Hamburger Hill (DVD)

Hamburger Hill is the supposedly poor cousin of the two highly acclaimed Vietnam War films, Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. While the latter two films were released to critical acclaim, Hamburger Hill received a somewhat mixed reaction from the press. Hamburger Hill is directed by John Irvin and was released in 1987 and unlike the other two films is based around an actual battle that occurred during the war. The film follows the fortunes of the 101st Airborne Division as they fight to gain control of Hill 937 (it?s height in metres) which after the battle was renamed ?Hamburger Hill? for obvious reasons. The battle lasted for ten days and during that time ...  Read the complete review

Hamburger Hill is a much overlooked film relating to the intensity and gruelling conditions endured by the US forces in the Vietnam War. Unlike many other Vietnam War films, this one dramatises an actual event, the taking of 'Hamburger Hill' by 101st Airborne Division, despite heavy losses and the menacing and powerful 28th North Vietnamese Regiment who were holding the hill. The film didn't really use any majorly established actors for the film, going with some vaguely familiar names such as Dylan McDermot and Courtney B Vance, and giving the cast a pretty wide berth in terms of emotional presence on screen. A young Don Cheadle also takes part. The script ...  Read the complete review

"Put down your books and pick up a gun, we're gonna have a whole lot of fun... and its...1..2...3, what are we fighting for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, the next stop is Vietnam, And its...5...6...7,open up the pearly gates, well there aint no use to wonder why, cos we all gonna die.........." (Quoted from a song by Country Joe and The Fish) I spent the afternoon today watching one of my husbands "war" movies, not my choice I can tell you! I can quite honestly say that I have not been affected by a film in the way Hamburger Hill has affected me. ...  Read the complete review

This is a very graphic account of the struggle by an American platoon to take a hill, really a mountain, known by those who fought there as Hamburger Hill. One problem with the film was that it makes there seem like the fight was more even that it really was. The Americans outnumbered the NVA MASSIVELY in truth. From watching the film, one gets the impression of a single American platoon fighting infantry warfare day after day with an equally strong enemy up a hill, before eventually overpowering them. In truth, the Americans bombarded this hill with artillery, air strikes, gunned the area to bits from helicopters with M60s and bloopers, and this was all before ...  Read the complete review

Wow. This really is a war film. This is a dramatic story of one of the bloodiest battles during the Vietnam war. The battle to win control of this hill, nicknamed Hamburger Hill, is cruel, dirty and dramatic. The film centres on one platoon that has been given the task of leading the assault on this hill. Many of the platoon members are killed or injured and some the make-up effects are totally realistic, when limbs are missing or parts of bodies are blown up. This certainly is not a film for the squeamish. Time after time the platoon attempts to fight it’s way up to the top of hill, and time after time they have to fall back to their base at the ...  Read the complete review