Green Berets…
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ccurts2319 — 14 years ago(May 04, 2011 07:12 PM)
To add to Lornsorrow, the last sentence of the movie is John Wayne telling that child, "You're what this war is all about."
Many politicians and older Americans did believe the U.S. Bill of Rights were the best freedoms by which to raise the next generation, and they felt strongly enough to believe in going overseas to stand up for the little guy. Yes, it was the WWII generation, but in perspective, remember they saw, heard, and experienced huge populations in other countries cheering their (and the allies') arrival. "Liberation" was a heart-wrenching event, instilling a deep-seated compassion (and perhaps eventual overprotection?) to get involved and make a difference in someone else's lives instead of standing by and just 'letting something happen' to them. When the baby boomer soon outnumbered the older generations, yes a clash occurred, yet that does not mean the older generation was wrong. It only means they viewed life differently based on different experiences. To the older ones, they view the Vietnam War as a liberation effort, to protect innocents from a cruel invading dictator.
The loudest voices about the movie are typically those opposed to the war, yet there were many older Americans who truly appreciated the movie. These Americans and the troops overseas were very brave. -
TexasGreek — 13 years ago(April 16, 2012 07:37 PM)
This comes years later after my original post. I don't know what I meant or what frame of mind I was in at the time that I thought John Wayne's line in question was "cheesy", because it wasn't. Perhaps it was just the way it was delivered, and even at that it was done very convincingly.
Honestly, the scene has always made me sad to the point of evoking tears and getting me choked up. -
soneill — 11 years ago(September 05, 2014 03:24 PM)
the vietnam war was a senseless and obscene enterprise, a terrible waste of human life and one of the worst things this country ever did. WWII people did not appreciate the difference between it and the war they had fought, equally tragic but unfortunately necessary. But I have never looked down on the poor bastards sent to fight in vietnam; on the contrary, I feel very sorry for them having to go through such horror, and even sorrier for those who didn't make it back.
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soneill — 18 years ago(April 01, 2008 12:49 PM)
"the green berets" is the most ridiculous interpretation of the vietnam war extant. the year was 1968 and america was growing upand growing disgusted with the pointless bloodbath being waged in southeast asia. sort of like now, except that back then people still had the energy to get angry and still believed in their right to raise hell about it as harshly as they saw fit. all the flag-mom-and-apple-pie conventions of the forties and fifties were being held up to the merciless light of the sixties and closely scrutinized for structural flaws, of which there were plenty. john wayne, being of the WWII generationminus the inconvenience of engaging in actual combatfelt threatened by what he saw as smart-ass kids too cowardly to go to war and defend their country. had this been 1942, wayne may have had a point. but it was 1968, a hellish cavalcade of assassinations, escalations, violence, heartbreak and mounting rage. the divide between the generations was razor-sharp, the war in vietnam more absurd and sickening by the hour. wayne could not grasp this, so he just took vietnam and dumped it right into the moral rectitude of "the sands of iwo jima". the result was an embarrassment called "the green berets."
and you're arguing about a LINE? -
soneill — 18 years ago(April 01, 2008 12:55 PM)
oh, and by the way, i loved john wayne, despite some of his politics. i also wasn't too crazy about a guy who'd never fought in a war romanticizing it for impressionable young men. there's nothing pretty or glorious about war. it's the greatest sin the human race can commit.
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monkeygroin — 17 years ago(July 11, 2008 02:10 AM)
Waaaaaa, War can be the greatest thing, look at some of the inventions that come out of war, plastic surgery was brought ahead lightyears cause of it, plus it helps keep the population numbers down, bleeding hearts never want to face the fact that there isnt enough resources to feed and provide energy for everyone. What happens when people starve in mass numbers or violence breaks out in Africa and other 3rd world nations due to overpopulation?? Its easy to say war is bad but you have to look at it with the longview and not the short easy view liberals are good at doing. Its why the world is in the trouble its in now. John Wayne rules!! Those who don't understand the natural order of things should keep quiet and stick to their organic food and toy pets, leave the big decision to people who understand the way life works to people who think with their heads not their hearts.
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ccurts2319 — 14 years ago(May 04, 2011 06:53 PM)
John Wayne made it a point to visit the troops in Vietnam to tell them personally (and per one bio, to handshake as many of them as possible) that there were still many Americans who appreciated them and their efforts. He did not serve in the war, but he made the movie 'Green Berets' specifically in honor of the troops. It was the first (and one of the rare) films that supported the troops being there instead of opposing their presence. I, for one, respect the man very much for acknowledging the troops and choosing to honor them with a film defending their positions and points of view, which he promised them he would do.
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MsELLERYqueen2 — 13 years ago(May 28, 2012 02:56 PM)
"Kudos to the great John Wayne to make this movie which was resoundingly booed by the critics but was a smash hit with the public. Thank you John Wayne. Jim Hutton was fine in this film."
I still haven't made up my mind whether or not to see this movie. I know for sure thb68at I will never watch "Psychic Killer", but "The Green Berets" is a maybe in my books. I know what happens to Jim Hutton's character at the end of the moviethere's even a picture of it on the home page of "The Green Berets" (or it was there the last time I checked).
As for John Wayne, I've seen him in a few movies. He was a fine actor, and he sure knew how to promote himself in order to fill the seats. Of course, I think that of any celebrity who talks politics nonstop.they are promoting themselves. Just my humble opinion.
Jim
Hutton:talented gorgeous HOT;adorable as ElleryQueen;SEXIEST ACTOR EVER
