VC with helicopters???
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zbyszanna — 14 years ago(April 09, 2011 02:36 AM)
If anyone is interested I think the chopper used in the movie was some variant of the MI-2 and it was definatelly not any kind of Huey. See articles below:
Huey:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Huey_family
Huey variant most commonly associated with the Vietnam War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UH-1_Iroquois_variants
Mi-2:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-2 -
baeksu — 18 years ago(October 15, 2007 09:19 PM)
"Did the Viet Cong (NLF/North Vietnam) have helicopters? "
Well, the Viet Cong DEFINITELY didn't, but the claim in the movie was that it was a helicopter being used by the NVA, not by Viet Cong. And the scene took place outside the war zone (in Laos). It's possible that either the Laotians or the NVA had an operational russian-supplied helicopter at that point in the war, but it would have been a bit of a surprise.
I believe both Bishop and Muir express surprise at seeing it.
If you want to talk unrealistic - then talk about the ginormous fireball that the thing sent up after being shot down by an AK-47. Knocking down a 'copter with an AK-47 would have been pretty tough to do. It sending up a backyard BBQ-style fireball when it hit the ground is even less likely. -
The24thFoot — 18 years ago(December 11, 2007 01:36 PM)
While im not sure about choppers I do know that the NVA did use armor on several occasions against US forces - the first was the siege of the US Army Special Forces camp at Lang Vei which was overrun during an attack by several hundred of NVA supported by about a dozen PT-76 light tanks of which 7 or 8 were knocked out before the NVA managed to take the base (this occurred on Feb 7th 1968). The second time was the siege of Khe Sanh where the NVA sent tanks against a US Marine armored regiment and the NVA were wiped out.
Once we left though the war took an increasingly conventional style with set piece battles and the like complete with NVA vs ARVN armored battles and such. This movie I believe takes place after 1973 (I think it says the year when Pitt and Redford are on the hill looking at the NVA base). -
jack-upland — 18 years ago(December 28, 2007 01:16 AM)
Well, Laos was being bombed - and currently has a major unexploded bomb problem - so I presume America would have had air supremacy there. I think the scene is rather incongruous with the NVA being depicted as a conventional rather than a guerilla force. They certainly would have been operating as a guerilla force in Laos! Pitt's character is depicted as serving in the field, so the Americans certainly hadn't withdrawn at that time.
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matlock777 — 16 years ago(March 09, 2010 11:27 AM)
Yea, I have a problem with Brad Pitt being involved in the VN War,
see my post that has not showed up yet on the board: i state that
the kid was only 12 years old in 1975. i think it is funny age-wise.
they could have chosen michael paul chan, he would have been the
exact right age for the part, & he was in the movie.
Weren't we out of VN by 1975? or thereabouts?
i also do not remember helicoptors having sharks teeth painted on
them ever being shown on the news much less any other VN related movie,
not that i looked out for any of those movies. -
ksjazzguitar — 15 years ago(May 27, 2010 09:10 PM)
"Yea, I have a problem with Brad Pitt being involved in the VN War,
see my post that has not showed up yet on the board: i state that
the kid was only 12 years old in 1975."
Yeah, I hate it when they do this in movies. Like, what is Orlando Bloom doing fighting in the Crusades? He wasn't even born yet! And Errol Flynn as Robin Hood? Don't even get me started! -
jack-upland — 14 years ago(April 23, 2011 11:33 PM)
Very funny!
The point is that Brad Pitt doesn't seem to age throughout the movie. Even if the "present day" of the movie is 1991 (not 2001 when it was made), that's 20 years after the earliest scenes set in the Vietnam War. -
Themanfromnantuckett — 10 years ago(August 17, 2015 07:30 PM)
I got the impression that the copter was some form of Chinese support. I haven't seen the film in a while but for some reason i feel like there was insignia. I really doesn't matter as it really isn't explained any further to us.
The real question i have to anyone who may know and there seems to be some knowledgeable and personally experienced people on this board. My question is how much actual support did China provide during the war? Was it more behind the scenes and equipment based or was it actual combatants as in Korea?