IMDb > The Green Berets (1968)
The Green Berets
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The Green Berets (1968) More at IMDbPro »

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The Green Berets (1968) -- John Wayne stars in this classic war film
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
The Green Berets (1968) -- US Theatrical Trailer from Unknown
The Green Berets (1968) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)
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Overview

User Rating:
5.1/10   4,378 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 9% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers:
James Lee Barrett (screenplay)
Robin Moore (novel)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Green Berets on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
27 July 1968 (Japan) more
Genre:
Action | Drama | War more
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! more
Plot:
Col. Mike Kirby picks two teams of crack Green Berets for a mission in South Vietnam. First off is to... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 win & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(7 articles)
Review: 'Star Trek: Tos' Season 2 on Blu-ray
 (From Comicmix. 3 October 2009, 10:06 AM, PDT)
The Green Berets are coming to Blu-Ray in January
 (From The Hollywood News. 14 September 2009, 2:38 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
About as viable as most Vietnam war movies more (119 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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
more
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
141 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Vietnamese
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
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 more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
George Takei missed working on the "The Trouble with Tribbles" episode of the original "Star Trek" (1966) series to work on this movie. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: The M-16 that Col. Kirby smashes against a tree is a toy gun made by Mattel in the 1960s. You can see tell by the speaker holes in the magazine (which is also much larger than a real M-16 magazine). more
Quotes:
Sergeant Muldoon: [after seeing him in non-military issued pajamas] Peterson, I worry about you. Three tours of duty and you're still acting like a civilian!
Sgt. Petersen: Muldoon, I'm not a Marine. I believe in my comfort!
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Angels' Revenge (#7.22)" (1995) more
Soundtrack:
The River Seine more

FAQ

Is it possible to stand in Da Nang and watch the sunset like at the end of the movie?
more

User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
106 out of 136 people found the following comment useful.
About as viable as most Vietnam war movies, 16 January 2006
Author: ubercommando from London

No, seriously. "The Green Berets" is about as viable and creditable as "The Boys in Company C" or "Casualties of War". It's hard to find a Vietnam war movie that DOESN'T come full of distortions based on the film makers political agendas; it's just this time "The Green Berets" comes from the pro-involvement side.

We've heard the negatives about this movie, and most of them are basically correct but there are a few things to say that, if not positive, put the movie in a less negative light.

First, this isn't your usual piece about 19 year old conscripts being called up to fight in a war they don't understand. The real Special Forces are career professionals who have very high standards of training and discipline. "The Green Berets" isn't a movie about your average grunt; it's about commandos and a lot of the training, tactics and equipment is accurate for the time. The experience of the special forces in Vietnam was widely different from line conscripts; and they won a lot of victories.

Second, it was a bold move to make a movie about the Vietnam war whilst it was still going on. The movie was made shortly before the Tet Offensive of 1968 when the initiative was still with the US and South Vietnamese forces. This is a Vietnam war movie from the early part of the war...something "Platoon" falls down on is depicting the unit in a state of disorganisation, with the usual drug taking and indiscipline scenes that have become cliché, in 1967 when the reality was that discipline and cohesion in the field in '67 was a lot tighter. Stone depicts events that would not become common in front line troops until '69-'70. Yes, I know he served a tour of duty over there but a number of his fellow veterans have called his depiction of events into question.

Third, the early part of the movie with the relationships between US Special Forces officers and ARVN counterparts is fairly well done. The SF had been present in Vietnam from '62 onwards and by '67-'68 had built up a good working relationship with ARVN Ranger units (the only South Vietnamese army units that were well trained and led).

Now the pine tree issue. Well, I hate to break it to people but not all of Vietnam is palm trees and jungle. In the area of Cochinchina just north of Saigon and into the hilly Montangnard country, there are a lot of deciduous and evergreen trees. I was surprised to find this when doing research on the US 25th Infantry Division and finding a lot of their patrol area wasn't in jungle but hilly woodland. Pine trees maybe stretching things a little bit though but it's not impossible.

The politics. Yes, the Duke is on the right wing campaign trail but other film makers have used the Vietnam war to promote the liberal left agenda so I don't get why that is acceptable and an alternative view that doesn't conform to that is inherently wrong. The scene at the beginning of the movie has Aldo Ray explaining how China, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union were sending aid to North Vietnam...so Oliver Stone's assertions that the VC were self-liberating and proudly defiant are deeply wrong. The VC and NVA were tools of a communist regime that were being heavily supplied and subsidised by other Communist regimes. I'm not advocating that the US's involvement in a war in Vietnam was right, just that people understand the involvement of other nations as well.

For those who think this movie is bad because it doesn't depict American atrocities, drug taking and insubordination like other Vietnam war movies have merely bought into another set of falsehoods. This goes back to my original point; "The Green Berets" isn't particularly realistic...but then again, neither are most other movies about that war.

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Message Boards

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SGT Petersen megoobee
Should be remade dazfiddy
Was at Ft. Benning when it was filmed utahboyz
Kirby and MacDaniel are wearing combat boots! rac701
Most everyone knocks it, but... rac701
Nothing Happens joekewl1971
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