Vietnam War in film

The Vietnam War has been the subject of many films. One of the first major films based on the Vietnam War was John Wayne's The Green Berets (1968). Further cinematic representations were released during the 1970s and 1980s, including Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978), Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), Oliver Stone's Platoon (1986), based on his service in the U.S. Military during the Vietnam War, and Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987), among others.

Other films in this genre include films that deal more with the issues veterans face at home after returning from the war. Films of this type include Heroes (the first postwar film to be released), Combat Shock (1986), First Blood (1982), The War at Home (1979), Taxi Driver (1976) Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Dead Presidents (1995), and Music Within (2007).

Post-war films

After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, there was an increase in films that were more "raw", containing actual battle footage. A FilmReference.com article noted that filmmakers "appeared more confident to put Vietnam combat on screen for the first time" during that era.^[1] These post-war film representations have generally been more realistic and gritty, such as The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalypse Now (1979).^[1]

The musical Miss Saigon focuses on the end of the war and its aftermath. In cinema, noted films that have shaped the popular conception of the war include Apocalypse Now, Platoon, The Deer Hunter, Hamburger Hill, Forrest Gump, Full Metal Jacket, Good Morning, Vietnam, Born on the Fourth of July, and the Rambo films. It was represented on television by the series Tour of Duty.

List

Documentary film list

See also

• Category:Vietnam War films
• War in popular culture

References

Further reading

• Taylor, Mark (2003), The Vietnam War in History, Literature, and Film, University of Alabama Press, ISBN 0817314016 
• Anderegg, Michael A. (1991), Inventing Vietnam: The War in Film and Television, Temple University Press, ISBN 0877228612 
• Hixon, Walter (2000), Historical memory and representations of the Vietnam War, Garland Publishing, ISBN 0815335369 
• Dittmar, Linda; Michaud, Gene (1990), From Hanoi to Hollywood: the Vietnam War in American film, Rutgers University Press, ISBN 0813515866