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The Siege of Firebase Gloria More at IMDbPro »

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39 reviews in total

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22 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
Overlooked Vietnam Masterpiece, 11 November 2004
Author: A. W. "Nikki Christmas" Beebe

"The people were friendly. We liked them and they liked us... so it really hurt us to see their heads on stakes." This line, dryly spouted by R. Lee Ermey's character Sergeant Major Bill Hafner of the United States Marine Corps' Force Recon, begins a brutal portrayal of war at its worst. This film pulls no punches, showing combat for what it is: a slaughter.

Do not come into this film with a soft heart. If scenes showing piles of dead children, teenage Vietnamese prostitutes wrapping themselves in dynamite to act as suicide bombers or "sappers", American nurses and Embassy secretaries being machine-gunned by Viet Cong soldiers, the execution of prisoners by both the V.C. and Marines, and the wholesale slaughter of an entire generation of young men (both American and Vietnamese) have the potential to bother you, you might want to avoid this one. "Siege of Firebase Gloria" is frighteningly graphic and realistic and the only thing that keeps this movie from being little more than a snuff film is the humanity of the characters.

While the men on both sides commit acts that most people would consider atrocities, we can see them for what they are: scared human beings, some of them barely more than boys ("No way - Mighty Mouse could never get us out of this s**t," says Private "Shortwave" Coates) who don't know why they have to do these horrible things, only that they must if they want to survive.

In the end, it is the North Vietnamese Army Colonel Cao Van who gives the best summary of the situation: "The courage of your enemies does you honor."

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22 out of 26 people found the following review useful:
This Movie is GREAT!!!!.., 27 January 2003
Author: ctgarrett from Canadensis, PA

First off. This is a movie not a documentary. As a former Recon Marine who served in that hell, the movie has many realistic and uncompromising moments. Like a movie it went for the splatter and over the top special effects. However, the story of a Marine Recon patrol plays out properly. Although, the fishing village shootout wouldn't have been the best way to gather intelligence.

The movie greatest asset is it tells the truth about the transition from guerrilla warfare to guerrilla political warfare. Defeat the village supporting the warrior then you can defeat the warrior. The movie attempts to tell the story of both the professional marine and the Viet Minh. The guerrilla forces operating in the South while the North militarizes its forces. The marines aren't all gung-ho over the top, but they are marines. It's our job, lets get it done. However the job is a fight that can't be fought and moral support wasn't forthcoming from home. Marines fought and won every one of their land battles in Vietnam. We weren't trying to win wars, just the current fight and get out alive.

The Amazon special issue tape doesn't contain the subtitles of the Viet Minh. Thereby, removing the essence of the movie's twofold storytelling. The creation of a social awareness on both sides of the fences.

In combat your only motivation is to survive and that means keeping yourself and the guy on your flank covered. The Viet Minh aren't shown as mindless communists, but soldiers fighting foreign invaders and the corruption that they fostered.

This movie has an intelligent story to tell, but Hollywood recognized the need to entertain the dopers in the back rows. They buy more movie tickets. Also this movie is from the 80's. When you judge a movie remember the mental and social climate in which it was made. So there are a lot of oil drums being blown to simulate explosions. And super bullets being fired on both sides. As I said this is a movie.

If you want to be entertained and maybe have your eyes opened a little bit more about that time. This is the movie for you.

Sometimes low budget doesn't have to mean low quality. Hollywood needs to sweep you into the popcorn tub and drench it with butter. But you don't have to swallow all the crap that's put in front of you.

Other movies to check out are Platoon Leader (Vietnam), Bravo Two Zero (SAS in the Gulf). I didn't like Platoon or A Crop of S--T Now (Apocalypse Now). That the essence of our individual freedom, choices.

Semper Fi

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30 out of 42 people found the following review useful:
F******G "A"on this ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, 23 August 2002

Author: Mr Skoooooter from Fayetteville PA

I was there Jack; and this one is right on the money!!!! This film is so true to the mark that for almost 2 hours I literally forgot where I was and thought I was THERE with those f*****' jarheads (God love 'em!) Although I was only an Army Ranger (5th Group) for 18 months, I was on 7 LZ' and was in 49 firefights and got into this film from the first minute-I got it only a few weeks ago on video, but have seen it on cable dozens of times and will catch it EVERY time it's on! Lee Ermey is absolutely flawless in every picture he does, and for a civilian, Wings Hauser isn't far behind. And the guy who did the chopper pilot was PHENOMENAL; I would have sworn he was real as gold!!! Unless you're a Jane Fonda or Hillary Clinton type, see this flick at least once- you owe it to every serviceman and woman who went over there- We did it for YOU!

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19 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
I was there - This is like a 'Nam Vet's 2 hour home movie., 6 February 2003

Author: elskootero (elskootero@hotmail.com) from Fayetteville, Pennsylvania

This movie is so good it's scary. I'm glad I didn't see it in a theater because I would have freaked out most of the audience! It was like being back there again! Lee Ermey is good but in this one, he is FANTASTIC; Wings Hauser also turns in a superb job as his close friend and is very believable, for a civilian (meaning non-military), and the clown who plays the chopper pilot is so REAL, I couldn't believe that he WASN'T a 'Nam pilot! I spent 16 months over there and was on many Firebases, and was overrun many times and this film over the ensuing years has caused me many flashbacks, but it's so great, I can't help re-watching it again and again - I just don't plan on getting much sleep that night. If you haven't seen it- Do so! It's the best Viet-Nam flick on the market-I think even better than Full metal Jacket, because it's serious to the end.

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19 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
well, i sponsored this film to be put in the database..., 2 August 1999
Author: Dana Bingham (dabing@worldnet.att.net) from austin, texas

i had bragged on this film so much over the last year that i finally pleaded with IMDB to include it, and they did (thank you).

i finally got home from a contract and found several folks had put in comments ahead of me. i respect these opinions expressed and am pleased that the film got such an immediate group of comments.

this movie is a shocker, and much of what it says is too painful to be accepted by most folks. i am not going to defend it... it is worthy of standing alone. but if you watched it and found it another RAH-RAH WE ARE AMERICANS film, a john wayne we win in the end shootem-up, then consider watching it again, but pretend you come from america, home of the north viet nam peoples and the round eyes are the invaders from a place far away and unimportant.... then see if you can count the autocracies committed in the name of their backward, wrong country. no, this is not a routine movie, not by any sense of the word.

by the way, Lee Ermey is a genuine, real live viet nam war hero, multiple tours, a leader of men... his performance is over the top for those of you who weren't there, but for us guys who had 3 feet of piled dirt between us and 500 of them at one time or the other, nothing sounded so good as a gruff old man saying that if we did as we were told, we would live to see morning.

catch Lee in 'purple hearts'

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11 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Gritty, realistic, and worth the watch, 11 April 2004
Author: (fredgarrett@sbcglobal.net) from Alvin, Texas

I was an 8 yr old wanna be marine in 1968, having grown up on a steady diet of books about the Marine's island-hopping campaign during WWII and shows like "Combat!", "Sands Of Iwo Jima", "To Hell and Back", and "The Longest Day." My hearts desire was to be with the defenders of a place I could barely pronounce [Khe Sanh]and help them break out of that siege. As a result, over the years I have read almost every combat account/Oral History and a few novels about that particular war and the experience of being in it.

SOFG answered one of the abiding questions I'd always had during my many readings: "What was it like when your firebase was overrun?" I could never quite understand or picture it until I saw that movie. The performances were excellent--R. Lee Ermey in particular--and the character development of the NVA/VC added a welcome and needed layer to the movie. There were flaws, for sure, like rifles that shot for ever, and defenders not crouching down but standing tall; but from what I have read, the movie was realistic and right on target. The very 'feel' of it seemed to capture what I had read about that war.

And to the many vets who served there: thank you for your service and sacrifice for this country, and all that you saw and endured. If instead of Vietman, WWII or Korea had been the 'first TV War', people's repulsion for what they saw as real war would have been taken out in a similar way on those who served in these conflicts.

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11 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Can a movie have too much shooting???, 8 April 1999
Author: Aaron Woodin (purchagent@aol.com) from White Plains

The answer is yes!

I enjoyed Siege of Firebase Gloria - good performances, decent writing, and the fact that it took us behind the scenes, depicting the NVA and Vietcong with convincing attention to detail. (Note that I didn't say accuracy!) My "yes" answer stems from the fact that the battle scenes went on for a bit too long in places - but all in all, SOFG is a first-rate low budget Vietnam film.

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9 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Very Watchable, 25 August 2003

Author: Robert W. Anderson (bayareabob@mac.com) from United States

R. Lee Emrey strikes again. This a good movie, made better by R Lee. His While this film strays from historical accuracy. It gets enough right to make it interesting, even to those of us who we had to be there (VN). There is a very watchable film.

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11 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Refreshingly old-fashioned, 18 October 1998

Author: Varlaam from Toronto, Canada

An isolated firebase faces human wave assaults from the VC at the start of Tet.

This is the Vietnam War just the way we thought or preferred to think about it at the time: the Americans are the good guys, Charlie's the bad guy, South Vietnamese civilians are the ones being protected, everyone loves being in the Corps, inter-service co-operation is something you can always take for granted. The reality was a bit more complicated, but it didn't seem that way to a lot of people then.

It's about time the guys who were over there, or sit-at-home strategists back here, got a movie that validates their recollections and good intentions, one that's realistic, but without being too gung ho on the one hand (like "The Green Berets"), or too negative about US involvement on the other (like most other Vietnam films). I don't think I buy this point of view personally anymore, but it's good to have it available as an option.

Lee Ermey is totally authentic as always. Wings Hauser is not at that level but he's good enough. The Vietnamese are generally played by Filipinos who don't completely look the part but do a decent job.

There's plenty of mayhem for action buffs -- much of the movie looks like the climax from "Glory" (or "Zulu"). Pot-smoking is frowned upon in this one, as is poor grooming (I did say old-fashioned). Everybody does his duty, especially Charlie.

The good guys win this time.

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10 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Sam Fuller Gone Nuts, 18 November 2003
Author: Tjcj from St. Louis, MO

Incessant combat scenes and hilarious characterizations put this one in the pantheon. The split psyche protagonist(s) approach ala Anthony Mann is used pretty well here as a "professional" soldier embodied by Ermey's Sgt. Major is played off of Wings Hauser's kill-at-all-costs DiNardo. After a few scenes with these two guys you realize they are the most bughouse psychos ever unleashed as leaders on an unsuspecting war-movie platoon. The scene where Ermey parades around with the heads of two GI's who were taken by surprise and murdered in the darkness at their post is the blackest comedy . Throw in a wiseass chopper pilot who feasts off of death dealing nihilism . This one is in a class of it's own. Antecedents: "Beau Geste". "Zulu". "Khartoum". Any Alamo movie.(Did I miss any?) See also "We Were Soldiers" for a lot of similar scenes.

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