The Green Berets (1968)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Directors:

Ray Kellogg
John Wayne

Writers:

James Lee Barrett (screenplay)
Robin Moore (novel)

Release Date:

27 July 1968 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

They had to be the toughest fighting force on earth - and the men who led them had to be just a little bit tougher!

Plot:

Col. Mike Kirby picks two teams of crack Green Berets for a mission in South Vietnam. First off is to...

Plot Keywords:

Green Beret | Vietnam | Beret | Vietnam War | Color In Title

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

John Wayne	...	Colonel Mike Kirby
David Janssen	...	George Beckworth
Jim Hutton	...	Sergeant Petersen
Aldo Ray	...	Master Sergeant Muldoon
Raymond St. Jacques	...	Sergeant Doc McGee
Bruce Cabot	...	Colonel Morgan
Jack Soo	...	Colonel Cai
George Takei	...	Captain Nim
Patrick Wayne	...	Lieutenant Jamison
Luke Askew	...	Sergeant Provo
Irene Tsu	...	Lin
Edward Faulkner	...	Captain MacDaniel
Jason Evers	...	Captain Coleman
Mike Henry	...	Sergeant Kowalski
Craig Jue	...	Hamchunk

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Vietnamese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) (cut) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) (1998) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (1992) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1984) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1968) | West Germany:16 (f) | New Zealand:PG | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:G | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Fort Benning, Georgia, USA

Company:

Batjac Productions

Trivia:

Late in the movie John Wayne can be seen to wrap his rappelling rope through a carabineer the wrong way. Called a "fatal hookup" in the Army, this would result in an immediate fall once weight was applied.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The mortar tube that the crew is using in the pit is a 4.2 inch (diameter) mortar. Yet they are dropping 81mm rounds down the tube. Also, when a round is fired out of a mortar, it sounds like an explosion, not like a small "poof".

Quotes:

Hugh Parkinson: Perhaps you could answer a question all of us here are asking?
Sergeant Muldoon: We'll try.
Hugh Parkinson: Why is the United States waging this ruthless war in Vietnam?
Sergeant Muldoon: Foreign policy decisions are not made by the military. A soldier goes where he is told to go, and fight whom is told to fight.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Black Hawk Down (2001)

Soundtrack:

The River Seine

Pro-Vietnam War

Probably the only major motion picture to actively support the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict, John Wayne leads an elite team of Green Berets on a search-and-destroy mission to capture a leading NVA general. Well acted action film worthy of a look even if its sentiments might be a bit dated by today's standards.