United States

John Wayne leads his men against a deadly and determined enemy. They called them the toughest fighting force on earth - the elite Special Forces troops hand-picked and trained for anti-guerrilla warfare in Vietnam. Like the French Foreign Legionnaires in Indochina fifteen years before, the American Green Berets were masters of the arts of war, Robin Moore's bestselling novel told their story, in bringing this story to the screen, John Wayne made his most forceful statement on the nature of duty and courage amid the political uncertainties of the war in Vietnam. Wayne both starred in and co-directed The Green Berets (Wayne's second turn behind the cameras, his first being The Alamo, another saga of brave men in bad times, as well as writing personally to President Lyndon Johnson requesting Pentagon cooperation in his filming effort. The military hardware provided by the U. S. Government helped Wayne create an impressive spectacle. Particularly dramatic is a long night battle in which the Special Forces camp is overrun by the enemy, then re-taken The ever-shifting perimeter, the confusion of friend and foe, the overpowering weaponry and chaotic communication make this excellently choreographed scene vividly symbolic. Planned In 1965 and released in 1968, The Green Berets gave America its first big-screen look at the Vietnam war - a look often in sharp contrast to the gritty documentary footage already being shown in TV news broadcasts. But The Green Berets is best seen as drama of any war, not one particular war. Its soldiers fit the familiar, engaging mold of World War II movies like Air Force and Objective Burma. Its actors, notably Aldo Ray and Raymond St. Jacques, give lean and straightforward performances. We can enjoy The Green Berets as an exciting adventure film, on its own merits, for its own sake. And we can also respond to it as John Wayne's personal testament of honor beginning the final decade of his long, honored career.