Customer Reviews

Tribes [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

TRIBES belongs to a little-known sub-genre of 'The young man goes off to war' movie, best exemplified by Jack Webb in THE DI. Unlike THE DI, which has stood the test of time as the prototype of all such movies, TRIBES now is seen as a curious period piece in which a hippie is drafted into the US Marines and finds himself squarely opposed by the short-haired establishment symbolized by a marine drill instructor, superbly played by Darren McGavin. Jan-Michael Vincent plays Adrian, the hippie. Much of this movie plays like a rerun of THE DI. There is the hard-as-nails DI breaking down the recruits only to rebuild them into the sanctioned image of gung-ho marines. Early in the film, the DI soon realizes that Adrian is a square peg who has been ordered to fit into a round hole. Adrian shows up at boot camp wearing long hair and sandals, causing a predictably angry response from the DI. At this point the movie becomes a test of culture-vs-culture, with each side refusing to blink. Adrian is seen as some sort of mythic superman who is able to draw from his inner chi the strength and stamina to outperform all his fellow recruits. The battle from the DI's point of view is external: the drill field, the shooting range, the obstacle course. From Adrian's perspective, it is internal. Whenever he is called upon to perform heroic feats of exercise, the scene shifts from Adrian's 'now' to Adrian's 'then.' This 'then' is punctuated by hippie music and a pretty girl with flowers in her hair. The DI does not know how Adrian manages to excel but he is pretty sure that he is up against a force of internalized nature that soon threatens to spread to the other recruits who see Adrian's daily exploits and beg him to reveal his Mahesh Yogi secrets. Adrian explains in pseudo-hippie jargon of the late 1960's that "Man, you have to move yourself from the present world of hurt to a past world of good."
It is not difficult to see that in any confrontation between DI and recruit, any victory by the recruit can only be temporary. Surprisingly enough, Adrian's DI blinks first. He passes Adrian only to learn that the senior DI, who sees the hippie philosophy of Adrian as a menace greater than the communist dialectic of Marx and Engels, has failed Adrian on a technicality and orders him recycled to repeat the entire twelve week course of basic training. Adrian goes AWOL, thereby affirming the power of the state over the individual. Yet, the victory of the state may be as hollow and as ephemeral as was the early victory of the recruit over the system. As a new group of recruits enters the very grounds where Adrian trained just recently, the DI stands ready to receive them, but this time he carries with him a flower of Adrian to remind him that though tribes may differ dramatically if only externally, there is some core resemblance that connects hippie to DI and the state to the individual. Perhaps it is this knowledge that we are more alike than commonly perceived which makes this movie eminently watchable--even if Jack Webb would not understand.

No other movie affected me in my youth the way this one did. TRIBES was a 1971 "made-for-TV" movie release that first aired in the fall of that year. Those who lived through the "inner experience" themes of the '60s (which spawned the "self development" movements of the '70s) will see the influence. What was most original was the portrayal of the "inner life" of the hippie/recruit, and how his existential view of life existed in such stark contrast to the mechanized, purely external world of the boot camp sargeant. Years later (1981 I think) I read in a book called "Money Talks" that this movie so affected one of its own producers that he quit his entire existence in Hollywood and moved to India.

What did "I" do after seeing it? I took up Transcendental Meditation (quite a change: I was in a high school Catholic seminary at the time), learned yoga, started reading a variety of philosophical works of the Far East -- in fact, at the tender age of 15, it helped form the basis for what would become my cosmological view of the Universe.

Many movies I've seen are greater pieces of cinematography. But no movie has ever had a greater impact on the course of my life. And to think.... it was a cheaply made TV movie.

Last point: amazon.com is currently not selling this video because the studio isn't currently releasing it. That's really a shame.

Greg Caton
caton@ifu.net
Lake Charles, LA
September 19, 1999

I saw this movie as a young kid before I went off to Marine Boot Camp at Parris Island. I happened to be up late one night watching old movies on T.V. when I saw Tribes. Leaving for Boot Camp in a couple of months I was interested in it. I sat glued to the set until the end. It was a great movie. I remembered to use some of the meditation techniques just like Jan Michael Vincent did in the movie. It helped me get through some long hard days in training.

They just don't make TV movies like this anymore. Well these days most TV-movies are cable based, but whatever the case, most of it's thrown together trash. The early 70s were a great time for TV movies ("Tribes, "Duel," "Brian's Song," etc). Little did I know as a young kid these prime-time specials would become ageless classics.

Everyone in this film does a top-notch job of acting, no matter how small the part. I don't care a whole lot for the melody "Tribes Are a Gathering" played thoughout the film, but it still does a pretty good job of setting the tone.

Too bad "Tribes" isn't available on DVD. Hopefully soon.

I saw "Tribes" while in Marine Boot camp. The air date was November 10, 1970 - the Marine Corps birthday. I was at the rifle range at Camp Pendleton, CA. It was the only TV program I was allowed to watch while there. I recall now thinking how I wished "real" boot camp was as easy as the movie portrayed it to be. I also remember the many technical errors there were in the film. I have seen "Tribes" a number of times since, and always enjoy seeing the sights and reliving those days again (it was filmed at MCRD just a few months before I arrived). Interestingly, now, 30 years later, the most vivid memory the movie stirs-up is the sound of jets taking off next door at the San Diego airport - all day, every day. How I longed to be on one of those "freedom birds". Finally, I always wanted to try the buckets of sand trick - but I didn't have the courage to go through with it. If you want to see what Marine boot camp was like during the Vietnam era, rent "The Boys in Company C" or "Full Metal Jacket". Still, "Tribes" was a great anti-war/anti-establishment movie.

'Tribes'was a movie I was made to watch in my sociology class, and considering the times, anti-war really hit home for us. Though, my boyfriend is in the army reserves, and so I know for a fact that the depiction of the boot camp was only partially accurate. However, it doesn't matter so much about how accurate it was. The other reviewers are constantly criticizing the movie's portral of Adrian as this abused hippy, but that wasn't what the movie was about at all. Adrian is a boy who is thrusted into a conformist controlled establishment which he had spent his life trying to defy. How he got there isn't the point. He maintains his beliefs of anti-conformity while still being in that environment and wins. The general's reasons and rules that he followed were accurate, he cannot be completely blamed, but the rules of not thinking just doing is what Adrian is against. He uses meditations to survive pain that he is expected to feel, he helps rather than competes, and he politely objects to things rather than arguing or simply accepting them. As to the scene where Adrian does not shoot a board isn't about being whimpy, it's about realizing that to shot that board is the equivalent of being willing to shoot a human being, which he's not. The message is pro-hippie and hippie ideals; you can be a pacifist and patriotic at the same time. The marine setting was just that, a setting. the ultimate location of anti-hippie conformity. See it for what it means, not what you see with the naked eye.

This film is a refreshing change from the usual faire. There are no good guys vs. bad guys or white hats vs. black hats.

Some write that the film picks on the military and badly captures the reality of military life. I see the film as a visual perspective on the systems of symbiotic relationships.

The writing is richer and the character development above the standard. The film shows rather than tells. An audience accustomed to the mindless hollywood standard that tells us who to hate and who to like will be confused.

Here is a production about the human experience, about growing up, about growing old, about finding ourselves through others, about differences, conflicts and coping methods.

I also saw this movie before I entered the Marines...I just wish I had the time while I was in boot camp to meditate. I really enjoyed Darren Magavin's portrayal of the DI and Jan-Michael Vincent was at his best I think. Worth watching.
As a side note...The Marine Corps did accept draftees for a short period during the Vietnam War due to high casualty rates and lack of volunteers...that was in the mid to late 60's.

Originally a movie of the week tv movie.Darrin McGavin and Jan-Michael Vincent star in Viet Nam era drama.Jan-Michael Vincent protrays recruit to the MCRD San Diego.Darrin McGavin and Earl Holliman are the drill instructors traing the recruits.A must for any former Marines to view.

Tribes is certainly a period piece of 1970 with a strong liberal anti-establishment point of view. Today it seems dated and blase`, yet it still has a magnetic attraction to viewers whether veterans, active duty military, or civilians.

From a technical standpoint, there were some flaws (which seems inevitable in any hollywood production dealing with the military) and many ommissions about USMC boot camp (what happened to the long humps with helmet, flak jacket and packs, field exercises, bivuacking, etc?), but overall they got the flavor of boot camp correct. As a former US Marine Commissioned Officer, I never attended MCRD San Diego (I attended OCS Quantico, VA), but as an airline pilot I have flown into Lindbergh Field, San Diego, CA on many occasions and have seen the grinder, PT fields, obstacle course, buildings etc. from the airport terminal. Not much has changed in appearance since 1970.

Gunnery Sgt Drake, the platoon DI, was not really all that tough, and as a matter of fact, was IMO a little too lenient with Pvt Adrian. In real life, not many DIs would have taken the time and trouble to accomodate a trouble maker, malcontent, or non-conformist. Pvt Adrian would have been either recycled, sent to motivational platoon, and/or processed out. Remember the DI has to screen and train 60 plus recruits in every platoon over a set syllabus and time schedule, so they just don't have the time to concentrate too long on one problem child. First Sgt DeFreys, the Company Chief DI, may have been an annoying jerk but he was right in suggesting to Drake that Adrian needed to be either recycled or sent to motivational platoon.

But this is the land of TV and movies, and audience sympathy in 1970 was not with the USMC but with Pvt Adrian and other platoon members.

I would like to see Tribes put on DVD, but I was only able to find a used and inflated VHS tape produced in the 1980s. There are some never opened "new" VHS copies floating around from time to time, but they are too expensive in my opinion. [...]

One last commentary on life in 2008 vs. 1970. I realize that most movies are filmed out of sequence and are not authentic and that more people smoked then, but look how skinny and in shape most of the recruits in Tribes were vs. the average 18 year old today. Anyway, happy viewing!