Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Four African-American vets 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 (as Paul Demeo)

Stars:

Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 39 wins & 188 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Delroy Lindo	...	Paul
Jonathan Majors	...	David
Clarke Peters	...	Otis
Norm Lewis	...	Eddie
Isiah Whitlock Jr.	...	Melvin
Mélanie Thierry	...	Hedy
Paul Walter Hauser	...	Simon
Jasper Pääkkönen	...	Seppo
Johnny Nguyen	...	Vinh Tran (as Johnny Trí Nguyen)
Y. Lan	...	Tiên Luu (as Lê Y Lan)
Lam Nguyen	...	Quân (as Nguyen Ngoc Lâm)
Sandy Huong Pham	...	Michon
Jean Reno	...	Desroche
Chadwick Boseman	...	Stormin' Norman
Veronica Ngo	...	Hanoi Hannah

Storyline

From Academy Award® Winner Spike Lee comes a new joint: 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.

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Plot Keywords:

vietnam war | 1960s | reciting the 23rd psalm | post traumatic stress disorder | gunfire | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, grisly images and pervasive language

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the final film of Chadwick Boseman to be released in his lifetime. He has one other Netflix film to be released later in 2020: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). And Chadwick worked on both films while undergoing treatment for the colon cancer that ended his life.

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Goofs

M16's did not have a burst setting in Viet Nam. It was full auto or semi auto so they could unleash a full 30 round burst if need be.

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Quotes

Vinh Tran: After you've been in a war, you understand it never really ends. Whether it's in your mind or in reality. There are just degrees.
Otis: Tell me about it.

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Connections

Referenced in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Oscars Untamed (2021)

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Soundtracks

God Is Love
Written by Anna Gordy Gaye (as Anna Gaye), Marvin Gaye (as Marvin P. Gaye), James Nyx and Elgie Stover
Performed by Delroy Lindo

User Reviews

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Finnish French Vietnamese

Release Date:

12 June 2020 (USA)

Also Known As:

Da 5 Bloods

Filming Locations:

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Company Credits

Production Co:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, Rahway Road Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

154 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1