Customer Reviews

The Hanoi Hilton

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was in the Air Force during the war and have over 100 combat missions. This is the most accurate presentation of the war that is available. It is a story that needed telling and still needs to be told. It describes the situation of the American prisoners in Vietnam in an accurate and truthfull manner. Everyone should see it.

The Hanoi Hilton angered a lot of reviewers upon its 1987 release. The New Republic launched its exceptionally vicious review of the film by calling it "filth." Other reviewers howled in protest by calling the film "one-sided," "virulent," and so forth.

Such reviews only confirm James Bowman's point about the idiotic film Kids, namely that the movie reviewing community consists of the most gullible people in the world, people who would never think to challenge the assumptions they want to see confirmed in the movies they review.

It confirms this point because what the denunciations of The Hanoi Hilton really reflect is the film's commitment to truth.

The film is about Hoa Lo prison, one of the most brutal POW prisons in history. North Vietnam not only tortured and killed prisoners, it used them as propaganda tools, and enlisted the aid of Westerners to spread disinformation about Hanoi and its war aims.

The film captures such disinformation actions in two crucial scenes; early on, an Australian TV journalist (based on the real life journalist Wilfred Burchette, who aided Communist forces all over the world and participated in the torture of American pilots in both Korea and Vietnam) openly in league with the Communists does a piece on a prisoner who steadfastly refuses to go along with the colossal fraud being permeated about Communist benevolence. The Aussie gripes at the prison commandant (Aki Akeong) about the POW's uncooperative attitude.

Later, an American film actress and her husband (based on Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden) greet the POWs and ask them to sign an apology "to the women and children you bombed." Of course they did no such thing, and tell her off on it.

Nonetheless she wins the release of a few prisoners, much to the contempt of almost all of them. This is one of the film's major themes; one goes, we all go, as is repeatedly told by the POWs to the prison commandant.

Eventually the POWs are released upon the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, and celebrate having outlasted the enemy as they take off for freedom.

The film's superb cast, tremendous attention to detail (the sets were built through extensive consultatition with men who were imprisoned in Hoa Lo), and Lionel Chetwynd's flawless direction make for a chilling story.

This movie shows what terrrible hardships these prisoners had to endure. I had the priviladge to talk to one of the wives of these heros and she confirmed a lot of events shown in this movie. Also stated that she was not allowed to even mention that her husband was shot down for six-months. Tell her that this movie was "too long and over emotional"!! Most americans just did not want to face reality during this sad time in our Country's history. I was there during 1966-1968 and in Sigon 1970.

I intially saw this at the movies when first released. AT THAT TIME I felt this was a very graphic and powerful movie. One reason I had enjoyed it so much was because of Senator John McCain, tho' not mentioned by name in the movie (he is listed in the credits as being a "guest for 5-1/2 years." It's powerful to me how these regular guys perform these courageous patriotic acts without a second thought. It proves people become heroes from their circumstances and abilities to hold true to beliefs of our democratic principles. This is a must see just for the history of the era. To see Jane Fonda doing what she felt was right to our veterans upholding and protecting our values as a free Nation.

One lonely conservative voice has been trying to shout out from the "wilderness" for years. Lionel Chetwynd is a writer/producer who made "The Hanoi Hilton", which actually described the North Vietnamese as the evil torturers they were. The "Hilton" was the moniker given the infamous prison camp where American POW's were kept while Jane Fonda was flirting with our enemies. Liberal film reviewers criticized it. Do not believe them. It is good stuff.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM

This is a testament of everything that is good, great, heroic, of our country and God.

These POW's are saints and patriots. I am proud to call them my inspiration.

GBU, flyer!

This is a moving and unforgettable movie. You will never feel the same about your life and the lives of those who survived the Hanoi Hilton. If you watch only one movie about Viet Nam this should be it, you will be proud to be an American.

I remember watching this film when it first came out about 20 years ago. It was a powerful film about a group of people who have never really been honored for the sacrifices they endured for their country. The political agenda driving Hollywood made it into a small film that not many people got a chance to see. It seems like nothing much has changed in 20 years. Why is this film only going to be made available on November 11th? Does it have anything to do with the fact that there is an election going to happen in this country the week previous to that? Perhaps the powers that be don't want Americans to see a powerful representation of the experiences of one of the candidates. Especially if that candidate is the one that Hollywood has aligned itself against. I find it hard to believe that there is no stock of this product anywhere that can be tapped before November 11th. Way to go Amazon.

The Hanoi Hilton is a chilling video that gives an inside look into what it was like to be a PoW. They didn't allow you to talk, the silence speaks of the many tortures they went through. The lack of dialogue makes you look between the lines and hear what isn't said. There are no right sides in war, the movie wasn't about how horrible the North Vietnamese were, it is about the conditions of war in general and that place in particular. In case no one noticed, the torture became worse after the Cubans became involved.

War is ugly, and the people who end up running things do ugly things on both sides. This is a haunting film that tells us just one part of what the Vietnam War was like. If you think its an attack on anyone, or not enough dialogue, you are missing the point. The point was very well made in this film...try listening harder to the silence between the lines.

I think that this the best Vietnam War film ever made since The Green Berets. What I like about this movie is that it explains about the subject of American Prisoners of War in Vietnam. The film depicted the harsh reality of the suffering and torture that was inflicted on them in these prisoner of war camps. I really enjoyed this film.