Hamburger Hill -- An Unknown Masterpiece 

In a poll of Vietnam vets asking them which Vietnam movie was most realistic, Hamburger Hill won, and won big......

My dad served in Vietnam (69 -70), according to him. This is the best Vietnam war movie based on his experiences in Vietnam.

You nailed it. This to me is the best Vietnam war movie ever. Hands down. There was always just something different about it. It was raw and it made you feel as if you had been wounded and left a part of yourself on that hill. That hill and the men around you were all that mattered. In the world. You were taken down to that base level. Nothing else mattered. It don’t mean nothin’. Not a thing.

So many vets I met including my uncle tell me this is the most correct Vietnam War movie they've ever seen You nailed it 1000%

There is something that keeps drawing me back to this movie. The characters and the way they represent the time period by having it be through the soldier's world pov is something I think is beautiful. This is probably forgotten because of how real it is in the sense of you being able to get these crazy things that occur in war but the people experiencing it feel like they are real people and not characters in a movie.

Indeed the best Vietnam war movie ever! I have seen it dozens of times and always feel the sadness and sorrow, knowing that these guys died for nothing… truly sad… every time I watch it, it amazes me how detail oriented it was… the background action… the acting… everything just fell right into place. I just can’t believe that this movie didn’t get the attention and respect it deserves… the end quote gets me every time : If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go. Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own. And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind. Major Michael Davis O'Donnell 1 January 1970 Dak To, Vietnam Long love the soldiers from Hill 937! #NotToBeForgotten 🇺🇸

Such a great movie. My family rented it in 1987, and bought the VHS not to far later. I have it on DVD now. Greatly under rated.

It was as real as it came. You got to feel what they felt....the mental anguish of watching your platoon die off and not being able to properly grieve which many people don't realize. My dad lived to tell the horror being in Vietnam. He suffered PTSD and he struggled every day to live in the real world and raise a family but it was hard and as child I didn't quite get it. Until now after he passed away. I started watching this movie and came to understanding him and his friends who were fellow Nam brothers. Oh my childhood was filled with Vietnam stories and movies. But this movie stood out more than any others including Apocalypse now and Platoon. To all the soldiers and to the children who grew up watching our fathers struggle through the after affects of this insidious war....I salute you I see you and I love you all. And also welcome home......I now understand why every time my dad would say welcome home to fellow Vietnam vets....im proud of you all.

The ending quote, the music, the experiences of each soldier shown, the tape message.. so real and visceral. This movie gives it 200% from every single aspect….it is like you say; It shows it’s magic in its ingenuity and portrayal of everything relating to the experiences of those involved

One of the best Nam music scenes too with The Animals. Gets better and more relevant every day.

"at least they take a side, you just take pictures". Probably my fave line.

Thank you so much for this, I watched this as a teenager in the 90s and rank it up there with Platoon for my favourite Vietnam war movie. I joined the army, went infantry and went to Afghanistan in part because of these movies. It’s easy to sit on the sidelines, it’s a different thing to be a grunt. As Dylan McDermott says, “You don’t have to like it. But you do have to show up.” Or something to that effect haha.

My favorite war movie... Been watching this countless time... Greetings from Malaysia

My father fought in the Vietnam war and he said Hamburger Hill was the most accurate to what he had to deal with in the war.

Films get buried for a reason and that makes them more interesting to watch. Many young Americans signed up to war in Vietnam due to a top gun mentality...a programming. They thought it was a game. Good video, I'll look this film up.

Definitely one of my most favorite Vietnam movies. (Also throwing in Tim Quill and Dylan McDermott didn’t hurt! 🤗) However something to not forget is that Hill 937 is real and many real guys died on that piece of dirt. 😔🙏♥️

Great review. You said it all. Thank you.

My favorite throughout all of the Vietnam Movies

Thank you for your elegant description. You capture the whole idea that is precisely what this movie is about. A master piece in terms of depiction of reality. It’s the only war film that makes me cry because it focuses in the essence “….And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind."

I believe this film is starting to get the credit it deserves, even so many years later, that it should've gotten then. This is my favorite Vietnam War Movie and is the best Vietnam War movie ever made.

That eerie, almost tonally dissonant soundtrack is always what kept be renting this movie from Blockbuster

I agree that Hamburger Hill is underrated. It's brutal, authentic, and the score elevates it to great.

I watched this movie when I was a teenager and thought it was pretty good. I watched it again after being in the Army for a coupla years and it was immediately one of my favorite movies ever.

Totally agree. Best Vietnam war movie ever. I first remember watching my dad’s VHS of this when I was 18 (24 years ago), and it’s the only war movie I’ve ever watched again and again. Timeless, masterful and horrific all at the same time.

I remember seeing this film in the late 90s as a teenager and was haunted by its portrayal it showed. Very good but very haunting movie.

Have to say, yes platoon is good, but I actually prefer this and it hits you hard, I think We Were Soldiers is probably the best. Hamburger hill is the most impacting in a way

FYI I served in the Marines 79-83 so NOT a Vietnam Vet so take this for what its worth. This is one of, if not the best Vietnam war. I roll my eyes when others think Full Metal Jacket is the best one on Vietnam or a good movie at all for that matter.

Hamburger Hill is a masterpiece. Certainly the most realistic war movie I’ve seen and the best Vietnam movie imo. Awesome soundtrack and score too. Some of the acting ranges from excellent to poor at times which is the only thing negative I would say about the movie.

Hamburger Hill came out around the same time as Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, and as a result kind of got lost. But I always preferred this to both of them.

It was the Poem by the dead Army Major that the Producer included in the Opening scene that endeared me to the story of the Rakassans and the history of the 187th brigade.

Totally agree with your opinion. I have watched this many times. I remember when I was in college reading about this battle in Newsweek and watching it on the evening news. A sma.l view of the sacrifice made by our soldiers in a pointless war without a definition of what victory was to be. No goal, no measure of accomplishment, just sacrifice and body counts.

Great take on Saving Private Ryan, however I think Speilberg & Hanks created a masterpiece with The Pacific. Different formats covering different wars certainly, but I'd put The Pacific in the same class as Hamburger Hill.

I agree with everything you said. Well done sir. I actually did know about this film and saw it in the theater when it came out.

I have heard of he movie I saw it when it came out as a kid in the 80's and we had the VHS movie. It is a good movie I never knew how real it was but was told it was accurate to what happen back in 1969 on that hill

Excellent review FF.

Up hill battle is always the hardest one. This film is in my top five of war films and I do enjoy seeing it when I can to feel what they felt. ( I try to understand what the film is showing me and think on it) At the end of the day, it's just human against human. Great film. Great video.

great review, well done

Dead right, i have seen it and never forget it even 35 years later...

part of me watching it wanted to enlist after not cause it looked like a good time, but that's what those men did for this country. what have I done?

always been one of my favorites

It dont mean nothing,not a thing.

I don’t know how I found your channel but I really like your video’s. Watching this video I was reminded of a film I think you should watch. It’s the Russian film ‘Come and See’. That film is a horrific film from the view of a boy. It’s almost surreal in the way it shows the complexity of war I have barely seen.

Agree 100 percent

Ima watch it

Perhaps there should be a movie of the defenders of the hill like Clint Eastwood's "Iwo Jima" since they held on thru various assaults. The battle pushed the VC out of Vietnam resulting in the NVA taking over so it wasn't just over a piece of dirt. Also, what frustrated the matter were the underground tunnel systems throughout Vietnam that aerial bombings couldn't reach. The phase "It doesn't matter" was a great moral booster that got people thru the war.

Great review. I realy appreciate it. Il love that film. To bad nor french nor vietamese have done such a film. Geeetings from france.

The film is, uncertain and comfortable. With no stand out heros, just dudes who die in the mud in horrific pain for a pile of dirt and blood.

It was said that this is the most realistic Vietnam movie

I feel the message and tone of the film are it's strongest points which can be accredited to the writer and producer James Carabatsos. Unfortunately the cinematography, sound editing and editing in general, as well as the direction of John Irvin are poor. Sad because it could be a good film that tries to illustrate elements other films of this genre discard. I agree that the notorious films he listed lack the realism and feel too polished, but ultimately they required a lot more effort and finance to produce. On reflection there aren't any good real feel Vietnam films. The Quiet American is another example of a novel premise in this setting but doesn't quite hit the mark due to directing again and Brendan Fraser! Deer Hunter is to existentialist and abstract to be included. Therefor Forrest Gump is still my favourite of this genre :0)

Platoon (10/10) Hamburger hill (11/10) Full metal jacket (10/10) The unoficial trilogy I know there where others like Apocalyse now and We where soldiers but theese 3 where made in the same decade

On dvd and blue ray.

You sound like Pawn Stars "Big Hoss"

"Hamburger Hill" is so suppieror to its contemporaries, especially "Platoon," because it WASN'T an antiwar film. It presents a slice of life in a war that was complicated, NOT UNPOPULAR. The fact of the matter is gallop polls suggested most Americans (not college kids) supported the war. The war hawk Richard Nixon won reelection in a LANDSLIDE in 1972. So this talk about Vietnam being an "unpopular" war is yellow journalism (a lie). What amazes me about "Hamburger Hill" is that it took a British director, John Irvin, to tell like it was. Unfortunately, most of the American directors were more interested in the boring lie.

My birthday was when hamburger hill ended

It’s got one of the corniest death scenes (when alphabet dies). But it’s a great movie.

I found this movie at my local thrift store and I had the choice between buying this movie or Fight Club I think I made the right choice

Platoon is the best

For me to its the best vietnam war movie. Until vietnamese do their war movie to.

It was a good film but fill with Anglos and Blacks, no Hispanics actors! Yet, the first soldier on Hamburger Hill was a Hispanic! Sgt. Alvesrez!

Best Vietnam war films: 1. Platoon 2. We were soldiers 3. Hamburger Hill 4. Full Metal Jacket 5. Bat 21

this and platoon are the best.

I cannot deny there are some virtues within the film, but ultimately don't find it competently made. Characters are unsympathetic, too much military slang, actors mostly suck (except McDermott and Vance) and the documentaristic approach is more of a flaw than good thing. I disliked the toneless direction.