Absolutely Brilliant!

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

In 1954 the French lost the war to keep their Indochina colonies and those colonies became North and South Vietnam . Then the North aided a rebellion in the South and the US sent in Military Advisers to help South Vietnam fight the communist . In 1964 the war in Vietnam was still a little one , confused and far away . There a tough veteran Major , But Lancaster , is ordered to establish a garrison at Muc Wa with a platoon of burned out soldiers and Vietnamese Mercenaries . But some soldiers start to wonder : What we are doing over there.Moving Vietnam war movie set in 1964 , it is a strong , provoking vision of the conflict . A tough view of the early Vietnam war that is provided in all terrible , bloody and violent detail . Blundering and a little boring war film , but politically interesting pre-dating the flood of the eighties , plenty of patriotic , jingoist , apologetic Vietnam pictures . As we watch the violent events , slaughters , crossfires and atrocities in Vietnam . The bloody ending reflects the bitterness and disillusion felt by most Americans . Based on Daniel Ford novel titled ¨Incident at Muc Wa¨ , it describes a pretty honest portrayal of America's early days in Vietnam . Including a realist and thought-provoking dialog and dealing with foreign intervention in Vietnam . Burt Lancaster gives nice interpretation as the hard-boiled Major who faces himself the combat . Remaining cast is pretty well , shining in adequate acting , such as : Craig Wasson , David Clennon , Jonathan Goldsmith , James Hong , and Mark Singer's film debut , among others . Atmospheric cinematography by Harry Stradling Jr , though a perfect remastering being necessary . Inappropriate setting , in fact , the film was not shot in Asia at all but filmed in California , USA with Vietnamese migrants to America portraying the Vietcong . The motion picture was compelling and professionally directed by Ted Post who directed to Clint Eastwood in ¨Magnum force¨ , ¨Hang'em high¨ and Chuck Norris in ¨Good guys wear black¨ . Post made all kinds of genres as SciFi : ¨Beneath of the planet of apes¨, ¨Harrard experiment¨ , as Thriller : ¨Nightkill¨, ¨The baby¨ and Western : ¨Yuma¨ , ¨Stagecoach¨.

"Go Tell The Spartans" gives the audience a pretty compelling look at the U.S. in Vietnam in 1964, before things escalated considerably. It shows how U.S. forces were unprepared for this particular military operation, and shows that perhaps the U.S. should never have got involved. The acting is good, and the characters are interesting.I did have some quibbles with the movie, however:(1) Because the movie was made independently (probably because Vietnam was still a hot potato with major Hollywood studios), the movie comes across as impoverished in a number of aspects. Also, southern California simply does not look like Vietnam.(2) Like just about any other movie dealing with Vietnam, the movie is very one-sided with its arguments. I'm not saying that the argument that the U.S. should have never got involved is without legitimacy - I'm saying that the Vietnam was was a very complex war. The movie fails to mention what the South Vietnam people thought of the U.S. helping them, nor does it mention how brutal the North Vietnam forces were to both opposing soldiers as well as civilians. (If the North Vietnamese were not so bad, why were there thousands of boat people fleeing Vietnam at the end of the war? Something to think about.) Anyway, I think a more balanced viewpoint would have made the movie more interesting as well as accurate.

As one who served as an MACV adviser (1965) and later in the infantry in Vietnam (1966), I can only echo those that say this is the best Vietnam film ever made. The cast is excellent. Johnathan Goldsmith was right on with his burnt out NCO portrayal. The overall tone of the film was perfect. This film had no political ax to grind and showed the situation we found ourselves in on a daily basis. No other film about Vietnam comes close to the truth as this one does. Burt Lancaster's best performance since "7 Days in May". Ted Post was never given the credit he richly deserves for his direction. Craig Wasson showed what a "rookie" was up against being thrown into an overwhelming spot. Everyone looked the part of a MACV adviser. I can speak to that from the position of: "Been there, done that, got the T shirt"

Compared with many war films that covered America's involvement with Vietnam, "Go Tell the Spartans' didn't set the world alight due to its very understated style and low-scale resources, but because of centering towards a steady character/situation driven story, it remained an thoughtfully harrowing and toughly grim account showing that there were no heroes, or anything to gain from this war. Leading the way is the commanding presence of Burt Lancaster's inspired performance barking out his dialogue, but holding a truly genuine rapport with his mainly unprepared soldiers. He's not in it for pride, as his knows this isn't the place for it.Vietnam, 1964. American forces haven't been fully deployed into the Vietnamese jungles yet, but Major Asa Barker is assigned to set up a barricade at an abandoned post at Muc Wa (where 10 years earlier 302 French soldiers were massacred by the Viet Cong), but at his disposal is only a few American soldiers and ragtag bunch of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers. Soon making there presence known, the motley crew come up against overwhelming odds to hold the barricade.Directed by Ted Post (who noticeably helm Clint Eastwood in 'Hang Em' High' and 'Magnum Force'... plus made the weird horror 'The Baby'), it's tautly handled in very candid, no-frills way. This forthrightly grounded touch, lend it to having some almost TV-like qualities (like the mechanical camera-work and spotty editing) but on the other hand it gave it true grit and an imitate cloud that stamped in a realistically raw air. This meant the dramas (psychological/psychical) while there (and this is a fairly laborious and talkative film confronting the issues of war and politics), were never overdone or overly milked, but still having enough kick to leave an impression. I read some complaints about it being flat or lacking emotion… but I thought it did enough questioning the naïve involvement (doubts outweighing the for) and the state of mind of their soldiers (looking at misguided obligations). Wendell Mayes' hardened script (who adapted the screenplay from Daniel Ford's 'Incident at Muc Wa') is precisely stimulating in its text be it personal or tactical, but also worked in is some welcoming humor. Outside of Lancaster, there are solidly humane and rounded performances from the cast in the likes of David Clennon, Jonathan Goldsmith, Joe Unger, Dennis Howard, Dennis Howard, Craig Wasson, Dolph Sweet, James Hong and Marc Singer. The literary is heavy, but the roughly rampaging action (intense firefights) might only be minor, still it's staged with excellent ferocity and alertness that it becomes like a disorienting blur (definitely the night sequences) amongst the harshly authentic surrounding terrain. You can feel its setting itself up for a big one, and when it happens the 'you know what' really hit's the fan. Despite the cheap origins 'Go Tell The Spartans' is an accomplished effort deserving a lot more merit, both meaningful and scathing without being pushy in its text, but also visuals.