Short Attention Span Review: Go Tell the Spartans (1978)

U.S. History captivates me.  I'm particularly drawn to tales of the old west and stories about our country's various military exploits.  As someone who grew up shortly after the Vietnam war had concluded, that conflict has always greatly intrigued me.  There have been many notable films about that tragic war and I count Go Tell the Spartans among them.   Yet many who have seen movies like Apocalyspe Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and We Were Soldiers haven't experienced this insightful look at the early stages of the conflict.  Burt Lancaster, one of the best leading men ever, stars as a cynical Major who has already fought in two wars before being sent to an undermanned outpost in South Vietnam.  There, he is charged with overseeing a group of South Viatnemese and does his best to fulfill his obligations though he never regards his assignment as much more than an exercise in futility.  Craig Wasson, Marc Singer, and Evan Kim offer up noteworthy performances and director Ted Post does a great job of bringing Daniel Ford's 1967 novel Incident at Muc Wa to the screen.  As the picture progresses, the movie's title becomes more and more pertinent.  Barker's understanding of the situation is mostly ignored by his superiors who aren't stationed in the combat zone and thus the odds of survival for our heroes rapidly diminish.  Go Tell the Spartans is a methodical anti-war film that lacks the star power, the exciting overtones, and the rock soundtrack of many better-known Vietnam sagas, but it is undeniably authentic and extremely well-acted.  It offers little in the way of hope, though a motion picture that seeks to probe the beginning of that difficult period in American history should emerge as a downer.  It wasn't a big-budget film and it isn't slick or exciting, but it is compelling.  Finally, Go Tel the Spartans is worth seeing for Burt Lancaster's somber performance alone, and anyone who enjoys this sort of fare should definitely seek it out. 

Final Grade: B


 


Trivia:
 Craig Wasson also starred in another of my favorite films about the Vietnam conflict that doesn't get the respect it deserves, The Boys in Company C.



 

The ill-fated Major Asa Barker's last words: "Oh shit."

Black-and-White Isn't Bad

I love my wife, I truly do, but we certainly have our differences.

For example, earlier today I asked her what she thought of Run Silent Run Deep.  Her response: "That stupid black-and-white movie you were watching?"  It wasn't stupid and black-and-white, it was stupid because it was in black-and-white.

Seriously, if it's in black-and-white, she can't hang, and she's not alone.  Yet the girls have watched a number of movies and shows in black-and-white without complaint, so it's not some new age dilemma, I think it's just a natural tendency for many to discount that which isn't contemporary.  The less contemporary, the worse. 

Folks, there are too many good old movies for that type of logic.  And I don't care what's being released on Blu-Ray next week or the week after, if we turn the clock back and direct our attention to some true classics, we'll wind up with better films.  Greatness isn't contemporary, it has no age.  It's where you find it, and there are a lot more old movies than new ones. 

Don't apply this line of thought to films alone, for it holds true with any type of art I can think of.  Also, don't miss out on Run Silent Run Deep.  My wife is right about a great many things, but this isn't one of them.  How can you go wrong with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster? 

Of course, I should probably pay more attention to the new stuff.  My wife was unfamiliar with Gable and Lancaster, so I began to describe them, and in doing so, I noted that Gable was before my time.  He is, . . . and so is Lancaster.  In fact, both men were stars long before the time before my time.  But I digress . . .