Hamburger Hill (1987)

Director:

John Irvin

Writer:

James Carabatsos

Release Date:

28 August 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War | Action

Tagline:

War at its worst. Men at their Best.

Plot:

A very realistic interpretation of one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.

Plot Keywords:

Hill | Vietnam | Vietnam War | Sergeant | Gore

Cast

Anthony Barrile	...	Pvt. Vincent 'Alphabet' Languilli
Michael Boatman	...	Pvt. Ray Motown (as Michael Patrick Boatman)
Don Cheadle	...	Pvt. Johnny Washburn
Michael Dolan	...	Pvt. Harry Murphy
Don James	...	Pvt. Elliott 'Mac' McDaniel
Dylan McDermott	...	Sgt. Adam Frantz
Michael A. Nickles	...	Pvt. Paul Galvan (as M.A. Nickles)
Harry O'Reilly	...	Pvt. Michael Duffy
Daniel O'Shea	...	Pvt. Frank Gaigin
Tim Quill	...	Pvt. Joe Beletsky
Tommy Swerdlow	...	Pvt. Martin Bienstock
Courtney B. Vance	...	Spc. Abraham 'Doc' Johnson
Steven Weber	...	Sfc. Dennis Worcester
Tegan West	...	Lt. Terry Eden
Kieu Chinh	...	Mama San
Doug Goodman	...	Lagunas
J.C. Palmore	...	Healy
J.D. Van Sickle	...	Newsman

Directed by
John Irvin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
James Carabatsos

Produced by
James Carabatsos	....	producer
Marcia Nasatir	....	producer
Jerry Offsay	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Philip Glass

Cinematography by
Peter MacDonald

Film Editing by
Peter Tanner

Casting by
Mary Colquhoun

Production Design by
Austen Spriggs

Art Direction by
Toto Castillo

Makeup Department
Cecille Baun	....	makeup artist
Neville Smallwood	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Claude Hudson	....	unit manager
Ernesto C. Rojas	....	production supervisor: Philippines
Manina Viterbo	....	assistant production supervisor: Philippines

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Steve Harding	....	first assistant director
Socrates B. Jose	....	first assistant director: Philippines (as Soc Jose)
Nikolas Korda	....	second assistant director
David W. Rose	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Noel Luna	....	set dresser
Joe Pfaltzgraf	....	prop man
John Zemansky	....	property master

Sound Department
Steve Bartlett	....	sound
Terry Busby	....	foley editor
Christian T. Cooke	....	adr mixer
David Hildyard	....	sound mixer
Dominic Lester	....	sound re-recording mixer
Archie Ludski	....	supervising dialogue editor
Robin O'Donoghue	....	sound re-recording mixer
David Pearson	....	boom operator
John Pitt	....	sound recordist
Les Wiggins	....	supervising sound editor

Special Effects by
Mario Carmona	....	special effects: Philippine Islands
David Delina	....	special effects: Philippine Islands
Joe Digaetano	....	special effects
Delio Dizon	....	special effects: Philippine Islands
Rudy Liszczak	....	special effects
Paul J. Lombardi	....	special effects
Antonio Peras	....	special effects: Philippine Islands
Larry Reid	....	special effects
Ken Tarallo	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Alan Church	....	optical cameraman (uncredited)
Tony Willis	....	rostrum cameraman (uncredited)

Stunts
Jerry Bailey	....	stuntman: Philippines crew (as Gerry Bayley)
Eric Hahn	....	stuntman: Philippines crew
Renato Morado	....	stuntman: Philippines crew
Tip Tipping	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Rufo Oreta Balicas	....	key grip: Philippines (as Rufo Balicas)
Mike Brewster	....	camera operator
David Budd	....	focus puller
Jun Dalawis	....	camera operator: Philippines
Martin Evans	....	gaffer
Leonardo Legaspi	....	gaffer: Philippines
Roger Mills	....	best boy
George Parrish	....	best boy
Luke Quigley	....	grip
Nigel Seal	....	first assistant camera

Casting Department
Ken Metcalfe	....	casting: Philippines

Costume and Wardrobe Department
David Murphy	....	wardrober

Editorial Department
Elsa Abellana	....	assistant editor: Philippines

Music Department
Michael Connell	....	music editor
Michael Riesman	....	conductor

Other crew
Susanna Alves	....	assistant to producer
Sallie Beechinor	....	production coordinator
Andy Birmingham	....	film finance representative
Andy Birmingham	....	production accountant
Mark Birmingham	....	floor assistant
Kieu Chinh	....	vietnamese advisor
Joseph B. Conmy Jr.	....	military liaison (as Colonel Joseph B. Conmy Jr.)
Peter Cooper	....	location manager
Quinn Donoghue	....	unit publicist
Yvonne Eastmond	....	assistant production accountant
Sylvia Gajardo	....	assistant accountant: Philippines
Pauline Hume	....	title designer
Jill James	....	assistant to director
Glady Leonardo	....	accountant: Philippines
Robin Matthews	....	assistant to director
Al Neal	....	military advisor
Annie Penn	....	continuity (as Annie Wotton)
Gwynn Press	....	assistant to producer
Gary Martin	....	adr voice (uncredited)
Tom Trigo	....	location manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1987) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1988) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Tivoli (1988) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Alliance Films (2012) (Canada) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (1988) (Greece) (VHS)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2010) (Thailand) (DVD)
• KNM Home Entertainment (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• LK-TEL Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Maple Pictures (2007) (Canada) (DVD)
• Nordisk Film (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Vestron Video International (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (1989) (West Germany) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Special Effects Unlimited

Other Companies

• General Screen Enterprises  titles
• Joe Dunton & Company  camera equipment provided by
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment
• Megavision Entertainment Corporation  production services
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services
• Twickenham Studios  sound re-recording (as Twickenham Film Studios)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 (cut) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (Special Edition DVD) | New Zealand:M | West Germany:16 (f) | Portugal:M/16 | Germany:16 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Philippines

Company:

RKO Pictures

Trivia:

The film was released shortly after Oliver Stone's Vietnam film Platoon (1986) won Best Picture at the Oscars. The two films' releases were followed by Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Most ground combat forces in Vietnam were issued 20-round magazines for their M-16; not the 30-round, banana-clip style as depicted.

Quotes:

Motown:It don't mean nothing, man. Not a thing.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Tropic Thunder (2008)

Soundtrack:

I Wish It Would Rain

One of the best about Vietnam

Drawing from a good book by the same name concerning a real battle, the film chose to concentrate on a single unit of the 101st Airborne during this engagement instead of the strategies and tactics of the battle. Fictionalizing the characters we see the typical group of soldiers, some new, some veterans, some black, some white, some Hispanic, conduct assault after assault on a hill for some reason that they only have a vague concept of. But instead of making the battle slick and interlaced with subplots about the possession of souls (such as "Platoon") or a work of art (such as "Apocalypse Now" or "Full Metal Jacket") the characters are real and the battle is believable.

Whether intentional or not, it is hard to identify individuals in this film. The viewer is aware that there are ethnic and class separations but identities are harder. I believe that this was intentional to some extent by the director so that the impression could be made that this could be any unit and the soldiers could be anyone that you may know. Like the faceless names on the Vietnam War monument during the opening of the film, these soldiers are essentially faceless forcing the viewer to place a face and personality that they are intimate with. The real star of the movie is the battle and the tragedies that resulted. As with the better, and more accurate war films, there are no heroics, just fear; there is no glorious flag waving over a captured fortification, just survivors.

Again, with the better war films it is the little stuff that separates the good ones from the "cowboys and Indians in battle dress" ilk: the radio operator calling in an artillery strike in panic and is reprimanded for not using proper radio protocol, the mud slide down the hill right in the middle of the battle, the officer trying to call for reinforcements and realizing that his radio was blown to bits along with his arm. All of these "touches" are real and give credibility to a film. In this case "Hamburger Hill" stands apart, and somewhat higher, than most films about the subject.