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Da 5 Bloods

  • 2020
  • R
  • 2h 34m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
56K
YOUR RATING
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
From Academy Award Winner Spike Lee comes the story of four African-American Vets — Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) — who return to Vietnam. Searching for the remains of their fallen Squad Leader (Chadwick Boseman) and the promise of buried treasure, our heroes, joined by Paul's concerned son (Jonathan Majors), battle forces of Man and Nature — while confronted by the lasting ravages of The Immorality of The Vietnam War.
Play trailer2:30
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Jungle AdventureAdventureDramaWar

Four black veterans battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.Four black veterans battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.Four black veterans battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.

  • Director
    • Spike Lee
  • Writers
    • Danny Bilson
    • Paul De Meo
    • Kevin Willmott
  • Stars
    • Delroy Lindo
    • Jonathan Majors
    • Clarke Peters
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.5/10
    56K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Spike Lee
    • Writers
      • Danny Bilson
      • Paul De Meo
      • Kevin Willmott
    • Stars
      • Delroy Lindo
      • Jonathan Majors
      • Clarke Peters
    • 875User reviews
    • 257Critic reviews
    • 82Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 41 wins & 200 nominations total

    Videos25

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:30
    Official Trailer
    Da 5 Bloods
    Trailer 2:41
    Da 5 Bloods
    Da 5 Bloods
    Trailer 2:41
    Da 5 Bloods
    A Guide to Spike Lee Joints
    Clip 2:03
    A Guide to Spike Lee Joints
    All About Jonathan Majors
    Clip 1:29
    All About Jonathan Majors
    Innovative Films the 2021 Oscars Missed for Best Picture
    Clip 3:00
    Innovative Films the 2021 Oscars Missed for Best Picture
    Memorable Military Moments in Film
    Clip 1:27
    Memorable Military Moments in Film

    Photos166

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    Top cast74

    Edit
    Delroy Lindo
    Delroy Lindo
    • Paul
    Jonathan Majors
    Jonathan Majors
    • David
    Clarke Peters
    Clarke Peters
    • Otis
    Norm Lewis
    Norm Lewis
    • Eddie
    Isiah Whitlock Jr.
    Isiah Whitlock Jr.
    • Melvin
    Mélanie Thierry
    Mélanie Thierry
    • Hedy
    Paul Walter Hauser
    Paul Walter Hauser
    • Simon
    Jasper Pääkkönen
    Jasper Pääkkönen
    • Seppo
    Johnny Tri Nguyen
    Johnny Tri Nguyen
    • Vinh Tran
    • (as Johnny Trí Nguyen)
    Y. Lan
    • Tiên Luu
    • (as Lê Y Lan)
    Lam Nguyen
    Lam Nguyen
    • Quân
    • (as Nguyen Ngoc Lâm)
    Sandy Huong Pham
    • Michon
    Jean Reno
    Jean Reno
    • Desroche
    Chadwick Boseman
    Chadwick Boseman
    • Stormin' Norman
    Veronica Ngo
    Veronica Ngo
    • Hanoi Hannah
    Anh Tuan Nguyen
    Anh Tuan Nguyen
    • Chavy
    • (as Nguyen Anh Tuan)
    Duc Luong
    • Bao
    Quoc Tuan
    • Tam
    • Director
      • Spike Lee
    • Writers
      • Danny Bilson
      • Paul De Meo
      • Kevin Willmott
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews875

    6.556.3K
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    Featured reviews

    6jamaisj-838-93732

    So Much Promise....

    There's a lot of really cool stuff going on in this movie, but the directing and writing gets in the way. Ultimately, the movie tries to link the Viet Nam war and racism, and fails miserably. In trying to fight the two different wars, it loses a lot.

    There's a lot of issues with the movie, but they come down to three issues: 1) It needs to decide which movie it's remaking. It basically tries to combine Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Apocalypse Now, and Three Kings and fails at it because of how different the three movies are. 2) The length; this movie could have been told much more effectively in almost half the time. I know it's trying to combine three movies, but that's no excuse for just taking too much time on things. 3) The over-the-top racism. I know this is a weird call, but the movie could have been a lot more effective had it toned down the racism. Also, some of the incidents involved contribute to the length of the movie without really adding anything.

    The apparent lack of any military knowledge on the part of Lee (the sheer number of military gaffes, such as salutes and ammunition) as well as the obvious call-backs to movies involved keep throwing watchers out of the movie.

    This had the potential to be an incredible movie, especially as the acting is incredible and the cinematography is gorgeous, but it's just too long and too many issues to be even a satisfactory movie.
    4DJWinston

    A Spike Lee Disjoint

    Much as I admire Spike Lee's talent and audacity, this film just didn't work for me. Too many preposterous plot points while the motivations (of everyone, it seemed) were never clear. The whole thing was just confusing.

    And yes, disjointed.
    5ronakkotian

    A mixed bag of feelings

    Spike Lee is one of the most interesting filmmakers out there. His films have a lot to say and he isn't afraid to voice his opinions. I thought BlacKkKlansman was pretty good but this film is definitely a step down from that.

    Da 5 Bloods is about four soldiers that return to Vietnam years after fighting in the Vietnam War and try to find their fallen squadron leader and the gold they all hid.

    This film really put me on the fence. There are parts of it which I like and other areas which I didn't like. I get what Spike Lee was trying to convey relating to African Americans in the war and the problems with it but I feel his execution of the subject was lacklustre.

    A few things I did enjoy were the four main cast members. At the very beginning of the film I really felt a sense of camaraderie between them and I especially liked watching Delroy Lindo's performance throughout. The use of archival footage added to the realism of the film with some creating a very intense and uncomfortable feeling to the viewer. I thought the changing aspect ratios worked for the most part. The war scenes that were shot in 4:3 seemed like footage that was actually filmed long ago.

    Apart from that, the film is flawed. A huge technique which bothered me throughout was how Lee wanted to tell the audience the film's themes. There are many moments where the characters just talk about the film's themes without us trying to figure it out ourselves. It gets to a point where it feels preachy. Clearly subtlety is not a strong factor in this film. There's a sequence where a character miraculously finds something which seemed way too convenient for that to happen. The dialogue was pretty bland and I wasn't a fan of some of the editing choices. With a runtime of 2 hours 30 minutes, it could've been cut down to be a tad shorter as some scenes drag.

    I don't think Da 5 Bloods is as bad as some people say it is or as good as some critics say it is. There are good parts to it but it's unfortunate Lee took a few bad decisions to convey a story that had potential. You can watch it if you want but I would skip out on this one.
    4eddie_baggins

    Did I watch a different film to the critics?

    Since his first true feature film She's Gotta Have It in 1986, Spike Lee has remained one of the most passionate and hard-working filmmakers in the industry, with each of his projects being born from the mind of an outspoken individual who isn't afraid to tackle issues and subject matters others would do all they could to avoid.

    While this passion has made for some outstanding individual results and moments, Lee has also continued to be one of the most eclectic directors when its comes to quality control, with audiences unsure whether they are getting a new masterpiece or a genuine dud, such is the wide ranging variation of his projects.

    For every Do the Right Thing, The 25th Hour or BlacKKKlansman there's an Oldboy, Miracle at St. Anna or Red Hook Summer, works of an artist that sometimes loses focus on quality control in his quest to tackle the often controversial material his bringing to life.

    One of his most high-profile releases of the last decade, Lee's first feature since the Oscar winning success of BlacKKKlansman is his long time coming Vietnam passion project Da 5 Bloods, a well-cast Netflix production that shines a light on black service man in the Vietnam war, whilst also offering a thrilling treasure hunt plot-line with aging African American veterans returning to the battlefields of the war torn country.

    It's an incredibly intriguing set-up and one that allows Lee to explore topical race related scenarios while also operating in one of his biggest cinematic playgrounds yet but this two and a half hour exercise is the type of let-down of a film that is littered throughout Lee's career, as his poor pacing, editing, story developments and intrusively scored effort continually disappoints throughout.

    Loaded up with a cast full of talent with Delroy Lindo, The Wire's Clark Peters and Isiah Whitlock Jr, Jean Reno and Black Panther himself Chadwick Boseman all involved, Da 5 Bloods appears on paper to be ripe for the best type of Lee film but with a collection of mostly unlikable characters, long in the tooth scenarios and situations and an abundance of atrocious plot contrivances (hello gold discovery during a toilet break), Lee's exercise has too many flaws to overlook and more often than not feels amateurish, not the work of an Oscar winning writer.

    It's not to say the film is bereft of good ideas or moments, there are numerous touching scenes exploring the effect of war on these man, particularly in how they returned to a country that seemed to not value their services or still continued to judge them by their skin color and some of the interplay between the experienced actors makes for both funny and heartfelt viewing but too often than not Lee is hammering his audience over the head with the films topics with all the care of a sledgehammer, instead of refining his product into a polished offering it was so desperately in need of becoming.

    Final Say -

    A hugely disappointing effort from Lee, Da 5 Bloods may have found its share of critical acclaim but while its themes and subject matter should be commended, as a film; this Netflix release is as unpolished and unfocused as they come.

    2 gold bars out of 5
    6isaacsundaralingam

    Spike Lee is both the best thing and the worst thing about this movie

    There are enjoyable aspects to this movie, certainly... but as a whole, it feels disoriented. And I'd place the blame (and the credit) on director Spike Lee's directorial choices.

    An aspect of his directorial style I loved was the 4th wall breaking monologues as delivered by actor Delroy Lindo in the final act of the movie... It was a creative choice that I felt added more weight to the character. But then there are other aspects of Lee's style that just doesn't do it for me... And as was in his last feature BlacKkKlansman... he has a tendency to be overbearingly loud about his messaging when in fact he doesn't have to be. The historical contexts added into the movie (as displayed through a collection of images interrupting the flow of the movie) feel unnecessarily preachy in a script that has very little to do with any of it.

    Leaving all that aside, there's still a little charm left in the movie, courtesy of the chemistry the lead actors share on screen. And they all do a great job with the material handed to them, although I felt like the script they were working with could have been a little more accommodating to their talents. The script... although follows a very interesting premise, fails to meaningfully add any depth to it all.

    Overall, I'm not saying I hated it, but it's a movie that's very difficult to love. I have nothing but respect for Spike Lee as a director, but this just doesn't do it for me.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This was Chadwick Boseman's final film to be released in his lifetime. He has one other Netflix film to be released later in 2020: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). Chadwick worked on both films while undergoing treatment for the colon cancer that ended his life.
    • Goofs
      The amount of gold in their backpacks is much too heavy to be carried and tossed around as shown in the movie.
    • Quotes

      Melvin: Sheeeeeeeeit!

    • Connections
      Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: At Home Edition: John Oliver/Spike Lee/Benee & Gus Dapperton (2020)
    • Soundtracks
      Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
      Written by Marvin Gaye (as Marvin P. Gaye) and James Nyx

      Performed by Marvin Gaye

      Courtesy of Motown Records

      Under License from Universal Music Enterprises

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    FAQ18

    • How long is Da 5 Bloods?Powered by Alexa
    • Is it coincidental ( I doubt it....) that 5 of the main characters are named after the original Temptations?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 12, 2020 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Finnish
      • French
      • Vietnamese
    • Also known as
      • 5 sangres
    • Filming locations
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
    • Production companies
      • 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
      • Rahway Road Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Atmos
      • Dolby Digital
      • Dolby Surround 7.1
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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