The Green Berets Remains 1 of the Best Vietnam War Movies Ever

by

John Wayne and Ray Kellogg’s film, The Green Berets, remains one of the most divisive movies ever made in the United States. Most critics and viewers consider it a piece of propaganda, and the storyline strongly supports that view. Released in 1968, during a time of widespread opposition to the Vietnam War, the film was John Wayne’s effort to gain public support for the war. However, it received harsh criticism; Roger Ebert famously gave it a zero-star rating, describing it as both offensive and full of tired tropes, and audiences famously ridiculed the film’s closing scene where the sun appeared to set in the east.

Why look back at this film after 57 years? Well, The Green Berets is infamous as the most costly and public example of how not to make a war movie. It also uniquely shows the enormous scale of American military might clashing with Hollywood’s overconfidence. Despite not being accurate or exploring the trauma of war, it’s a standout film in the genre due to its impressive production and its part in the debate surrounding pro-war messaging.

The Green Berets Was a Spectacle of Production

Making The Green Berets was unlike most film projects of the time. By 1968, Hollywood studios largely avoided war stories. The conflict was a constant presence on the news, deeply dividing the nation, and filmmakers weren’t sure how to turn such a difficult subject into something people would enjoy. John Wayne, though, saw a chance to do something different. He aimed to create a film that would encourage patriotic feelings, and, given his status as John Wayne, he didn’t just get the go-ahead – he received full support from the studio.

Wayne contacted the White House directly, and the response was incredible government support – far exceeding what you typically see in big-budget movies. Reports indicate the Department of Defense didn’t just offer a few props; they essentially gave him full access to their resources. The film crew set up at Fort Benning, Georgia, and the military provided everything the production needed.

The production went to incredible lengths to achieve realism, utilizing everything from actual UH-1 Huey helicopters and massive C-130 planes to cutting-edge rifles most people hadn’t even glimpsed. The most impressive aspect of this collaboration is the set design. Rather than simply creating a movie set, the filmmakers built a complete and fully operational Forward Operating Base – a genuine base camp, not a flimsy imitation.

The filmmakers built incredibly realistic battle positions – complete with trenches, barbed wire, and mortar pits – and even cleared areas for effective lines of sight. The set was so authentic and strategically accurate that, unusually, the Army decided to keep it after filming finished. For years, soldiers preparing for deployment to Vietnam used it for training exercises. This level of realism is impossible to replicate with computer-generated imagery; you can see it in details like the actual dirt kicked up when a helicopter lands, proving the sheer scale and authenticity of The Green Berets.

The base’s location is naturally strong and defensible. It unintentionally captures a fascinating look at 1960s military power, filmed with a seemingly unlimited budget and direct access to the White House. It’s a powerful display of American industrial strength and the confidence of its military, documented just before things began to change.

The Green Berets Pulled Off Large-Scale War Filmmaking in the ’60s

As a fan, I really noticed how much the movie focused on how the Green Berets did things – all the gear, the strategies, and the way they operated. A big part of that is the scene where they’re defending Camp A-107, and honestly, it’s brilliantly done. Before any action even happens, the filmmakers take the time to walk you through the camp’s setup – you see the inner defenses, the outer wire, the area they expect the enemy to come through, and even where the mortars are positioned. It really builds the tension and helps you understand what’s at stake.

We clearly understood the battlefield layout and the threats. We knew exactly why it was so dangerous when enemy soldiers tried to break through our defenses. We also saw how brightly lit flares were used to make the night as visible as day – a tactic later popularized in films like We Were Soldiers. This perfectly showed the chaotic and terrifying experience of a nighttime battle, where the enemy seemed to be all around us, yet impossible to pinpoint.

The movie also highlights particular weapons, most notably the AC-47 gunship, nicknamed “Puff the Magic Dragon.” This aircraft was a cargo plane transformed into a heavily armed flying fortress, equipped with three miniguns that could unleash a massive amount of fire—thousands of rounds every minute. The film portrays its arrival as a kind of miraculous rescue.

I was completely hooked by this movie, even when it got really wild in the second half! What blew my mind was learning about the actual spy techniques they showed. There’s this incredible rescue method called the “Skyhook” – it’s a real thing the CIA used! Imagine a soldier using a helium balloon and a plane flying by to literally pull them up into the air without ever touching down. It’s unbelievable, but it actually happened!

The scene appears unbelievable, but this was an actual military tactic shown in the film The Green Berets. The movie presents the process with the thoroughness of a training video – we clearly see the soldiers preparing the equipment, inflating the balloon, and getting ready for the impact. The sequence is particularly memorable because it’s shown realistically with practical effects and actual aircraft.

The Green Berets Became the Anti-Textbook for War Films

Although The Green Berets was a visually impressive film with realistic sets, authentic weapons, and surprisingly strong box office numbers—earning over $21.7 million—it didn’t become a classic. However, it significantly impacted cinema by demonstrating that traditional filmmaking approaches were no longer effective.

Before this film came out, war movies usually showed a positive, heroic side of conflict, with clear victories and honorable sacrifices. John Wayne attempted to continue that tradition, but it didn’t resonate with audiences. The strong negative reaction essentially ended the war movie genre for about ten years. Later filmmakers studied The Green Berets as a prime example of how not to make a war film.

Filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, with movies such as Apocalypse Now, deliberately moved away from the way John Wayne portrayed combat. They understood that Vietnam couldn’t be shown as a tidy, heroic battle. Instead, they aimed to depict the gritty reality – the chaos, the dirt, and the moral decay of war.

The film The Green Berets, despite its intentions, ultimately showed the dangers of overly promoting war in cinema. It served as a turning point, demonstrating that filmmaking carries a responsibility, particularly when tackling sensitive topics like conflict. Even the casting—such as George Takei playing Captain Nim, a South Vietnamese officer—highlights a shift away from the types of roles and representations common in Hollywood at that time.

The film deserves praise for portraying Takei’s character, Nim, as a strong and capable warrior—a rare depiction of an Asian character with such agency in 1960s movies. Unfortunately, the film still uses him primarily to express American viewpoints, sacrificing his unique cultural identity to make him a supportive ally. This tendency to rely on stereotypes rather than fully developed characters is something later films would successfully address.

That now-famous shot of the sun setting in the east perfectly captured everything that went wrong with the film. It served as a warning to filmmakers: ignoring the details of a location – its geography, culture, and actual realities – will make your work seem silly. This wasn’t simply a mistake in the visuals; it represented the entire flawed production. Critics pointed out this error and criticized the creators for prioritizing the story they wanted to tell over basic accuracy and real-world details.

John Wayne’s The Green Berets is a film with a strong political message, but it isn’t very accurate historically or geographically. It oversimplifies a complicated situation, and the result feels forced. Despite these flaws, it’s a remarkably well-made war film and was groundbreaking in its depiction of modern combat. It realistically showed the strategies, equipment, and immense scale of the Vietnam War before other films dared to do so.

Read More

2025-12-17 03:08