15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Accurate and funny Vietnam War movie, from Disney., December 10, 1999
The movie is extremely accurate in its depiction of a US Army Special Forces by-the-book Captain, Ray Liotta, coming to a strategic hamlet in Vietnam to relieve his predecessor, Danny Glover. The movie is entertaining but at the same time accurate in many of the details about this time and war that the rest of Hollywood as chosen to ignore. To Hollywood there is no humor in the Vietnam War, except to deride and satirize the sacrifice of those that served there. Danny Glover is excellent as the SF officer who has served his time, but doesn't want to leave his second family. Ray Liotta gives an excellent performance as the new guy on the block who has his own view of how things should work. Even the performance of Dennis Leary is surprisingly controlled, compared to his other performances. The story concerns how these two American officers conspire to get a replacement elephant for the village, which views it as a good luck charm, after their own elephant is killed. The Americans try every trick in the book, and some not in the book, to get an elephant to this village. The story is a true one, although the elephant was not parachuted into the village as depicted in the movie. The villagers are not Hindu, as a previous reviewer claimed. They are Buddhist, with a strange smattering of animism, as were so many Nung tribesmen in that region. There is very little bad language, no overt violence, no gore, and no sex scenes. The movie tells a simple story of kindness, and heroism during wartime, which is seldom seen in theatres anymore.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
No subtitles??, September 19, 2004
The version I saw in theater had subtitles for what the Viet Cong were saying. Due to the film being in Full Screen scan and pan the subtitles for the Vietnamese is missing, so you're missing out on 25-50% of the story of what's going on. Additionally you miss the final comment by the VC soldier, which was funny. It's still a great movie, but Disney really screwed this release up by not reformatting the subtitle to fit the full frame edition they stuck it in.
** EDIT** Had English subtitles on, so the Vietnamese wasn't shown as it loaded thru the captions. I leave my rating at 3 due to no Widescreen version or special features worth mentioning though. It wasn't a bad movie, it deserves a better DVD treatment, esp from a company like Disney.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best jump scene ever!, July 20, 2003
What do you get when you combine:
- a near-retirement, throw-away-the-book officer that has been stationed in the middle of nowhere with no supervision and only Vietnamese for friends for years
- a hardcore airborne officer that goes strictly by the book
- a nearing ETS soldier who's scared out of his shoes that he will be killed just before he catches the freedom bird
- an Iowa farm boy that left the farm to get away from those doggone animals ... animals that never did like him
- a fast-talking romeo-type acquisitions officer
- a cantankerous female elephant
- a Vietnamese boy whose only remaining friend is a cantankerous female elephant
and send the group on a cross country journey through enemy territory?
You get a Walt Disney classic that will have you feeling every possible emotion. I have seen this movie hundreds of times and still end up in tears when I watch it. It is hilarious. Oddly enough, it is based on an actual true event. Only the 101st Airborne would do something like this.
This has my favorite parachuting scene. When they drop Botat out of the plane, her static line has been severed by a bullet and does not pull her chute. Geez, the next couple of minutes will stick with you for the rest of your life!
The casting was absolutely perfect. Each person played his role to the max! This is the movie that really brought Ray Liotta to our attention. Playing opposite Danny Glover was the ideal combination. They really rock in this movie.
Get this one for the entire family to enjoy! Also order the soundtrack. Once you see the movcie, you will picture Botat in the back of that old truck every time you hear "Hang On Sloopy" and you will see the flying adventure when you hear "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher." Order both today.
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