Hamburger Hill is a
1987 American
war film about the actual assault of the U.S. Army's 3rd
Battalion, 187th Infantry
Regiment, part of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division 'Screaming
Eagles', on a well-fortified position, including trench and bunkers, of
the North Vietnamese Army on
Ap Bia Mountain near the Laotian
border. American military
records of the battle refer to the mountain as 'Hill 937', its map
designation derived from its being 937 meters high.
The series of assaults (which resulted in heavy casualties to both
the American and North Vietnamese forces) commenced on May 10,
1969, with the hill finally being taken on May 20.
The film portrays fighting, combat, courage,
camaraderie and dedication to the mission among
troops. It also brings up painful questions about the Vietnam War,
such as the stigmatizing of replacement troops ("
newbies" or, more crudely, "FNGs", for "Fuckin' New
Guys") and of the seeming caprice of
high
command in the conflict, specifically the lack of strategic
value of the hill and subsequent unnecessary casualties. Other
issues include the effect of
anti-war
sentiment on
morale, and racial tensions
among troops (especially the overcoming of racial tension by
gradual friendship and earned respect). It also showed exploitation
of Vietnamese women who catered to the sexual needs of the
soldiers. There are several scenes with nudity and scantily clothed
women in the film.
Written by
James Carabatsos and
directed by
John Irvin, the film starred
Dylan McDermott,
Steven Weber,
Courtney B. Vance,
Don
Cheadle and
Michael Boatman. The
novelization was written by
William
Pelfrey. Set in May
1969 during the
Vietnam War, the movie was produced by
RKO Pictures and distributed by
Paramount Pictures, which had
only theatrical rights to the film, whereas the video rights were
owned by
Vestron Video, and in later
years by
Live Entertainment,
Artisan Entertainment, and
Lions Gate Entertainment
(which also recently acquired the UK video rights with distribution
by
20th Century Fox
Home Entertainment). However,
Paramount Television's successor
CBS Television
Distribution continues to distribute the film on TV, however
the
copyright holder of the movie
is
RKO Pictures.
One aspect of the war portrayed is how the soldiers in the field
felt betrayed by people back in the United States, particularly
college students. In one scene a soldier gets a letter from his
girlfriend saying she will not keep writing because her
college friends told her it was immoral. In another
scene, Sgt. Worchester (
Steven Weber)
from the
Southern United
States says that when he got home he faced discrimination for
being a veteran. When he got off the plane,
hippies gave him and his fellow soldiers bags of dog
feces. When he got to his house, his wife was sleeping with another
man.
None
of this bothered him until he discovered that his local bartender
had lost his son in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley
and was sent home in "a rubber bag with 'members
missing' labeled on it." To make it worse, college students
kept phoning him saying they were glad his son was killed by "the
heroic people's army", causing the bartender to start using heroin.
This event caused Worchester to sign up for another tour in
Vietnam.
The Animals' song
We Gotta Get out of This
Place is also featured in this film.
Cast
Awards and critical reception
In 1988, the director
John Irvin received
for the first time a
Crystal Globe
Award at
Karlovy Vary
International Film Festival for Best Director. The actor
Dylan McDermott was also nominated
for this award for Best Newcoming Actor.
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