The Latest from Cactus Tactical: 3 Iconic Vietnam Era War Films

Gun Fights & Cinema

3 Iconic War Films (Vietnam Era)

#1: The Deer Hunter

1978 Vietnam War film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino.

In the Western Pennsylvania foundry town of Clairton, during the late 1960s, Russian-American steel workers Michael, Steven, Nick, Stanley, John, and Axel are preparing for two very different rites of passage: marriage and military service.

They're basically like schoolmates, hanging out in a local bar and enjoying weekends of deer hunting. However, their placid life will be forever changed after they are enlisted in the airborne infantry of Vietnam. But, before they go, Steven marries the pregnant Angela and their wedding party caters to the aspect of it being a farewell party as well. At the wedding reception, the friends quickly become drunk, dancing and acting obnoxiously.

The morning after, with the car still decorated from the wedding, the men drive into the mountains to go deer hunting. Mike always took his hunting very seriously and gives Stan a cold shoulder when Stan can't find his hunting boots. He asks Mike for his extra pair and Mike refuses, having grown tired of Stan's casual attitude and forgetfulness on previous trips. Though they don't necessarily agree with Mike's hard attitude, Mike stands by his principles. The next morning, Mike and Nick go out into the woods and Michael stalks and shoots a deer, bringing it down in a single shot.
The troupe returns to Clairton and they go straight to John's bar. John plays a somber piece on the piano and the men sit quietly, contemplating their last night together as a group.

The scene cuts to a mountainous region of Vietnam where a small village is being firebombed by the US Army. Michael is there, lying unconscious among the dead. A North Vietnamese Army soldier walks into the village, here he finds a small group of survivors of men, women and children, hiding in a bunker. He casually arms a grenade, tosses it in and walks off as it explodes. Moments later he sees a woman, badly injured, carrying a baby. The soldier mercilessly shoots her. Mike springs up and kills the soldier with a flamethrower. As Mike walks around shooting any surviving enemy soldiers, another unit of helicopters arrive and among them are Nick and Steve. Mike doesn't seem to acknowledge them at first when incoming mortar shells from the NVA begin to hit the village.

The three are captured and are made prisoners in a riverside prisoner-of-war camp along with other US Army and ARVN prisoners. As a form of entertainment, the guards force their prisoners to play Russian roulette and gamble on the outcome. The three have no choice but to play; Steven aims the gun above his head, grazing himself with the bullet and is punished by incarceration to an underwater cage. Mike, convincing the guards to let him go head-to-head with Nick in the final round, devises a plan to escape that requires three bullets in the pistol and shares his plan with Nick. Mike tells him to go after the closest guy when Mike makes his move. Nick, sensing the increased likelihood of imminent demise finds the plan crazy and despite protests, realizes it's their best chance of survival, however slim. Mike pleads with Nick to trust him. As they are in the final game, Mike successfully convinces their captors use three bullets in the cylinder while Nick stalls after being chosen to go first. Mike then volunteers to go first and fires and clicks an empty chamber. With only two empty of five remaining chambers, an almost-broken Nick has his turn and it's an empty chamber. Mike, enraged by continuous taunting, raises his gun to his head and at the last minute pushes the rifles pointed at him aside while turning the gun on his captors. With three bullets in the four chambers left, Mike is able to shoot down three captors in rapid succession before grabbing a machine gun and killing the rest. Mike has to pull a deranged Nick from his continued pummeling of his captor and both escape, taking Steven with them.

The three are able to escape the camp by way of floating downriver on a tree. An American helicopter rescues them, but only Nick is able to board it. The Steven falls into the river as he can't hold on anymore. Mike jumps in after him, and helping him to he riverbank. Steven has broken his legs in the fall. Mike then carries him to friendly lines.

The psychologically devastated Nick recuperates in a military hospital in Saigon, where the psychologist concludes he is not fit to remain there due to his continuous incomprehensible babbling. After he's released, he tries to call Linda in Clairton but hangs up before the call is connected. He aimlessly searches for Mike in the red light district.

Nick encounters Julién Grinda, a champagne-drinking Frenchman outside a gambling den where men play Russian roulette for money. Grinda entices Nick to participate, then leads him in to the den. Unbeknownst to Nick, Mike is in the crowd, as a gambler. Though Mike sees Nick, Nick leaves in a hurry and in a daze and they do not reunite.

As our story continues, Mike finds out that Steve is alive and has returned, and visits Angela, Steve's wife, to find out where he is. She is consumed by madness and not talking to anyone, so writes down a number for him. It is the number for Steven's hospital, which is a veteran's rehabilitation clinic.

Michael reunites with Steven, who has lost both his legs and the use of an arm and is mentally unstable. Steven reveals that someone in Saigon has been mailing large amounts of cash to him, which Mike suspects is from Nick, who may still be alive.

Mike travels to Saigon just before its fall in 1975. With the help of the Grinda, he finds Nick in a crowded roulette club, but Nick appears to have no recollection of his friends or his home in Pennsylvania, appearing instead to be in a constant state of shock. In a game of Russian roulette in the gambler's bar, Mike and Nick are pitted against each other, in an attempt on Mike' part to have Nick remember his life before the war and his family and friends. Mike's attempts to persuade him to come home are unsuccessful, Nick defiantly raises the gun and shoots himself in the head.
The film ends with Nick's funeral back in America and his friends' response to it. Everyone's there, and even Angela and Steven seem to be on the mend. At the wake they all sing "God bless America", and toast Nick.

This film rife with the issues of PTSD, loss of limbs and other horrors those veterans of the Vietnam War faced when they came home. This film hit home with a lot of those who had fought in Vietnam and come back after these types of conditions and other similar tortures for POW's and other various atrocities of war. While this film isn't one that is meant to be light hearted it definitely offers a look into the very real issues soldiers face when in wartime. The Deer Hunter is a gritty film with raw emotion and I suggest watching it on a day when you can reflect on the events depicted. Great cinema will enact an emotion and this movie gets me everytime. Let's take a look at the primary gun scenes in this film.

Remington 700 BDL rifles are used by the members of the hunting party. Michael (Robert De Niro) notably carries a left-handed model. Interestingly, De Niro shoots right-handed when using a handgun (particularly in the famous Russian Roulette scenes) and when using the flamethrower. He switches to left-handed with the Remington 700, as well when using the M16A1. Cross-dominant shooters will often switch sides when using long guns, in order to be able to aim with their dominant eye when shouldering the weapon.

Remington 700 BDL- .30-06.

Michael right after shooting a deer with his Remington

To watch this hunting clip, click here: https://youtu.be/Kd9_2TRib3k

Most notable in the film are the scenes in which they make their escape during a game of Runssian Roulette, this is one of the guns they use. Norinco Type 56 rifles are used by the Vietcong. Michael and Nick (Christopher Walken) both take one from them during the Russian Roulette scene and use them to dispatch them all.

Norinco Type 56 - 7.62x39mm.

Michael with his captured Norinco Type 56.

To watch this powerfully intense scene click here: https://youtu.be/kE_zqVPr4HI

A serious film about a serious war. The Deer Hunter captures much of the spirit of that time in history. Thank a Veteran today, they deserve our respect and gratitude.

For more information on the weapons used please go to: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/The_Deer_Hunter

#2- Apocalypse Now

1979 Vietnam War epic directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay was co-written by Coppola and John Milius and was based on the Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness.

The opening of scene of this movie takes us right into the darkness that stirs U.S. Army Captain and special operations veteran Benjamin L. Willard. Who, since his return to Saigon after his involvement in the Vietnam War, drinks heavily and hallucinates alone in his room. He is then visited by military intelligence officers Lt. General Corman and Colonel Lucas, they offer him a top-secret assignment to follow the Nung River into the remote jungle, to find a rogue Special Forces Colonel Walter E. Kurtz and terminate his command with extreme prejudice. Kurtz had lost his mind and now commands his own Montagnard troops inside neutral Cambodia.

Willard joins a Navy PBR commanded by "Chief", crewmen Lance, "Chef", "Mr. Clean" and they rendezvous with the reckless Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore. Kilgore befriends Lance, both being keen surfers, and agrees to escort them through the Viet Cong-filled coastal mouth of the Nung River due to the surfing conditions there. Amid napalm air strikes on the locals and Ride of the Valkyries playing over the helicopter loudspeakers, the beach is taken and Kilgore orders others to surf it amid enemy fire. While Kilgore regales about a previous strike, Willard gathers his men to the PBR, transported via helicopter, and begins the journey upriver.

Willard sifts through files on Kurtz, learning that he was a model officer and possible future General. After a night out, the crew inspect a civilian sampan for weapons but Mr. Clean panics and machine-guns everyone on board. Willard coldly shoots dead the only woman alive to prevent any further delay of his mission. Tension arises between Chief and Willard as Willard believes himself to be in command of the PBR, while Chief prioritizes other objectives over Willard's secret mission. Reaching the chaos of a US outpost at a bridge under attack, Willard learns that the missing commanding officer, Captain Colby, was sent on an earlier mission to kill Kurtz.

Throughout all of this both Lance and Chef are continually under the influence of drugs. Ambushed again, by Montagnard warriors, they return fire despite Willard's objections. Afterwards, Willard confides in the two surviving crew members about the mission and they reluctantly agree to continue upriver. After arriving at Kurtz's outpost at last, Willard takes Lance with him to the village, leaving Chef behind with orders to call an airstrike on the village if they do not return.

In the camp, the two soldiers are met by an American freelance photographer, who manically praises Kurtz's genius. Willard is bound and brought before Kurtz in the darkened temple, where Kurtz derides him as an errand boy. Meanwhile, Chef prepares to call in the airstrike but is kidnapped. Later imprisoned, Willard screams helplessly as Kurtz drops Chef's severed head into his lap. After some time, Willard is released and given the freedom of the compound. Kurtz lectures him on his theories of war, humanity and civilization while praising the ruthlessness and dedication of the Viet Cong. Kurtz discusses his son and asks that Willard tell his son everything about him in the event of his death.

That night, as the villagers ceremonially slaughter a water buffalo, Willard enters Kurtz's chamber as Kurtz is making a tape recording, and attacks him with a machete. Lying mortally wounded on the ground, Kurtz whispers his final words "The horror ... the horror ..." before dying. Willard descends the stairs from Kurtz's chamber and drops his weapon. The villagers do likewise and allow Willard to take Lance by the hand and lead him to the boat. The two of them ride away as Kurtz's final words echo eerily.

A dark film that takes us into the violent, twisted world of a good man trying to take down a man drunk with war and power. Between an incredible plot line and actors that are masters of their craft Apocalypse Now is an all time classic. The cinematography for it's genre was executed with a style and grace that is signature to Coppola. Let's take a look at the weapons and scenes that stood out the most in this movie.

One of the more famous scenes involves the tune "The Ride of the Valkyries" and involves a helicopter and intense weaponry, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/TqtehtSB0LI

An M60 machine gun is seen carried by one of LTC Kilgore's (Robert Duvall) soldiers that rides in the helicopter with Chef and Clean. Clean (Laurence Fishburne) is the M60 gunner on the Navy PBR. Chef (Frederic Forrest) is seen firing the M60 briefly while taking incoming arrows from natives, but switches to the single mounted M2.

M60 machine gun - 7.62x51mm NATO

The gunner continues to pour fire down with his M60.

Another weapon I want to take a look at is the Browning M2HBs they are single and double hand mounted on the Navy PBR. Jay 'Chef' Hicks is the rear gunner with the single mounted M2HB (nicknamed after the band "Canned Heat"). Lance Johnson is the front gunner with double hand mounted M2's. While traveling on the river through the Do Lung Bridge two soldiers are seen firing an M2 trying to kill a single VC under all the dead VC bodies.

To watch this scene click here: https://youtu.be/f96p-IhcZhQ

Browning M2HB on pintle mount - .50 BMG

Trench soldiers firing an M2HB

Chef fires "Canned Heat" while taking incoming tracer rounds. Note Kilgore's surfboard.

This novel was well written and the translation to film was done in a respectful manner. Again, with all movies set in wartime it's important that we take a moment to be grateful for all those who's lives have been lost to keep our country free and safe.

For more information on the weapons used please go to: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Apocalypse_Now

#3 Platoon:

1986 Vietnam War film directed by Oliver Stone, who based the film on his own experiences as a combat infantryman in both the 1st Cavalry Division and the 25th Infantry Division.

Chris Taylor is a young American who has abandoned a privileged life at a university to enlist in the infantry, volunteering for combat duty in Vietnam. Upon arrival in Da Nang, South Vietnam, he sees dead soldiers in body bags being loaded into his plane, but more distressing to him is the shellshocked state of a departing soldier with the "thousand-yard stare." Taylor and several other replacements have been assigned to Bravo Company, 25th Infantry division, "somewhere near the Cambodian border." Worn down by the exhausting work and living conditions, he develops an admiration for the more experienced soldiers, despite their reluctance to extend their friendship.

One night North Vietnamese soldiers set upon Taylor's sleeping unit. Gardner, a fellow new recruit, is killed, and another soldier, Tex, is maimed. Despite having passed the watch duty to Junior, a more experienced but consistently irresponsible soldier who fell asleep, Taylor is blamed for the casualties (O'Neil is also to blame, having thrown the grenade that maimed Tex). Immediately after the fighting, Taylor discovers a light wound to his neck, and he is sent to the field hospital for treatment.

A few days later, Taylor returns to his unit from the hospital and, through a soldier named King, gains acceptance from the "heads", a tight-knit group led by Elias that loves to socialize and party. Next door, Barnes leads the more traditional members of the unit whom drink beer and play cards and don't do drugs. Taylor becomes a more seasoned soldier as the patrols continue and soon no longer stands out amongst the others.

As the film continues the platoon finds what appears to be an abandoned bunker. Elias explores a series of tunnels connected to the bunker. Two members of the platoon, Sandy and Sal are killed when they stumble upon a booby trap. Shortly after, a soldier named Manny Washington goes missing and later his mutilated body is found tied to a post close by. The platoon is infuriated by the senseless death of their comrade and are ordered to report to a nearby village of South Vietnamese citizens.

Upon reaching the village the platoon finds a food and weapons cache.While questioning the village chief, Barnes loses his patience and senselessly kills the man's wife despite his denials that they are aiding the Viet Cong. Barnes is about to murder the man's young daughter to force him to tell them to where the enemy is when Sergeant Elias arrives at the scene and starts a fistfight with Barnes. Lieutenant Wolfe, passive during the shooting of the wife, eventually ends the fight, and relays orders from his own superior officer to burn the village. As the men leave, a group of four soldiers, including Bunny and Junior, drag a young Vietnamese girl into the bushes with the intention of raping her. Taylor comes upon them and stops the group from raping the girl. His comrades ridicule him for stopping them.

Upon returning to base, Elias reports Barnes' actions to Captain Harris, who cannot afford to remove Barnes due to a lack of personnel. However, Harris threatens to court martial Barnes if there is evidence that he murdered an unarmed civilian. O'Neil and Bunny, nervous about the possibility of an investigation, speak to Barnes and Bunny suggests "fragging" Elias. A narrating Taylor speaks of this as "a civil war in the platoon. Half with Elias, half with Barnes."

On their next patrol the platoon is ambushed and pinned down in a firefight by unseen enemy soldiers. Flash is killed and Sergeant Warren and Lerner are badly injured in the resulting skirmish. Lieutenant Wolfe calls in wrong coordinates for artillery support, resulting in the deaths and injuries of many soldiers. Though Lt. Wolfe is commanding officer, Barnes takes command. He orders the rest of the platoon to retreat to be airlifted from the area, and goes back into the jungle to find Elias' group. After sending Taylor, Rhah, and Crawford (who has been shot in the lung) back, Barnes finds Elias. The two stare at each other for a few moments and then Barnes fires three rounds into Elias' chest and leaves him for dead. Barnes runs into Taylor and tells him that Elias is dead and that he'd seen his body nearby. Barnes orders Taylor back to the landing zone. After they take off, the men see a severely wounded Elias emerge from the jungle, running from a large group of NVA soldiers. He dies after being shot several more times by the NVA while the American helicopters futilely attempt to provide him cover overhead.

At the base, Taylor tries to talk his dwindling group of six "heads" into killing Barnes in retaliation, claiming that when he'd met Barnes in the forest after shooting Elias, that the look on Barnes' face told him the truth. Rhah reminds Taylor how much he admired Barnes when he first arrived, and that Barnes isn't meant to die, noting that on several previous occasions Barnes has sustained wounds that ought to have proved mortal: "the only thing that can kill Barnes, is Barnes." Barnes then appears, very drunk with a bottle of bourbon, having overheard Taylor calling for his murder. He enters the room, daring them to kill him. No one takes up the offer but as Barnes leaves, Taylor attacks him. Barnes quickly gets the upper hand, pins Taylor down and holds a knife to his face. Rhah urges him not to do it, telling Barnes he'll be court-martialed and imprisoned, and he leaves, slashing Taylor under the eye.

A few days later, the platoon is sent back to the ambush area in order to build and maintain heavy defensive positions against a potential attack. Rhah is promoted to Sergeant, commanding the remains of Elias' squad. The platoon is so severely weakened, though, that there are numerous gaps in their defense.The troops try to prepare for the incoming battle, during which they know the majority of them will die. Just hours before nightfall, King is allowed to go home as his tour of duty has come to an end. O'Neil tries to use Elias' R&R days for himself in order to escape the impending battle as he believes he will die. When he asks Barnes for permission, Barnes refuses, saying, "Everybody gotta die some time, Red." Junior tries to escape the battle by spraying mosquito repellent onto his feet and passing it off as trench foot, a ploy that Barnes recognizes right away. Bunny states that he feels no remorse for the murders he has committed, saying that he enjoys Vietnam, and goes on to proclaim himself to be "Audie Murphy", a famous and highly decorated World War II hero.

On another fateful night a large attack occurs and the American defensive perimeter is broken and the camp overrun by hundreds of attacking North Vietnamese troops. Taylor and Francis take on and cut down several attacking enemy troops until they both pause when they hear signal whistles from the unseen NVA sergeants ordering their men to cease fire. Hearing a Vietnamese voice over a bullhorn and understanding that the NVA are ordering RPGs up to the line to blow up the foxhole they are in, Taylor grabs Francis and both of them crawl out of the foxhole seconds before it's hit by an RPG. Taylor and Francis then attack and kill several enemy soldiers that overrun their destroyed foxhole until Taylor loses it during the fight and charges off into the carnage, shooting one enemy soldier after another.

Meanwhile, the NVA attack against the base continues relentlessly. The command bunker is destroyed by a NVA suicide bomber. During the massed North Vietnamese Army attack, many members of the platoon are killed, including Lt. Wolfe, Parker, Doc, Bunny, and Junior when their foxholes are overrun. O'Neil survives only by hiding himself under a dead body. The desperate company commander, Captain Harris, orders the Air Force pilots to "expend all remaining" inside his perimeter. During the chaos, Barnes and Taylor come face-to-face. As a crazed Barnes is about to beat Taylor with a shovel, the two are knocked unconscious by the last-ditch American napalm attack.

A wounded Taylor regains consciousness the next morning with a serious wound to his lower abdomen. He soon finds Barnes, who is also wounded after being shot in both legs during the battle. Taylor takes an AK-47 rifle from a dead enemy soldier and aims it at Barnes, who lays helpless on the ground. Nonetheless, Barnes feels at first not threatened, and he dismissively orders Taylor to call a medic. When Taylor does not comply, but instead continues to aim his weapon, Barnes (deranged to the last) dares him to pull the trigger by saying: "Do it!" Taylor shoots Barnes three times in the chest, killing him. Taylor then drops his rifle, collapses, and awaits medical attention.

Francis emerges from his foxhole and stabs himself in the thigh with a bayonet in order to be evacuated as a casualty. O'Neil is found by other Americans, and Harris gives him command of the platoon. As he is loaded onto the helicopter, Taylor is reminded by Francis that because they have been wounded twice, they can go home. After saying goodbye to the remaining soldiers and the helicopter flies away Taylor weeps as he stares down at the destruction, while he (from a future perspective) narrates that he will forever be in Vietnam, with Barnes and Elias battling for what Rhah called "possession of his soul", and that he believes he and other veterans must rebuild themselves, and find goodness and purpose in their lives.

This film is typical of this type of genre set in Vietnam. Dark, gritty conflict and unstable soldiers racked with fear and courage. We grow to attach and relate to these characters as their flaws and glories are sprawled across the scenes of this movie. Let's take a look at a couple scenes that stand out in this cinematic portrayal of the hell of war.

Soldiers of the 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 25th Infantry Division "Tropic Lightning" carry M16A1s, most commonly seen in the hands of PVT Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen). M16A1s are also carried by Big Harold , Manny, Francis, and Sergeant Red O'Neill.

M16A1 with 20 round magazine - 5.56x45mm

A soldier rests with his M16A1 at his side

Taylor (Charlie Sheen) with his M16A1 at the ready.

One of the most well known battle scenes can be seen here: https://youtu.be/vUO0YjF9jWA

A smaller weapon used was the M1911A1 is the standard sidearm for all of the NCOs and Officers in the film. It is most prominently seen used by SGT Elias (Willem Dafoe) when he does tunnel rat duty and SSG Barnes (Tom Berenger) when he uses it to threaten a little girl in the village to get her father to talk.

Colt M1911A1 - .45 ACP

Tex's (David Neidorf) M1911A1 sits next to his helmet.

Staff Sergeant Barnes threatens a little girl with his .45 in the intense scene in the village.

Platoon offers a view of Vietnam through the eyes of disillusionment and the moral and mental breakdowns that happen in war. We see the raw sides of men like our brothers, Uncles, cousins, other family member and friends. War is truly hell. If your looking for a movie that will make you think as well as keep you entertained I suggest dusting off your copy of this movie and re-watching it..

For more information on the weapons used go here: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Platoon

Labels: apocalypse now, cinema, films, guns, military, movies, platoon, PTSD, rifles, russian roulette, the deer hunter, vietnam war, weapons