The Green Berets (1968)

Col. Mike Kirby picks two teams of crack Green Berets for a mission in South Vietnam. First off is to build and control a camp that is trying to be taken by the enemy the second mission is to kidnap a North Vietnamese General.

Directors:

Ray Kellogg, John Wayne

Writers:

James Lee Barrett (screenplay), Robin Moore (novel)

Stars:

John Wayne, David Janssen, Jim Hutton

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Wayne	...	Col. Mike Kirby
David Janssen	...	George Beckworth
Jim Hutton	...	Sgt. Petersen
Aldo Ray	...	Sgt. Muldoon
Raymond St. Jacques	...	Sgt. Doc McGee
Bruce Cabot	...	Col. Morgan
Jack Soo	...	Col. Cai
George Takei	...	Capt. Nim
Patrick Wayne	...	Lt. Jamison
Luke Askew	...	Sgt. Provo
Irene Tsu	...	Lin
Edward Faulkner	...	Capt. MacDaniel
Jason Evers	...	Capt. Coleman
Mike Henry	...	Sgt. Kowalski
Craig Jue	...	Hamchunk

Storyline

Col. Mike Kirby picks two teams of crack Green Berets for a mission in South Vietnam. First off is to build and control a camp that is trying to be taken by the enemy the second mission is to kidnap a North Vietnamese General.

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Plot Keywords:

mission | general | vietnam | green beret | beret | 

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Taglines:

First screen adventure of today's warfare

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Vietnamese German Danish

Release Date:

27 July 1968 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Die grünen Teufel

Filming Locations:

Columbus, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Batjac Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

142 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The colonel who ran the jump school (and who was seen shooting trap with John Wayne) was the real jump school commandant and a legendary commander of U.S. paratroopers.

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Goofs

In the scene where John Wayne tells Provo to set up a .30 caliber weapon to support the .50 caliber weapon, "Provo" reacts to being shot before the VC actually shoots him.

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Quotes

Capt. Nim: My home is in Hanoi. You see, first I kill all stinking Cong, then go home.
Capt. MacDaniel: [Later] Sounds like he means it.
Captain Coleman: He keeps score on the wall.

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Connections

Featured in This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

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Soundtracks

"The River Seine"
(uncredited)
Music by Guy Lafarge
Lyrics by Nicola Wilke
Sung by Liselotte Malkowsky

User Reviews

A movie that's better than the movie critics say

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide gave this movie a rating of BOMB.That is just so ridiculous. Clearly, too many movie reviewers let their anti-Vietnam war politics color their review of this movie. It has some pretty good action scenes and holds your interest the whole way through the movie, although the movie is a little long.This is not a great movie by any means, but it doesn't deserve the absolute ridicule that the mostly left-wing movie critics have given it. Even if you don't like the politics in the movie, I think you can still enjoy it as an action/war film.

One final thing about the movie. The movie critics enjoy making fun of the final scene where John Wayne and the Vietnamese boy walk on the beach as the sun sets in the east. It is patently unfair to single out this movie scene as bad movie-making. Hollywood takes artistic license with movie scenes all the time. Most ignorant actors don't even know how to give a proper military salute when they play a soldier. Settings and locations in movies often have no resemblance to the places they are trying to portray in real life.

In short, forget the politics and just enjoy this decent war movie on its own merits.