Go Tell the Spartans (1978)

In 1954 the French lost the war to keep their Indochina colonies and those colonies became North and South Vietnam . Then the North aided a rebellion in the South and the US sent in Military Advisers to help South Vietnam fight the communist . In 1964 the war in Vietnam was still a little one , confused and far away . There a tough veteran Major , But Lancaster , is ordered to establish a garrison at Muc Wa with a platoon of burned out soldiers and Vietnamese Mercenaries . But some soldiers start to wonder : What we are doing over there.Moving Vietnam war movie set in 1964 , it is a strong , provoking vision of the conflict . A tough view of the early Vietnam war that is provided in all terrible , bloody and violent detail . Blundering and a little boring war film , but politically interesting pre-dating the flood of the eighties , plenty of patriotic , jingoist , apologetic Vietnam pictures . As we watch the violent events , slaughters , crossfires and atrocities in Vietnam . The bloody ending reflects the bitterness and disillusion felt by most Americans . Based on Daniel Ford novel titled ¨Incident at Muc Wa¨ , it describes a pretty honest portrayal of America's early days in Vietnam . Including a realist and thought-provoking dialog and dealing with foreign intervention in Vietnam . Burt Lancaster gives nice interpretation as the hard-boiled Major who faces himself the combat . Remaining cast is pretty well , shining in adequate acting , such as : Craig Wasson , David Clennon , Jonathan Goldsmith , James Hong , and Mark Singer's film debut , among others . Atmospheric cinematography by Harry Stradling Jr , though a perfect remastering being necessary . Inappropriate setting , in fact , the film was not shot in Asia at all but filmed in California , USA with Vietnamese migrants to America portraying the Vietcong . The motion picture was compelling and professionally directed by Ted Post who directed to Clint Eastwood in ¨Magnum force¨ , ¨Hang'em high¨ and Chuck Norris in ¨Good guys wear black¨ . Post made all kinds of genres as SciFi : ¨Beneath of the planet of apes¨, ¨Harrard experiment¨ , as Thriller : ¨Nightkill¨, ¨The baby¨ and Western : ¨Yuma¨ , ¨Stagecoach¨.

A small group of American military advisors and their Vietnamese allies try to defend an abandoned village from Viet Cong attack.It's a difficult movie to parse since the focus remains somewhat fuzzy. But that's probably just as well since the war itself remains fuzzy for many Americans. The enemy wore no uniforms, held no ground, and melted away after engagement. In short, it was a long way from the kind of war Americans were used to fighting, an example of what I believe they now call "asymmetrical" warfare. Here, it's 1964 and our level of engagement remains as advisors only. Big troop landings are still a year away. In the movie, we're introduced to the men of Major Barker's (Lancaster) small advisory command and why they've volunteered for hazardous duty. These range from selfless idealism to career opportunities to the one draftee. What they all lack, including the major, is any understanding of the country or culture they're fighting in. Instead, they depend upon their brutal Asian interpreter, Cowboy! Trouble is he's fighting a personal war against the Cong and cares little whether he's advancing the broader cause. Note that the film makes little or no mention of the politics swirling around our intervention. For the individual soldier, these larger issues may seem too abstract or simply reducible to evils of communist aggression. But either way, they're left to higher-ups. Nonetheless, it's the politics of national liberation from decades of Western occupation that drive the Viet Cong, ultimately galvanizing the ordinary peasant into joining. In terms of the movie, it's what's not really mentioned that's so important, rather than what is. And for the Americans, the bottom line is duty, not national liberation. Thus the apt comparison with the dutiful dead Spartans rings true. All in all, it's a tricky film that may or may not be the best on that bloody misadventure. But it does dramatize a serious level of disconnect.

GO TELL THE SPARTANS is a small Vietnam War film which never caught on, which is a pity as it's one of the best. Based on the novel by a veteran it's set in the early days of the Second Indochina War as a handful of US advisers set up base in the jungle with their ARVN pals, only to get attacked by waves of Vietcong. Like many such films it's cynical and ironic, but here is feels real rather than simply the result of hindsight (Mark Moyar might disagree). Like the best war films, it shows the army as a bureaucracy as well as a fighting organisation. Burt Lancaster as the lead gives a cracking performance as the over- age and under- promoted Major in charge; he's too honest to climb the greasy pole (which he illustrates with a hilarious anecdote about the President's garden). Unfortunately the low budget means that he's the only memorable actor, that the scenery is too obviously American and that the battle scenes revert to Hollywood standard, as people blaze away on full auto and things explode in balls of orange gas. Still, it's a gem of a picture.

In a recent biography of Burt Lancaster, Go Tell The Spartans is described as the best Vietnam war film that nobody ever saw. Hopefully with television and video products that will be corrected.I prefer to think of it as a prequel to Platoon. This film is set in 1964 when America's participation was limited to advisers by this time raised to about 20,000 of them by President Kennedy. Whether if Kennedy had lived and won a second term he would have increased our commitment to a half a million men as Lyndon Johnson did is open to much historical speculation.Major Burt Lancaster heads such an advisory team with his number two Captain Marc Singer. They get some replacements and a new assignment to build a fortress where the French tried years ago and failed.The replacements are a really mixed bag, a sergeant who Lancaster has served with before and respects highly in Jonathan Goldsmith, a very green and eager second lieutenant in Joe Unger, a demolitions man who is a draftee and at that time Vietnam service was a strictly volunteer thing in Craig Wasson, and a medic who is also a junkie in Dennis Howard. For one reason or another all of these get sent forward to build that outpost in a place that suddenly has acquired military significance. I said before this could be a prequel to Platoon. Platoon is set in the time a few years later when the USA was fully militarily committed in Vietnam. Platoon raises the same issues about the futility of that war, but I think Go Tell The Spartans does a much better job. Hard to bring your best effort into the fight since who and what you're fighting and fighting for seems to change weekly.Originally this project was for William Holden and I'm surprised Holden passed on it. Maybe for the better because Lancaster strikes just the right note as the professional soldier in what was a backwater assignment who politics has passed over for promotion. Knowing all that you will understand why Lancaster makes the final decision he does.Two others of note are Evan Kim who is the head of the South Vietnamese regulars and interpreter who Lancaster and company are training. He epitomizes the brutality of the struggle for us in a way that we can't appreciate from the other side because we never meet any of the Viet Cong by name. Dolph Sweet plays the general in charge of the American Vietnam commitment, a General Harnitz. He is closest to a real character because the general in charge their before Johnson raised the troop levels and put in William Westmoreland was Paul Harkins. Joe Unger is who I think gives the best performance as the shavetail lieutenant with all the conventional ideas of war and believes we have got to be with the good guys since we are Americans. He learns fast that you issue uniforms for a reason and wars against people who don't have them are the most difficult.I think one could get a deep understanding of just what America faced in 1964 in Vietnam by watching Go Tell The Spartans.