Hamburger Hill poster & wallpaper

Anthony Barille, Anthony Barrile, Courtney B. Vance

Because it was released less than a year after Oliver Stone's Platoon and within months of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, this exceptionally well-made film about one of the bloodie...( read more  read more... )st battles of the Vietnam War was largely overshadowed and overlooked. It's a pity, because in some respects this is the best of the Vietnam films of the late 1980s, at least in terms of the everyday authenticity it depicts. Stripped clean of dramatically extraneous narrative, the movie opts instead for a straightforward approach to its day-by-day account of one of the war's costliest victories--a deadly siege on Hill 937 in the Ashau Valley, where soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division engaged the enemy over the course of eleven brutal assaults between May 10th and 20th, 1969. The film specifically follows the 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon, a mixture of "new guys" and battle-weary "short-timers" who fought against terrifying odds and suffered a 70% casualty rate. From first scene to last, Hamburger Hill traces the rise and fall of their battle experience, from the horror of firefights to the camaraderie of men who've faced death and survived. Racial tensions flare and subside, trusts are established, and courage emerges from unexpected places. Through it all, writer Jim Carabatsos and director John Irvin maintain a purity of focus that pays tribute to the soldier's life without promoting false patriotism or gung-ho theatrics. In addition, the film features a cast full of talented and well-known actors in the early stages of their careers, including Dylan McDermott (from the TV series "The Practice") and Don Cheadle, before gaining fame in Devil in a Blue Dress and Boogie Nights. Color accuracy, image clarity, and the explosive soundtrack have been remarkably preserved in a flawless DVD transfer, lending even greater immediacy to this underrated film. --Jeff Shannon

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69% liked it

27,708 ratings

R, 94 min.

Directed by: John Irvin

Release Date: August 28, 1987

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DVD Release Date: February 15, 2000

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Flixster Reviews (717)

  • SirPant
    September 29, 2009
    SirPant
    Overlooked and underrated, this is a realistic and brutal portrayal of the war in Vietnam. Powerful and entertaining!
  • danperry17
    January 25, 2009
    danperry17
    "It don't mean nothin'" is the characters' refrain in this film, and the main characteristic that makes this film worth watching. An honest-to-goodness war pic in the spirit of classics like The Longest Day, the campaign to take Hill 937 is memorialized in this film by the name t...( read more)he troops bestowed upon it: Hamburger Hill. Though it was the late 80s, and while this film has some elements that suggest that it might have been at least partially directed at the Iron Eagle/Steven Seagal demographic, a much more important target audience for this film is probably veterans of the Vietnam War who, like those who watched (e.g., again) The Longest Day, were given the opportunity to see their own experience of a battle and a platoon dissected and re-created on the big screen... a basically true Vietnam War story among the thousands filmmakers have been scared to tell, minus the soapboxing of Oliver Stone, Stanley Kubrick and others. (Not to take anything away from Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July and Full Metal Jacket.)

    Hamburger Hill is a loyal film - opening with the Vietnam memorial and closing with a dedication to those lost in this battle and the war as a whole - and it's a portrayal not necessarily of the war, but of the people in the war. In one sense, I couldn't care much about the characters, because there are so many and they aren't very developed, but in another sense, the device works: in a platoon and war such as this one, a soldier doesn't really get to know his (her) peers so well - re-assignments and casualties very quickly get in the way. Some bonds do form, though, and Dylan McDermott (who, until now, I never liked in The Practice or anything else) played the role of the Sergeant very well, displaying his compassion for his men, and his understanding of the aspects of all of their personalities. (The film also features an early performance by Don Cheadle, and one of my favourite sitcom actors of all-time, Brian from Wings, Steven Weber.)

    Protest, race relations, bureaucracy and media sensationalism are all in the background, but while some may call the portrayal of these aspects of the war dismissive, I concur with the soldiers' opinion that the film presents: it don't mean nothin'. This is a film about the experience of a group of men fighting together, and probably more for each other than for any of the supposedly noble goals of God or country or apple pie or communist containment, or whatever the hell that war was about. Real men went, and real men died, and this is a film that doesn't lack in realism in making its point. Some parts could have been better - for the last 10 minutes everyone is wearing way too much eyeliner, for example - but at the risk of over-intellectualizing a simple war movie, I'm going to say it: I truly think that this is a misunderstood film, and one too often overlooked in the Vietnam canon.
  • garyX
    December 17, 2008
    garyX
    Hamburger Hill is the story of a group of soldiers ordered to take a "strategically important hill" in Vietnam. Overshadowed by its contemporaries Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, this is a very creditable account of the Vietnam war viewed day by day by soldiers fighting a pointles...( read more)s and bloody battle for a grid reference. It's essentially an analogy of the whole war, as the characters are dehumanized, traumatized and butchered by a largely unseen enemy for reasons it's difficult to fathom. The structure of the film is basically a series of brutally realistic and mud-soaked battle sequences punctuated by the soldiers bonding and discussing the various politics involved in their being there. This does come across as a little dry and emotionally uninvolving by its very nature as there is little point and therefore plot to the action and obviously a glorious victory is not forthcoming. A young Don Cheadle and particularly Courtney Vance as the likable and politically outspoken Doc are the standouts of an otherwise no-name cast, and it is an intelligent and honest depiction of men at war that's well worth a look if you enjoyed its contemporaries.
  • JDFortuneFan
    April 7, 2007
    JDFortuneFan
    Based upon actual events, you'll feel the horror knowing the lives of many were taken by friendly fire.
  • BlueTorch
    February 17, 2006
    BlueTorch
    A little too realistic for me, but I can't argue that it's not a good movie.
  • jamesm1068
    October 3, 2009
    jamesm1068
    lots of action, good acting throughout
  • se7enthangel
    September 9, 2009
    se7enthangel
    Based on true events.It was Vietnam, 1969, Hill 937, 10 days, 70 percent casualties. New recruits were sent on a suicide mission to capture the insignificant and well-protected Hamburger Hill.
    Brutal and very bloody but downright realistic too.It is not as high-budgeted, as Plat...( read more)oon and Full Metal Jacket but just as deserving in credits.
  • loftythe1st
    August 17, 2009
    loftythe1st
    great film lots of action from vietnam
  • psyclock7
    June 9, 2009
    psyclock7
    I'm not really into war flicks, but this one was pretty good...
  • antoniogonzales1122
    June 6, 2009
    antoniogonzales1122
    DRAMATICA HISTORIA SOBRE LA GUERRA DE VIET NAM UNA DE LAS CATASTOFRES DE LOS EE.UU.

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  • crazycrazyman26
    January 11, 2007
    crazycrazyman26
    A great film,battle scenes are better ther Platoon,as one person said,"WAR AT IS WORST,FOUGHT BY MEN AT THEY BEST!!".True story of the 101st Airborne,in Vietnam,still rated as a top war film.
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Hamburger Hill Trivia

  • In which 80s Vietnam War flick did the soldiers perform the morale boosting "Don't mean nothin'" ritual?  Answer »
  • "Hamburger Hill" is about which war?  Answer »
  • Which "Ocean's Eleven" star is in the 80s Vietnam War movie "Hamburger Hill"?   Answer »
  • Which "Ocean's Eleven" star is in the 80s Vietnam War movie "Hamburger Hill"?   Answer »
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