Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder (1982)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Peter Werner

Writer:

Paul G. Hensler (writer)

Release Date:

November 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

In a time without heroes and a place without hope a man found a reason to survive.

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Orphan | Vietnam | Independent Film

Cast

Dennis Christopher	...	Brian Anderson
Susan Saint James	...	Katherine Cross
Roger Aaron Brown	...	Moses Drapper
Robert Englund	...	Tripper
James Whitmore Jr.	...	Major Flaherty
Lisa Lu	...	Sister Marie
Tu Thuy	...	Sister Hoa
Travis Swords	...	Allen Atkins
Mai Thi Lien	...	Anh
Truong Minh Hai	...	Duc
Ken Metcalfe	...	Captain Morris
Marie Ashton	...	Peggy Dean
Robert Howland	...	Bugsy Bodell
Paul G. Hensler	...	Dr. Goldman
Wynne Wicker	...	Immigration Woman (as Wynne Dieppe)

Also Known As:

Vietnam: Hell or Glory (Australia) (video title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Manila, Metro Manila, Luzon, Philippines

Company:

Sanrio Communications

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: About 38 minutes in, in the scene where Katherine Cross is clearing the plates off the table to examine the baby, you can see the boom mic in the top left hand corner. In the same scene where the nun is talking to Brian, you can also see the boom mic at the top of the shot.

Soundtrack:

Questions And Answers

Movie is eerily similar to my own experience in Viet Nam

When I first saw this film I about fell out of my chair. Of all the films on Viet Nam, this one is the closest to my own experience during the war...I was trained as a medic, I was stationed near Tan Son Nhut, my unit was the same as the shoulder patch in the movie (USARV), and I worked closely with the orphanages in the Saigon area. The film was very accurate in costuming, the military lingo of the time, the depiction of the out-of-control black market, the lack of government support for the orphanages, the delayed booby trap of the hand grenade in the gas tank, and so on. I now have two copies of this film and there were about nine copies available on amazon.com the last time I checked. Only an independent co-production could have made such an accurate and controversial depiction of the rear area support environment of wartime Viet Nam. I know very few people, including Vietnam vets, who have seen this movie. The Philippines is an ideal place to shoot a Viet Nam film just as was Apocaplyse Now.