Hamburger Hill

Starring: Anthony Barrile, Don Cheadle, Dylan McDermott, Michael Patrick Boatman, Michael Dolan, Don James, M.A. Nickles, Courtney B. Vance, Tim Quill
Directed by: Jon Irvin
Rating: R
Genre: War, Drama, Action
1987

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Tells the story of an American force that spent 10 days trying to take a hill in Vietnam, resulting in massive casualties.

Review:

Tim: This movie is so focused on being "real" and realistic that it forgets that it is a movie and its primary goal is to entertain. On this front, it fails miserably. It has a good story to tell, but it gets lost in the confusion. We have a hard time identifying with any of the characters, so we don't really care when they die. I desperately wish the movie tried to be less realistic and more entertaining.

Dylan McDermott is pretty good. He doesn't exactly inspire, but he's pretty enjoyable to watch. Don Cheadle is interesting to see in a smaller role. Most of the credit should go to Courtney B. Vance and Tim Quill (who is far better than you first realize).

The film's strongest points are the portrayal of life for soliders in Vietnam. Especially powerful are the racial tensions and attitudes that threaten to tear the division apart at any time. This is where the film is more effective.

The whole Hamburger Hill climax is surprisingly boring. By this point, we've lost patience with the movie. The taking-the-hill battle is too long, drawn out, and uninspiring. This is what the entire film is building towards, and it drops the ball. The movie ends in ridiculous fashion.

There are much, much better Vietnam War movies, and I wholeheartedly recommend going elsewhere to check out war movies. There were trade offs made, and Hamburger Hill got the short end of them all. Go watch Platoon.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, We Were Soliders, Forrest Gump, The Thin Red Line