Divison fighting a war in Vietnam, a war that many protested to, a war where many young lives ...
...lives lost, it was re-named Hamburger Hill. This film portray's the brutality of war, you can in a sense feel the fright of these men, the horror and the sadness. From the start of this film I was gripped, you see the lads splashing around in a river having fun, people relaxing, then a split second later they are ambushed and a bloody assult ensues. The scene that I found most disturbing was when they had been on Hamburger Hill for some of the ... Read review

Advantages: Reality of War.
Disadvantages: Not for the squemish.

...control of this hill, nicknamed Hamburger Hill, is cruel, dirty and dramatic. The film centres on one platoon that has been given the task of leading the assault on this hill. Many of the platoon members are killed or injured and some the make-up effects are totally realistic, when limbs are missing or parts of bodies are blown up. This certainly is not a film for the squeamish. Time after time the platoon attempts to fight it’s way up to the ...
...fall back to their base at the bottom of the hill. During the time in between attacks there is some excellent dialog between the team members and this reflects the feelings that the American soldiers had for each other, depending upon race, wealth, education or background. There is dissent, hate and jealousy that at times leads to high tension, but all this disappears when the platoon works together during each attack. There is also a reflection ... Read review

Advantages: Unique portrayal and mature filmmaking
Disadvantages: Lacks universally appealing sub-plots and can aliente audience

...Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Hamburger Hill during 1986/7, I feel that this is definitely the most under-rated film of the Hollywood Vietnam films. There's a lot going for it, especially the realism that isn't afraid to portray ordinary AND spectacular events with purely diegetic sound. I like the way that the film provides no answers, and it deals with the race problem in the US army like no other film. The film can be a little gory at times, ... Read review