Gardens of Stone (1987)

A Sergeant must deal with his desires to save the lives of young soldiers being sent to Viet Nam. Continuously denied the chance to teach the soldiers about his experiences, he settles for trying to help the son of an old Army buddy.

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola (as Francis Coppola)

Writers:

Nicholas Proffitt (novel), Ronald Bass (screenplay)

Stars:

James Caan, Anjelica Huston, James Earl Jones

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Caan	...	Sgt. Clell Hazard
Anjelica Huston	...	Samantha Davis
James Earl Jones	...	'Goody' Nelson
D.B. Sweeney	...	Jackie Willow
Dean Stockwell	...	Homer Thomas
Mary Stuart Masterson	...	Rachel Feld
Dick Anthony Williams	...	Slasher Williams
Lonette McKee	...	Betty Rae
Sam Bottoms	...	Lt. Webber
Elias Koteas	...	Pete Deveber
Laurence Fishburne	...	Sgt. Flanagan (as Larry Fishburne)
Casey Siemaszko	...	Wildman
Peter Masterson	...	Col. Feld
Carlin Glynn	...	Mrs. Feld
Erik Holland	...	Col. Godwin

Storyline

In the late 60s, during the Vietnam War, the idealistic soldier Jackie Willow arrives at Fort Meyer expecting to go to the Academy and then to the Vietnam War. Jackie is the son of a veteran sergeant and soon he becomes the protégé of the former friends of his father, Sergeant Clell Hazard and Sergeant Major 'Goody' Nelson. Jackie is promoted and gets married with his childhood friend Rachel Feld, to recommend Jackie to the Academy. He is promoted to lieutenant and asks to go to the Vietnam, returning to the Arlington National Cemetery.

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Plot Keywords:

female journalist | vietnam | sergeant | soldier | vietnam war | 

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Taglines:

The story of the war at home, and the people who lived through it.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second picture about the Vietnam War directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The first had been Apocalypse Now (1979).

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Goofs

In the beginning funeral scene, when the soldiers are folding Willow's flag, you see they are folding the blue field first, going to the red and white stripes. In the next scene, a pull-back, they are folding the flag stripes first. When a flag is folded, the blue field is always last so the triangle shows stars in a 1-3-5 configuration.

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Quotes

Jackie Willow: [over the phone]
[shouts]
Jackie Willow: Hey, Sarge! I need another favor.
Clell Hazard: [shouts] Oh, great. Let's see... you got my money, you got my car. I guess now you need my dick to seal the deal!

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Connections

Referenced in The Dream Studio (2004)

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Soundtracks

Georgy Girl
Written by Tom Springfield and Jim Dale
Performed by The Seekers
Courtesy of EMI Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Coppola revisits Vietnam

It's the military funeral of Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney) as he recounts his journey. It returns to Jackie's first day at Fort Myer which provides soldiers for Arlington National Cemetery and he's gungho to fight in Vietnam. He's the son of a friend of Sgt. Clell Hazard (James Caan) who tries to talk him out of Vietnam. He helps screw-up Wildman (Casey Siemaszko) from platoon Sgt. Flanagan (Laurence Fishburne). Sergeant Major Goody Nelson (James Earl Jones) and wife Betty Rae set up Hazard with anti-war Washington Post reporter Samantha Davis (Anjelica Huston). Pete Deveber (Elias Koteas) is a clerk and Homer Thomas (Dean Stockwell) is the commander. Jackie marries Rachel Feld (Mary Stuart Masterson), the daughter of a colonel.

Francis Ford Coppola revisits Vietnam with something less epic and more traditional. There are great actors. The thing I remember most is the story of the Vietcons fighting helicopters with arrows. This is certainly not as iconic as Apocalypse Now. It doesn't mean that it's not a worthwhile watch. For a war movie, this surprisingly has little war action. That's probably what throws most people off.

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 May 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gardens of Stone

Filming Locations:

Fort Myer, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,645,588, 10 May 1987

Gross USA:

$5,262,047

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,262,047

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, ML Delphi Premier Productions, Zoetrope Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1