User Reviews

An isolated firebase faces human wave assaults from the VC at the start of Tet.

This is the Vietnam War just the way we thought or preferred to think about it at the time: the Americans are the good guys, Charlie's the bad guy, South Vietnamese civilians are the ones being protected, everyone loves being in the Corps, inter-service co-operation is something you can always take for granted. The reality was a bit more complicated, but it didn't seem that way to a lot of people then.

It's about time the guys who were over there, or sit-at-home strategists back here, got a movie that validates their recollections and good intentions, one that's realistic, but without being too gung ho on the one hand (like "The Green Berets"), or too negative about US involvement on the other (like most other Vietnam films). I don't think I buy this point of view personally anymore, but it's good to have it available as an option.

Lee Ermey is totally authentic as always. Wings Hauser is not at that level but he's good enough. The Vietnamese are generally played by Filipinos who don't completely look the part but do a decent job.

There's plenty of mayhem for action buffs -- much of the movie looks like the climax from "Glory" (or "Zulu"). Pot-smoking is frowned upon in this one, as is poor grooming (I did say old-fashioned). Everybody does his duty, especially Charlie.

The good guys win this time.

Gets more and more captivating the longer you watch.

The Siege of Firebase Gloria is not a very well known Vietnam war film. In fact it hardly gets a mention at all and is overshadowed by films such as Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and others.

The premise is as follows: a Marine patrol led by sergeant Hafner (the great R. Lee Ermey) ends up in a remote US Army outpost deep in the jungles of Vietnam right at the start of the Tet offensive. Hafner takes command and must fend off waves of attacks by the Vietcong and NVA.

The story is quite interesting of how these men, outnumbered and almost forsaken must defend themselves against all odds. Although Ermey's role isn't too big (the film focuses on a few key soldiers), he is great in every frame he is in. Having been an actual Marine, he reprises his role as a tough commander with a witty tongue. The film in general find a nice balance between the main story while at the same time showing how war takes its toll on men. Interestingly enough the North Vietnamese commanders are also portrayed and fortunately not as cartoonish enemies but competent leaders.

The production values are quite good, there are lots of real helicopters, the sets and location are grand and well built and the action scenes quite vast in their scale.

However the film doesn't reach the levels achieved by Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket. Despite that, its still worth a watch.

"The people were friendly. We liked them and they liked us... so it really hurt us to see their heads on stakes." This line, dryly spouted by R. Lee Ermey's character Sergeant Major Bill Hafner of the United States Marine Corps' Force Recon, begins a brutal portrayal of war at its worst. This film pulls no punches, showing combat for what it is: a slaughter.

Do not come into this film with a soft heart. If scenes showing piles of dead children, teenage Vietnamese prostitutes wrapping themselves in dynamite to act as suicide bombers or "sappers", American nurses and Embassy secretaries being machine-gunned by Viet Cong soldiers, the execution of prisoners by both the V.C. and Marines, and the wholesale slaughter of an entire generation of young men (both American and Vietnamese) have the potential to bother you, you might want to avoid this one. "Siege of Firebase Gloria" is frighteningly graphic and realistic and the only thing that keeps this movie from being little more than a snuff film is the humanity of the characters.

While the men on both sides commit acts that most people would consider atrocities, we can see them for what they are: scared human beings, some of them barely more than boys ("No way - Mighty Mouse could never get us out of this s**t," says Private "Shortwave" Coates) who don't know why they have to do these horrible things, only that they must if they want to survive.

In the end, it is the North Vietnamese Army Colonel Cao Van who gives the best summary of the situation: "The courage of your enemies does you honor."

It's 1968. The Tet holidays is approaching and a ceasefire is expected. Hardnosed Sergeant Major Bill Hafner (R. Lee Ermey) leads a weary squad into a village where almost everyone has been massacred. They guard the remote Firebase Gloria and struggle against a tough guerilla campaign. Their superiors don't expect the coming full scale onslaught.

The production is Australian and filmed in the Philippines for Vietnam. I doubt that there is much involvement from the American military although they probably rented a lot of stuff from the Philippines military. It has lots of guns, men, and explosions. They're not filmed in the most exciting ways. It's a lot Rambo style mass shootings. It's a B-movie, but at least it's a solid B-movie.

When I started to watch this movie, I hadn't heard anything about it and didn't expect very much. I was therewith pleasantly surprised. Make no mistake, this is no masterpiece, but a well done entertaining piece of work which (even) makes you think a little at times.

I found the acting to be uniformly quite decent, even though the VietCong are mostly closer to being cartoon characters than real people. What carries the movie though, is the performance by Ermey, R. Lee. Once again he shows there is nobody better than him for roles like these. He is simply excellent! The camera and sound are both satisfactory, and the special f/x as well, considering we are talking about a motion picture made in the eighties (no CGI, etc.). All in all, after almost 30 years, this film withstands the test of time and is definitely worth a look.

This movie is so good it's scary. I'm glad I didn't see it in a theater because I would have freaked out most of the audience! It was like being back there again! Lee Ermey is good but in this one, he is FANTASTIC; Wings Hauser also turns in a superb job as his close friend and is very believable, for a civilian (meaning non-military), and the clown who plays the chopper pilot is so REAL, I couldn't believe that he WASN'T a 'Nam pilot! I spent 16 months over there and was on many Firebases, and was overrun many times and this film over the ensuing years has caused me many flashbacks, but it's so great, I can't help re-watching it again and again - I just don't plan on getting much sleep that night. If you haven't seen it- Do so! It's the best Viet-Nam flick on the market-I think even better than Full metal Jacket, because it's serious to the end.

What I liked most is Gunnery Sgt. Pre Full Metal Jacket.... The movie is short on any character development...but hey it's a war flick...worth a look see.

I was there Jack; and this one is right on the money!!!! This film is so true to the mark that for almost 2 hours I literally forgot where I was and thought I was THERE with those f*****' jarheads (God love 'em!) Although I was only an Army Ranger (5th Group) for 18 months, I was on 7 LZ' and was in 49 firefights and got into this film from the first minute-I got it only a few weeks ago on video, but have seen it on cable dozens of times and will catch it EVERY time it's on! Lee Ermey is absolutely flawless in every picture he does, and for a civilian, Wings Hauser isn't far behind. And the guy who did the chopper pilot was PHENOMENAL; I would have sworn he was real as gold!!! Unless you're a Jane Fonda or Hillary Clinton type, see this flick at least once- you owe it to every serviceman and woman who went over there- We did it for YOU!

I found Firebase Gloria to be a highly educational film. Yes, it's a somewhat patriotic view of the Vietnam war and the Tet offensive, though it has some clear criticisms of the American involvement in the war. I'm actually shocked that so many people see this as "gung-ho American". There is extensive criticism of the US involvement in the war, portrayals of barbarism by American's, and examples of ineptitude on the part of the military. But, that's been done. What this film did for me was teach me a lot of details about warfare that I never knew:

1. The M16 rifle is a miraculous weapon. It never needs reloading. You never once see a clip changed in this film. You will see continuous automatic fire for long periods of time. Unfortunately, the AK-15 has this same beneficial characteristic.

2. If you have to fall back or move forward in a battle situation, the proper technique is to do so slowly while standing splay legged perpendicular to the line of fire and shooting. All of that silly running and crawling you see on other shows must be nonsense. Clearly, it is your duty to make yourself the best possible target when moving during battle.

3. When VC troops are shot with that miraculous M16, they fly straight up into the air with a dramatic spreading of the arms and legs. Now, I would have thought that the momentum might knock them back or that the bullet wouldn't really move them that much, but that's clearly my mistake. If it's your last moment on earth, you might as well over-act.

4. Battles have clear "phases" that everyone agrees too. You do the mortars for a while, and then you do the mad rush by thousands of Filipinos. Do not mix the two. The idea of a coordinated attack using multiple munitions must be against the rules or something.

5. It's okay to shoot your buddy in the head when they are wounded with plenty of witnesses around, provided they ask you to do so. Don't worry; the nice doctor won't turn you in for murder. Be sure you do so with a revolver, even though you're not likely to have one around in Vietnam.

6. There is actually an actor named "Wings Hauser". Next thing someone's going to tell me there's a military reporter at CNN named "Wolf Blitzer".

Several people talk about how realistic this film is. I have no doubt that many elements do ring true. But, when I see a soldier in a defensive position stand up in a foxhole making as large a target as possible, I have to wonder what they were thinking.

NOT VERY REALISTIC- Lot's of wasted ammo (spray & pray, not aiming, firing from the hip) - unnecessary when unblocked fields of fire are set up on the perimeters; M-60 machine guns firing at close range into groups of the enemy bunched together and no one goes down, etc.; HQ ignores reports of an enemy regiment, troops call NCO's "Sir". HISTORY REVISION - The U.S. embassy was NOT "ravaged" during '68 Tet - minimal damage and only 2 sappers made it inside the compound and both were killed. Overall, the Tet Offensive was a huge enemy failure - as recorded in the memoirs of both N. Vietnamese and VC military officers. TOO MUCH MACHO - The movie is overloaded with dramatic military cliché's - and Ermey desecrating the dead by walking around swinging the severed heads of two American troops while giving a pep talk is ludicrous.

R. Lee Emrey strikes again. This a good movie, made better by R Lee. His While this film strays from historical accuracy. It gets enough right to make it interesting, even to those of us who we had to be there (VN). There is a very watchable film.

This has some of the stupidest fight scenes of all time. If I was a veteran of any war I would cry when I see this movie, not because I would remember being in Vietnam, but because it is a poor representation of any veteran of that war. Even though the troops are carrying M16s, that movie resembles nothing like Vietnam. The Viet Cong even uniforms look like old leftover Japanese uniforms from a WWII movie. The setting is obviously some crappy Hollywood back lot. The worst scene contains a US soldier fighting "hand to hand" like in a bad martial arts movie. After he dispatches several enemy troops he says, "hey come down here and lets kick some butt!" to a helicopter in the air. He then is shot. This movie is trash.

If you've never heard of this movie before, you're in good company. Apparently, neither have Leonard Maltin, Roger Ebert, or the editors of the "VideoHound Golden Movie Retriever." Fortunately, the editor of VideoHound's book on war movies had heard of it. Based on his favorable review, I taped and viewed the film recently. If you enjoy a good "battle" movie, be sure to catch this one--you won't be disappointed.

"The Siege of Firebase Gloria" is a real film about real people in an unreal hell. Its apparently low budget was a blessing because it forced the creators to focus on plot and character development rather than on bombastic and meaningless special effects. Nevertheless, the battle sequences are believable and well-done.

This film is a sleeper that apparently did not get the exposure that it deserved. Then again, R. Lee Ermey and Wings Hauser, who played the lead roles, are not exactly box-office draws, and the other names in the cast were totally unfamiliar to me. However, Ermey, Hauser, and everyone in the cast do a solid job.

The action takes place during the Vietnamese Tet offensive in 1968, during a supposed holiday cease-fire, when the Viet Cong caught the South Vietnamese and U.S. forces by surprise with an all-out assault throughout South Vietnam. Ermey and his Marines are caught in the trap when they are ordered to help defend a small, meaningless outpost, Firebase Gloria, with virtually no help except, finally, from a small Air Cavalry unit. The Tet offensive was the beginning of the end for South Vietnam.

I never served in Vietnam, but this film has the feeling of being authentic. This is not a simplistic "good guys versus bad guys" film. The atrocities and inhumanities committed by both sides are not overemphasised but they are not glossed over either. They are just there as part of the fabric of the war.

Perhaps more importantly, they are shown in the context of a deadly, virtually unsurvivable siege and final battle. We sympathize with the Marines, of course, and we see them as ordinary, basically decent human beings. We may not condone some of the things that they do, but we understand why they may have seen no other alternative. It reminds me of the film "Zulu," about British troops trapped in a similar situation a century ago.

For many of us, our image of R. Lee Ermey is as the over-the-top drill sergeant in "Full Metal Jacket." His character in "Firebase Gloria" is more human and lower in key, yet you can see his character evolving into the drill sergeant following his tour in Vietnam. When you've walked through hell with your fellow battle-hardened Marines and been one of the few to come out alive, you know that you have to do everything in your power to prepare your green recruits to walk through that same hell.

Is "Firebase Gloria" on the same level of quality as "Platoon" and "Full Metal Jacket"? Not quite. I'd put it on a par with "Go Tell the Spartans," which, despite a strong performance from Burt Lancaster, has also never gotten the exposure that it deserves. These films deserve to be seen, not forgotten.

This was a great hidden action movie about the "gritty realities of war" for a teenager in the 80s. But... the 80s gave us movies like Megaforce, Police Academy, Cobra...movies that are broadly nonsense if you aren't a drunken teen.

This in retrospect is definitely one of those. It's got a great premise. Narrow focus, no confusion at all. I think more films need that, can barely watch any biopic as they span 50 years and three continents so you can't focus on anything. A single event, in a single place, over a few days? Great!

But then... it's just Not Good. It's really poorly acted for the most part. The dialogue is 80% hamhanded. Nice they tried to get some overview in there, discuss the overall situation, what it meant to the war as well as the men, etc.

But it's poorly written. And then, they say it again, and again, and again. The opening titles are horrible, then followed by intro text. Which is repeated in voiceover in bits over the next few minutes. Then repeated in the actual dialogue over the next half hour. No one trusts the audience, so we have to be told things in neon signs.

The US uniforms and equipment are generally good, but the VC ones are not. At all. Undisguised US weapons (MGs, mortars...) but for the AKs. The guns mostly are real, and fire! Some good shots of the cast aiming and firing, and bolts move, brass ejects. Unusually nice.

Radios are just silly. From WW2 to consumer CB level, on both sides. Not sure I saw a legit radio, maybe 1 PRC77 in a pack, but likely something older since it was sorta hidden.

Characters are a joke. And, it's not even good comedy. The scene with the naked CO is very, very, very too long. Dinardo's war crimes (a whole other issue) and his obsession with "his boy" who I guess died, is pounded in repeatedly, and there's nothing else there. No one has any other traits or acts like a real person in any situation.

But the action! Is! So! Fake! Like, bad high school stage production bad. People are mostly shot without squib packs, so just fall down. Most of the time, they sit down, more than fall down. Probably a quarter of those shot run over to their mark, Wait For The Gunfire, then fall down. Guns are shown to fire by being shaken, and pointed only very vaguely at the bad guys. Often, pointed over the heads of the people being shot.

I'll continue: Bayonet stabbing? You know how this goes, right? You use forced perspective, stab next to the victim who grabs it to both stabilize (you can't wobble the knife, it sticks) and for the classic oof, I've been stabbed movement. Except many times they do this (not once, many times!) with the bayonet or knife on the wrong side! On the camera side, so you can clearly see it missed him, instead!

One character goes kung fu for, way too long. He's never previously expressed any interest or ability, and has none. Now the enemy walks over to be in foot striking range, as he spins around and lightly taps them, then after a pause they fall down. Roll eyes.

And so on. It's a joke. Sadly. Ruined a childhood memory. Someone make it again. Could update the concept to something in Afghanistan or Iraq, do 12 hours of a complex attack, and make it fictional, leave out the politics and beards of 13 hours.

As a non military film watcher this is a decent action war film. From the many other comments from real ex-soldiers I'm led to believe it is a very realistic portrayal of what went on and if that is true...it's a truly awful and frightening situation. The acting is a bit poor in some places with some truly hammy and mediocre performances away from the action. Lastly, it's one of THE worst film 'music' soundtracks you'll ever hear but typical of the year the film was made. All that said, an enjoyable action war movie with some excellent combat scenes.

Well now, c'mon and step right up fellas and take a close look at this gem. It's low budget by Hollywood standards and lacks a Hollywood pedigree, but it really rattles the 'nads and jolts the head out of any daydream you might have fallen into. Brian Trenchard-Smith is a classic director in this genre, far more interesting than Oliver Stone and his ideological vomit. I copied this film off cable in it's widescreen format with quality equipment and have viewed it on a large monitor with premium sound equipment. Spectacular. Every time I watch it I catch a nuance of some human foible or honor or universal experience. Overall, the treatment of the war is fair, without the preachy BS common in some war films. It's just raw, red meat. This film demands boxed set treatment and commentary on many levels, too numerous to comment on here. For all the endless meaningless films that are transferred to DVD why has this great film been passed over?

Historical Accuracy 2

The U.S.M.C. were stuck North near the DMZ since the beginning of the Democrats demanded "Save the Democracy of the Republic of South Vietnam War".

U.S.M.C. were not trained nor equipped to "Homestead", since WW2 U.S.M.C. only trained and equipped to Assault a Beach Head, hold the Beach Head until the U.S. Army arrived. Unlike the U.S. Army trained to hold ground, usually when building a Firebase, an entire Company of Combat Engineers, Engineers showed up with Bulldozers, backhoes to build the U.S. Army Firebase, the U.S.M.C. were supposed to get the U.S. Navy Seabees that usually did not happen so the U.S.M.C. Firebases on the DMZ were really inadequate against the routine North Vietnamese 122mm Gun (D-74 range 15 miles) and 130mm Gun (range 17 miles) Artillery fires that outranged the U.S.M.C. M101 105mm Howitzers (range 11 miles) that could not reach the North Vietnamese Army Artillery. The U.S.M.C. requested U.S. Army Field Artillery Support so the U.S. Army sent M107 175mm Self Propelled Guns (not short range Howitzers) to U.S.M.C. Khe Sanh, range 21 miles.

U.S.M.C. were NOT U.S. Army Special Forces Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol, and were U.S.M.C. Force Recon, trained to do a different Mission. L.R.R.P.s do Covert Strategic Special Reconnaissance and Strategic Special Surveillance ONLY, NO Enemy Contact.

Nobody else wore our handmade U.S. Army Special Forces Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol "Tiger Stripe" uniforms. Usually, made by mixing "Mogas (U.S. Military Gasoline)" and vehicle flat black paint, and painting Basic Combat Training issued U.S. Army Fatigues (not "Jungle Fatigues"). Reason why "The Tiger Stripes" are horizontal because we were trained to do "the Tiger Crawl (stripes then become vertical, to look like tall grass with shadows in between tall grass)" also back then there were actual tigers at Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, later renamed "the Bear Crawl (doesn't make sense)". Other U.S. Military "Elite" Forces attempted to copy Our U.S. Army Special Forces L.R.R.P. Tiger Stripe Uniforms, and usually failed (they added colors that did not match Area of Operations, defeating the entire reason for Our camouflage).

Even at the beginning of the Democrats Vietnam War, U.S. Military Officers, Senior NCOs NEVER went on Patrols, Officers and Senior NCOs "Leading" from behind started during the Democrats demanded Save the Democracy of the Republic of South Korea War.

I was Drafted, 18, Field Artillery ended up as U.S. Army Airborne (and Air Mobile aka Air Assault), U.S. Army Ranger, U.S. Army Special Forces, U.S. Army Special Forces Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol ("L.R.R.P.") as mentioned that the U.S.M.C. in this movie were L.R.R.P.s but never were. Many that were NOT L.R.R.P.s said we "Volunteered", I was told that I "Volunteered" aka "Voluntold" because my Platoon Sergeant wanted me dead because of a joke I did to him, Field Artillery lifespan 6 months, U.S. Army Special Forces L.R.R.P.s 2 weeks or less. In less than a month after becoming a U.S.A. S.F. L.R.R.P., 18, I was the Platoon Sergeant as those above me, got Killed In Action, or End of Tour "DEROS", nobody wanted the L.R.R.P. Platoon Sergeant position especially the higher Grade/Rank NCOs, 5 Squads of 12, each Squad divided into 4 Team Member L.R.R.P. Teams except 5th Squad, 5th Squad was "the Crash the Party" Squad, as equipped with M-60s, M-3 submachineguns, M-79 Grenade Launchers to bailout any of my L.R.R.P. Teams on standby 2 UH-1 Helicopters to get 5th Squad there, 1 UH-1A "Gunship" (4 M-60s (2x2), 2 pods rockets).

Accurately portrays the Large numbers of Americans of African Ancestry "Drafted", as the Democrats since the Democrats Vietnam War Draft, Ordered the Selective Service to Only Select "The Economically Disadvantaged", an No Democrats that had Democrat Deferments. 1973 Republican President Nixon ordered the Draft to be "Randomized", the Democrats Deferments no longer accepted, so the Democrats had to End the Democrats Vietnam War so that Democrats would not be Drafted, the Democrats of U.S. Congress then Cut all Funding to the Democrats Vietnam War, created Two U.S. Laws to remove the U.S. President's U.S. Constitutional War Powers, Democrats of U.S. Senate Law 1973 War Powers Resolution, Democrats of U.S. House of Representatives Law 1973 War Powers Act so that Republican President Nixon could not use U.S. Constitutional Presidential War Powers to continue the Democrats demanded Vietnam War. So regardless of the U.S. Military and Republic of South Vietnamese Army winning almost every Battle the Democrats cutting the Funding Lost the Democrats Demanded Save the Democracy of the Republic of South Vietnam War.

When I was Field Artillery before I did that joke on the Platoon Sergeant our Firebase supported the U.S. Army Special Forces Firebase at Plei Mei that was routinely over run. 24/7 we had Fire Missions all our Howitzers "firing for effect", U.S. Army Special Forces L.R.R.P.s as Forward Observers and as Combat Air Controllers calling in U.S. Airstrikes on the Ho Chi Minh Trail (Plei Can, intersection of Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam).

The Firebase portrayed in this movie is more like a U.S.M.C. Firebase near the DMZ, as the U.S. Army learned from the mistakes of the French Colonial Empire's Colonies at Indochina, and put the U.S. Army Firebases on Hills and Mountains so that the Vietcong and North Vietnamese attackers had to run up hill. The U.S.M.C. didn't learn and put their Firebases on flat open terrain, and sometimes even in valleys same reason why the French could not defend Dien Bien Phu (French Firebases Beatrice, Gabrielle, Anne-Marie, and Isabelle), located in a valley surrounded by hills and mountains. Somebody mentioned Viet Minh during the Democrats Vietnam War, nope the Viet Minh became the Vietcong after the French left "French Indochina (Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam)" 1954.

Other details, wrong "Load Bearing Equipment" aka L.B.E., we were still using metal canteens with black plastic caps, most L.B.E. was still made of heavy canvas not nylon. U.S. Army tag was gold letters and black background, nametage above right pocket was white cotton web with stenciled black letters, (sniper targets) rank/grade were the gold stripes on both sleeves and shiny brass grade/rank on U.S. Army baseball caps and even helmets for NCOs and Enlisted until beginning of 1970s, after 1970s everything was O.D. Green with black lettering or (grade/rank) black stripes (small pin on grade/rank on collar not large fabric sewn on sleeves) aka "Subdued".

Also the Viet Minh learned after fighting the Chinese, French Colonial Empire, Japanese, U.S. and UN. after WW2, French Colonial Empire, they do NOT attack during the Day. Attack from Evening to Sunrise yes, reason for the black "pajamas". As U.S. Army Special Forces L.R.R.P.s we were Trained NOT to move during "Daylight", only move during rain (Storms, Monsoons), just before sunrise, sunset, the penalty for moving during "Daylight" was doing the Tiger Crawl, reason no movements during "Daylight" all the animals are awake and let everybody know where you are. Nighttime movements only if Mission Strategic, happened too often. We did not talk on PRC-77 (Radio) only "keyed" the button on handset (not Morse Code), due to triangulation by North Vietnamese Army.

Based on what happened to me at Vietnam, I got involved as a U.S. Army Special Forces Officer with the Iran Iraq Wars, and CIA Operation Cyclone, 1980s, and everything else later on as Joint Services Special Warfare (U.S. Army Special Forces, U.S.A.F. Special Operations Wings, U.S.M.C. Force Recon that we made tnto MARSOC, U.S.N. S.E.A.L.s, Agencies).

Entertainment Value 8, just to see all the inaccuracies, and the comments from Non Participants that were NOT U.S. Army Special Forces L.R.R.P.s.

As a former Vietnam Vet, I related to this film, though it was a little too much Hollywood. In 1967 to 1968, when the Tet Offensive started, I was in Air Rescue and our chopper was shot down at a fire base south of Da Nang,. We were stranded for a long time, and were hit by a large superior force of V.C. and lost a lot of men during that siege. To relive it on screen, or close to it, sent shivers up my spine and brought a tear or two. Ever experience combat, from a soldiers' view? Didn't think so. Next time you have a thought about actual combat, "forget it." You weren't there.I eventually made a career out of the military and have repeated this scenario on several occasions, from Granada, Panama,Desert Storm, Bosnia, etc. Tell me about it.

The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989) was a cheesy and bloody war movie about a lonely U.S. military firebase that's constantly under siege by several companies of Viet-Cong freedom fighters. The enemy want to destroy it's occupiers and liberate it's cache of weaponry. The base is under the command of two hardcore veterans (R. Lee Ermey and Wings Hauser). Can these two vets shape up the residents of Firebase Gloria? Why do the Viet Cong want this base so bad? Do they have what it takes to become heroes? To find out you'll just have to watch THE SIEGE OF FIREBASE GLORIA!!!

A look at the Vietnamese soldiers makes you realize why did the director use Filipinos (they look nothing like Vietnamese people). I never realized that they had stocky builds, dark skin, mustaches and curly hair. Well I'll be... Not a classic, just a violent action film that'll give the viewers a glimpse at a bloody period of the Viet-Nam war. Poorly equipped soldiers with so defined orders, sounds very familiar. Directed by the ever underrate Brian Trenchard-Smith.

Recommended for action fans.

Very Cliched. Quite corny. Acting gets worse as the show goes on. Don't believe anything that folks say about the "realism" that this movie is supposed to portray. It's just a shoot'em up. Interesting twist in that the VC sieging the base were given a human face and weren't portrayed as evil incarnate.

R. Lee Ermey excels in a rare above-the-title billing, playing a tough sergeant-major named Bill Hafner, fighting the war in Vietnam. The always lively Wings Hauser also shines as his sidekick, Corporal Joseph DiNardo. They and others must defend the title location from attacks by the Viet Cong, despite being vastly outnumbered and outgunned.

Despite having a respected cult filmmaker (Brian Trenchard-Smith, "Turkey Shoot") at the helm, "The Siege of Firebase Gloria" is a rather overlooked and under-valued Vietnam War epic, but hopefully being released on DVD and Blu-ray will gain it more exposure. Trenchard-Smith directs things in a very efficient, cut-to-the-chase fashion; there's no visual poetry or unnecessary stylistics on display. In fact, the director and his cast deserve credit for pulling absolutely no punches in showing the very worst aspects of war. Squeamish viewers may be dismayed by the level of graphic violence, but others will appreciate seeing a degree of realism here. Nothing is sugar-coated. We see decapitated heads on stakes, for one thing.

And yet, in the end, the story (Ermey and Trenchard-Smith are also credited with additional dialogue) makes a case for learning to respect ones' enemy. The main figure among the enemy is an officer named Cao Van (Robert Arevalo), yet he is not portrayed in a strictly one-dimensional manner. Not all the people our heroes are fighting are faceless bogeymen.

Excellent location shooting in the Philippines greatly helps matters, as well as a decent supporting cast. Other than, say, black character actor Albert Popwell, whom you may recognize from his many roles in Clint Eastwood pictures, there are very few real "known" actors here. John Calvin is memorable as a C.O. who's gone off the deep end. And try to spot martial artist Don "The Dragon" Wilson as one of the patrol members!

The picture offers opportunities to Ermey and Wings to really *act*; they're more than just cardboard tough guys, and they have some great scenes towards the end. Ermey also gets to narrate the proceedings.

Based on true events, "The Siege of Firebase Gloria" is a Vietnam war movie that does deserve to be better known.

Eight out of 10.

An underrated, old-school (it was made in 1988, but feels like something from a different era entirely) Vietnam War film set before and during the big Tet offensive that saw America's grip on winning the conflict really slip away.

Former Marine Corps sergeant R. Lee Ermey stars as a tough-nosed sergeant - the man doesn't know how to play anything else - commanding troops at an isolated firebase named Gloria, which gets the attention of local NVA troops who lay siege to the location, launching attack after attack after attack at it.

Filmed in the Philippines, which stands in for Vietnam quite nicely, Australian director Brian Trenchard Smith helms what is quite a gritty film, with plenty of extra and explosions: the battle scenes were more sweeping than I expected, considering the opening scenes had a kind of low-budget feel to them - but not in a bad way.

There was some decent character development in between all the shooting, though Ermey's sergeant character didn't change one iota.

The film is notable for starring Wings Hauser, the father of Yellowstone actor Cole Hauser.

This movie is absolutely horrendous and should have employed at least one Technical Advisor who'd had some experience with the military. If you do choose to watch, please know there is little, if nothing accurate about it. I truly don't know how Gunny Ermey made this with a straight face.