Hamburger Hill (1987)

Directed by John Irvin. Starring Dylan McDermott, Steven Weber, Courtney B. Vance, Anthony Barrile, Don James, Daniel O’Shea, Michael Boatman, M. A. Nickles, Tommy Swerdlow, Tegan West, Michael Dolan, Tim Quill, Don Cheadle, Harry O’Reilly. [R]

Grave and punishing look at a US Army battalion’s experiences in Vietnam and their efforts to overtake “Hill 937,” nicknamed Hamburger Hill. No cheap heroics here; just a down-and-dirty, eye-level view of grunts following orders and driving onward to a likely hopeless goal of unsubstantial gain. Too little here to set it apart from other recent Vietnam War dramas (including Platoon and Full Metal Jacket), and its attempts to address deeper concerns of camaraderie, racism, reasoning, unfavorable opinion, etc. often feel shoehorned and stagy. Routine scenes establishing the personalities of the soldiers provide a little color and detail, but it’s the battle scenes toward the end that leave the longest lasting impression, as the men struggle time and time again through mud, smoke, blood and bodies toward an almost metaphorical achievement. The filmmakers would have been better off abandoning shallow attempts to find poetry and nobility in the endeavor, but they sure do know how to make war look like hell.

64/100