Two Contrasting Movies about the Vietnam War: Go Tell the Spartans and The Green Berets

Was it best for the American audience to view a sugary, childlike Vietnam War? Or should have the American audience seen the Vietnam War in a sincerely meat-and-bones kind of manner? This paper chronicles two contrasting American-made movies from the Vietnam War era. The first of the two is titled The Green Berets. This movie truly symbolizes a puffed up Hercules on some sort of delusive head trip. It screams out, “This is a Hollywood production!” The other movie is titled Go Tell The Spartans. Thankfully, there is a realistic approach brought to this movie. It has a very nitty gritty sense of awareness about what is really the heart of the Vietnam War (or any war, for that matter): the people. These are the soldiers fighting in the battle as well as the people living in the war land. 

The Green Berets’ main man in the beginning is Master Sergeant Maldune. He is shown in the early on in the movie answering questions from an audience which included newspaper reporters and the families of those in the military. Maldune quickly answers any question with a swift dose of false heroism. One quickly gets the message that the United States military is better than Superman, and any concerns are lame and unpatriotic. Cut to the beginning of Go Tell The Spartans. Its head honcho is Major Barker. He is not out wasting time with public relations. No, Barker is making some serious decisions about the selection of field troops. He doesn’t seek to paint pretty flowers over enemy land mines; there is no time for such arrogance. Major Barker is one tough soldier who can be counted on when the going gets rough. 

Another contrast between the two movies can be noticed in their beginnings. Both movies also introduce the other major cast members: the soldiers. The soldiers of The Green Berets stand at attention, have chiseled cheekbones, and speak exotic foreign languages. Nevermind that only one soldier could speak Vietnamese. These soldiers seemed like plastic Ken dolls. All that was needed to make this scene complete was Barbie giving each of these Ken dolls a great big kiss for good luck.