Unlike the film Sands of Iwo Jima that came out shortly after World War Two, The Longest Day was a film they came out during the early, unfamiliar years of the Vietnam War, but exemplified the heroics of the Allies on D-Day. According to historian Jeanine Basinger, “…the film lacks something that all great films have: the dramatic sense of a great story where audiences become involved with the characters and anticipate the outcome of events. The careful recreation of historical events dwarf the human interaction needed to breathe life into history.” However, Zanuck’s production reinforces these images because it tells a factual story rather than creating another fictionalized portrayal of war. The soldiers who die in the film really did exist, rather than being a fictionalized character made up by the writers. The film would also be chosen as the best motion picture of 1962, by the committee of exception films of the National Board of Review. The Longest Day won this award during the Vietnam War, which most likely helped raise patriotism and military support from the American people, because it wasn’t till 1965(24 …show more content…
The Green Berets airing during the height of the Vietnam War, and being the first film about the Vietnam War, had extremely mixed reviews. Wayne’s goal during the time of hostile media toward the American G.I., was to give credit to the soldiers. He wanted to amend their negative attention and promote a positive one in his film. By adding stars, enhancing the script, receiving limitless financial assistance and support from the Army, Wayne attempts to change the public’s negative opinion of the military, and justify American intervention within Vietnam. However, not all would agree, for instance in a New York Times review, Renata Adler
The reports in this novel are prefaced with a quote by Robert Shaplen, which sums up the feelings of those Americans involved in the Vietnam conflict. He states, "Vietnam, Vietnam . . .. There are no sure answers." In this novel, the author gives a detailed historical account of the happenings in Vietnam between 1950 and 1975. He successfully reports the confusing nature, proximity to the present and the emotions that still surround the conflict in Vietnam. In his journey through the years that America was involved in the Vietnam conflict, Herring "seeks to integrate military, diplomatic, and political factors in such a way as to clarify America's involvement and ultimate failure in Vietnam."
World War II was almost 75 years ago, but war is war and is always extremely violent. When “Saving Private Ryan” first came out it shocked a lot of people because many regular people have never witnessed the horrors of war before. In one scene Captain Miller says “I just know that every man I kill the farther away from home I feel” (Miller). Which shows how much killing hurts people even though they might try to rationalize it in their mind. Also by showing how the soldiers think and feel about war it helps the audience to be able to understand the toll that war takes on soldiers. Hopefully by seeing the mental struggles of war people are able to understand why some soldiers have problems when they get back to the United
The Vietnam War was the longest war in America's history of involvement. Twenty years of hell, land mines, cross-fire, and death. Vietnam was divided by the Geneva Accord. The north being communist run by Ho Chi Minh. The south being anti-Communist run by Ngo Dinh Diem. Before Vietnam was separated, it was run by France. France had ruled most of Indochina since the late 1800s. The Vietnamese were unhappy with the way the French were controlling, therefore, many of them took refuge in China. When in China, they began to follow the lead of Ho Chi Minh, who wanted to model the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence as that of the U.S. version. In the 1940s, Japan had taken over Vietnam which upset Ho Chi Minh and his revolutionaries when they had returned a year later.
This explanation will rely heavily on the films "Platoon" (Stone, 1986), "Born on the Fourth of July" (Stone, 1989), "Heaven and Earth" (Stone, 1993) and JFK. In these films, among other works such as “Natural Born Killers,” and “Nixon,” Stone explores and critiques the involvement of the United States of America in the Vietnam War. Using his own and the perspectives of others in his films, he manages to critique, thus establish a perspective and thesis about the conflict (Hanley, p. 339). Through these divergent perspectives, Stone manages to build a wider picture of the various aspects of the war than what was being disseminated through the print and broadcast media. Among the perspectives included are those of fighters at the front line, returning veterans, the anti-war movements and the experiences of the Vietnamese entangled in the
It has been known that the Vietnam War affected many American soldiers who were involved in the war physically and psychologically. The Vietnam War was one of the most memorable wars in history. Many Americans’ lives lost for no objective at all. Chapter 10 informed us about how the Vietnam War started and what really happened during that time. It also gave us background information about Vietnam Veterans and nurses who were involved in the war and what they went through during the war. I had the opportunity to interview a Vietnam Veteran also.
Although the book did an incredible job in explaining every detail and story that happened throughout the day and preceding night, the movie did a much better job in helping the viewer visualize the entire ordeal. Without the film there would be no real way to understand how massive and tragic the invasion was, unless you were there. Which is one reason why both the book and the movie are both so accurate. Because Ryan had based everything in his book on his own personal accounts and hundreds of veteran accounts. The writers, directors, and producer successfully realized their goal of a truly exact D-day film, and they did it without a consistent story or gore. While the stories in the movie were weak and were never truly completed, the movie and book still left the viewer satisfied with what they had watched or read. Without Ryan’s book, I doubt that there would be a D-day movie out that accomplished the same goal of realism that Zanuck’s The Longest Day had.
Unlike the WWII era, the Vietnam War brought realism into literature and film. There were no heroic movies of men fighting in Vietnam. Men could no longer shoot fifty enemy combatants on top of a tank without being hurt. Instead, popular culture brought a realistic view of war, death, pain, and destruction. Author Tim O’Brien, like many war veterans, struggled with his Vietnam experience and expressed them through writing. Tim O’Brien exposed the truth behind war stories because he shows the difference between WWII romanticism and Vietnam realism.
“In July 1965, Lyndon Johnson chose to Americanize the war in Vietnam.” Although Johnson chose to enter America into the war, there were events previous that caused America to enter and take over the war. The South Vietnamese were losing the war against Communism – giving Johnson all the more reason to enter the war, and allowing strong American forces to help stop communism. There were other contributing factors leading up to the entrance of the war; America helped assist the French in the war, Johnson’s politics, the Tonkin Gulf Incident, and the 1954 Geneva Conference. President Johnson stated, “For 10 years three American Presidents-President Eisenhower, President Kennedy, and your present President--and the American people have been actively concerned with threats to the peace and security of the peoples of southeast Asia from the Communist government of North Viet-Nam.”
Hollywood war movies are commonly based around heroic and courageous actions. These are major characteristics in the movies Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down. Although the film Black Hawk Down is based on an actual event, it is all about common soldiers conquering fear and hardship to save wounded allies, despite seeing the deaths of friends along the way. The story becomes personalized and revolves around a few individual soldiers who give examples of heroism. In the movie, one soldier returns to base injured and later chooses to return to the front line to help rescue his allies that are more gravely wounded than him. There are also multiple instan...
There were many events that lead up the Vietnam War, it started in 1945 with the hostilities between the French and Vietminh. “Geopolitical Strategy, economics, domestic US politics, and cultural arrogance shaped the growing American involvement in Vietnam” (Anderson 1). As a matter of fact, the Vietnam War was several wars, but it was not until 1962 that America had their first combat mission, however, Americans were killed during ambushes by the Vietnamese before the first combat mission. There is much controversy over the reasons for the Vietnam War, supported by the several different books and articles written about the war. “The most famous atrocity occurred in a tiny hamlet called My Lai in March 1968” (Detzer 127). History shows that the reaction of many Americans to the attack by US soldiers on the village of My Lai during the Vietnam War was opposition, and the actions of the US soldiers during the My Lai Massacre will be forever remembered as a significant part of the Vietnam War and American History.
The two films I have decided to compare and contrast is Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) and The Deer Hunter (1978). Letters from Iwo Jima is focused on the battle between Japan and the United States for the island of Iwo Jima during World War 2 where the island was invaded by American marines. Meanwhile, the Deer Hunter took place during the Vietnam War. This essay compares and contrasts the two films on how they represent the social and political attitudes of the characters towards war. Despite a common belief of sense of duty, some soldiers question the demand for them to fight. This analysis sheds light on the cultural, social and political views of these characters from different countries.
The war for Chris Taylor begins the same as it does for the characters in most war novels and films. Taylor leaves college and enters the Vietnam War by his own choice. Unlike many of the other soldiers he is with, he is the typical middle-class Caucasian. As with many new soldiers he has an idealized picture o...
Turning Point of Vietnam War The Vietnam War was an extension of the Cold War An Ideological conflict between Capitalism and Communism. In this protracted war scores of critical events happened and many proxy wars were fought between nations belonging either to the Capitalist/ Communist bloc. The contrasting ideas of West and East about Government and economy was the driving force between the two major forces of the World.
The Vietnam War took action after the First Indochina War, in fact the Vietnam War is also known as the Second Indochina War. This war included the communist North Vietnam and its allies of the Viet Cong, the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies going against South Vietnam and its allies, the Unites States, Philippines and other anti-communist allies. It was a very long and conflicting war that actually started in 1954 and ended in 1975. The war began after the rise to power of Ho Chi Minh and his communist party in North Vietnam. More than three million people were killed during the war, this included approximately 58,000 Americans and more than half of the killed were actually Vietnamese civilians. The Vietnam War ended by the communist forces giving up control of Saigon and the next year the country was then unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Many people, including both men and women were directly and indirectly involved within the war itself. Women worked many different roles in the Vietnam War, and they are most definitely not credited enough for all that they actually did.
Albert Einstein quoted, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” The use of technology today is affecting our future generations by introducing them fast into using technology. Children today are focusing more on Ipads, Ipods, smart phones, or other electronic devices, rather than focusing on their knowledge. In addition, toddlers are mastering using electronic devices before they can even speak. (Alison Lee, 2013) According to research conducted by Alison Lee, it has been shown that when her child was 17 months old, he could activate the television by the use of the remote control. Although, today’s technology has also abducted the minds of adults, and It makes them addicted to it. For example, due to careless driving and many causes of death accidents, this happens from people who use their electronic device while driving their vehicle. In fact, technology is being upgraded annually, and causing more people to get addicted to it. Today’s society is very addicted to technology, that studies indicated that 2013 is the year where some human beings have an internet disorder. In addition, people who have internet disorder suffer from this condition. However, people who are overly attached to the use of technology makes them more prone to anxiety, physiological disorders like cyber bullying, and clutched to that electronic device would dominate home life.