This has the disjointed look of soldiers trying to videotape their own war.
This has been done a few times before, and usually you get a muddled mess like Hamburger Hill, where it only confuses the viewer, because usually these movies are told from the point of view of one mindless junkie.
This, however, has a very intelligent approach. We get most points of view here, which isn't easy to do.
It is about a platoon in Viet Nam, trying to get out of trouble. Hostile forces are closing in. We see some of the mechanics of war, particularly how wounded men in the field usually become dead men in the field. In ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, we have Wrold War I casualties who almost always wind up dead just from the slightest wounds and cuts.
In the field, it is unrealistic to make it cleanly and quickly to medical facilities.
That's just one example of the mechanics shown here. Like I said, the film does a very good job of showing this. It isn't a complete muddled mess.
It does have some disjointed bits, particularly at the beginning. A film should always let the audience know what it going on. The audience knows that a character doesn't always know. That's why it is a movie The "disoriented" approach is a mistake made by poor film makers, because the poor film maker says "I want the audience to know it is chaos". Well, the audience knows it is chaos. The audience wants to see the events as they happen.
To this film's credit, it mildly blends the disorientation with the good film making. Of the "disjointed" look movies, this is easily the best, because it still gives us information. It is a very well directed film. I still would rather see the action from the "explanation" point of view, but for a well done piece like this, I will relent.
Not an entertaining movie, but one that makes you feel you learn something you wanted to know.
This has been done a few times before, and usually you get a muddled mess like Hamburger Hill, where it only confuses the viewer, because usually these movies are told from the point of view of one mindless junkie.
This, however, has a very intelligent approach. We get most points of view here, which isn't easy to do.
It is about a platoon in Viet Nam, trying to get out of trouble. Hostile forces are closing in. We see some of the mechanics of war, particularly how wounded men in the field usually become dead men in the field. In ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, we have Wrold War I casualties who almost always wind up dead just from the slightest wounds and cuts.
In the field, it is unrealistic to make it cleanly and quickly to medical facilities.
That's just one example of the mechanics shown here. Like I said, the film does a very good job of showing this. It isn't a complete muddled mess.
It does have some disjointed bits, particularly at the beginning. A film should always let the audience know what it going on. The audience knows that a character doesn't always know. That's why it is a movie The "disoriented" approach is a mistake made by poor film makers, because the poor film maker says "I want the audience to know it is chaos". Well, the audience knows it is chaos. The audience wants to see the events as they happen.
To this film's credit, it mildly blends the disorientation with the good film making. Of the "disjointed" look movies, this is easily the best, because it still gives us information. It is a very well directed film. I still would rather see the action from the "explanation" point of view, but for a well done piece like this, I will relent.
Not an entertaining movie, but one that makes you feel you learn something you wanted to know.