Hamburger Hill

For the Vietnam War battle, see Battle of Hamburger Hill.

Hamburger Hill
Directed by	John Irvin
Produced by	Marcia Nasatir James Carabatsos
Written by	James Carabatsos
Starring	Dylan McDermott Steven Weber Courtney B. Vance Don Cheadle Michael Boatman
Music by	Philip Glass
Cinematography	Peter MacDonald
Editing by	Peter Tanner
Studio	RKO Pictures
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	28 August 1987
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$13,839,404

Hamburger Hill is a 1987 American war film about the actual assault of the U.S. Army's 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, part of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division 'Screaming Eagles', on a well-fortified position, including trenchworks and bunkers, of the North Vietnamese Army on Ap Bia Mountain near the Laotian border. American military records of the battle refer to the mountain as 'Hill 937', its map designation having been derived from its being 937 meters high.

Written by James Carabatsos and directed by John Irvin, the film starred Dylan McDermott, Steven Weber, Courtney B. Vance, Don Cheadle and Michael Boatman. The novelization was written by William Pelfrey. Set in May 1969 during the Vietnam War, the movie was produced by RKO Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

The Animals' song, "We Gotta Get out of This Place", is featured in the film.

Plot

The series of assaults (which resulted in heavy casualties to both the American and North Vietnamese forces) commenced on May 10, 1969, with the hill finally being taken on May 20.

The film portrays fighting, combat, courage, camaraderie and dedication to the mission among troops. It also brings up painful questions about the Vietnam War, such as the stigmatizing of replacement troops ("newbies" or, more crudely, "FNGs", for "Fuckin' New Guys") and of the seeming caprice of high command in the conflict, specifically the lack of strategic value of the hill and subsequent unnecessary casualties. Other issues include the effect of anti-war sentiment on morale, and racial tensions among troops (especially the overcoming of racial tension by gradual friendship and earned respect).

One aspect of the war portrayed is how the soldiers in the field felt betrayed by people back in the United States, particularly college students. In one scene a soldier gets a letter from his girlfriend saying she will not keep writing because her college friends told her it was immoral to be involved with a serviceman whom they refer to as "killers". In another scene, Sgt. Worchester (Steven Weber) from the Southern United States tells his fellow soldiers that when he got home from his first tour of duty in 1968, he faced discrimination for being a veteran. When he got off the plane, hippies threw bags of dog feces at him and other returning soldiers. When he got to his house, his wife was having sex with another man, and had nothing but contempt for him. Everywhere he went, people treated him with hostility and scorn. Incredibly, none of this bothered Worchester until he discovered that his local bartender (the only person who greeted him home with a friendly tone of voice) had lost his son in the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang Valley and was sent home in "a rubber bag with 'members missing' labeled on it." To make it worse, college students kept phoning the bartender at his house saying they were glad his son was killed by "the heroic people's army", causing the bartender to suffer a mental breakdown and start using heroin. This event caused the angry and alienated Worchester to sign up for another tour in Vietnam.

Cast

Actor	Character		Classification	Weapon	Rank
Tegan West	Terry Eden		Platoon Leader	M16A1	Second Lieutenant
Steven Weber	Dennis Worcester		Platoon Sergeant	M16A1	Sergeant First Class
Dylan McDermott	Adam Frantz		3rd Squad Leader	M16A1	Staff Sergeant
Don James	Elliott McDaniel		Third Squad XO and Grenade Launcher	M79 Grenade Launcher	Sergeant
Courtney B. Vance	Abraham Johnson		Medic	M16A1	Specialist
Michael Boatman	Ray Motown		Rifleman	M16A1	Specialist
Harry O'Reilly	Michael Duffy		Machine Gunner	M60 Machine Gun	Specialist
Daniel O'Shea	Frank Gaigin		Rifleman/ Machine Gunner	M16A1/ M60 Machine Gun	Specialist
Michael Dolan	Harry Murphy		Radioman	M16A1	Specialist
Michael A. Nickles	Paul Galvan		Rifleman	M16A1	Private First Class
Don Cheadle	David Washburn		Rifleman/ Machine Gunner	M16A1/ M60 Machine Gun	Private First Class
Tim Quill	Joseph Beletsky		Rifleman/ Grenade Launcher	M16A1/ M79 Grenade Launcher/ AK47	Private First Class
Tommy Swerdlow	Martin Bienstock		Rifleman/ Machine Gunner	M16A1/ M60 Machine Gun	Private First Class
Anthony Barrile	Vincent Languilli		Rifleman	M16A1	Private First Class

Production

Writer James Carabatsos had served with the 1st Air Cavalry Division in 1968-69 and spent five years interviewing soldiers involved in the combat there and researching the Battle of Hamburger Hill. Irvin, an English-born filmmaker, worked on several documentaries in Vietnam in 1969.

Reception

Critical response

Vincent Canby of The New York Times called Hamburger Hill a "well-made Vietnam War film that narrows its attention to the men of a single platoon in a specific operation." In differentiating the film from Platoon, he noted the film "refuses to put its characters and events into any larger frame. It could have been made a week after the conclusion of the operation it recalls, which is both its strength and weakness, depending on how you look at it." Hal Hinson of the Washington Post credited the filmmakers for creating a "deeply affecting, highly accomplished film", but felt that "[Carabatsos] and his collaborators seem to feel compelled not only to show us their war, but tell us what we're to think about it", weakening the film's effect and keeping it from being a "great war movie". The film gained 100% from Rotten Tomatoes

Box Office

The film debuted at No.5 at the box office bringing in a total of $3.3 million.

External links

• Hamburger Hill at the Internet Movie Database
• Hamburger Hill at Rotten Tomatoes