24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Someone Finally Got it Right...., April 9, 2005
This review is from: 84 Charlie Mopic [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I am 57 years old.
I served with the "Brown Water" Navy for 32 months on the Bassac River, RVN from 1968-1972.
After watching nearly every "Hollywood Hokey" Vietnam Movie, I had almost given up on anyone producing a true representation of what small unit combat in Vietnam was like.
Then...I saw 84 Charlie Mopic.
Technically, there are many operational and tactical flaws in the film that immediately stand out. Crossing open clearings single file...lack of noise discipline, both small talk and loose gear...not maintaining intervals...the presence of non combat personnel on a combat patrol...and many others. Had the movie minimized these tactical flaws, I would have rated it a perfect 5 stars.
However,these flaws aside...no other Vietnam movie has grabbed me in the gut and in 15 minutes transported me back in country as this movie did.
The characters and conversations are so real and so typical of conversations I recall with my buddies and crew, that I felt I had known each of them during my tour.
The monologue of the Southern "woodworker's son", when he explained why he had no reservation being led by a black NCO...ESPECIALLY touched me. It left a lump in my throat...because these were the same sentiments I felt toward several men in my crew. Skin color was NOT an issue. I would have given my life for any one of them...then or today.
It was THIS sense of brotherhood, of loyalty, of commitment that was correctly demonstrated by this film and why ANYONE who did serve would appreciate it's content... and why anyone who wasn't there, should see it.
This film should be required viewing in every public high school today.
I wish someone would offer it on DVD.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
84 Charlie MoPic great complement to The Things They Carried, March 29, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: 84 Charlie Mopic [VHS] (VHS Tape)
When I taught high school English Literature I showed "84 Charlie MoPic" to students as a visual complement to the novel "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. The film works great with the novel because there are things/ideas that you can identify in the film that are discussed in the book (e.g., some of the superstitions of soldiers).
When I first saw MoPic I had tuned into a PBS airing after it had already started and believed it was actual footage for most of the film. I would try to replicate the feeling (and in a way pay homage to the film maker's efforts at versimilitude) by starting the film with the number countdown and deflecting their questions about "is this real?" until our subsequent discussion.
I highly recommend both "84 Charlie MoPic" and "The Things They Carried" individually and paired together.
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36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Realistic, but with tactical flaws, August 16, 2002
This review is from: 84 Charlie Mopic [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I was an Army Lieutenant in Vietnam many years ago. I first saw this program by tuning in too late to get the preliminaries that told that it was a work of fiction. I took it to be a documentary. As the story progressed I got a severe case of the shakes from reliving some of the situations depicted in the story. One thing that made it realistic was the casting. The actors and the behavior of the characters are just like the people I was responsible for in Vietnam. As the story progressed, I got another set of reactions. The patrol was making tactical mistakes that would get them killed and I was powerless to help them. Eventually about half of the soldiers get killed on a two day patrol.
Later I purchased the video and watched it again. It then became obvious that the tactical mistakes were intentional in order to raise the viewers' terror of danger. For instance, you NEVER use a loud speaker on a tactical radio in the bush. The sound gives your position away. You ALWAYS have the patrol members take turns staying awake at night. You NEVER cross a clearing in single file. You line up everyone parallel to the clearing and go across together. You NEVER allow untrained people, such as a film crew, out on a patrol when there is going to be contact with the enemy. You NEVER go on the trails or roads. That is where the enemy expects you to be and arranges for an ambush. You NEVER stand up when you can sit down. This makes you harder to see. You NEVER stand in a clearing when you can stand in vegetation. This also makes you harder to see. (The Monty Python sketch about how not to be seen is a good training aid for this.)
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