Reviews

I see France Nuyen was born in France of mixed parentage. She no doubt dropped the G so that her show biz name would not be difficult to say as it is with many non-Viets. So Nguyen ("win") became Nuyen ("new-yen") for the movie goer. If she had taken on the Viet named for France she would be called Phap Nuyen. I found it difficult to identify her in Joy Luck Club as I had not seen her in years. She played the cranky mother of the Chinese gal who was dating the white guy? France Nuyen was quite the looker in Archie and probably the reason I still remember the movie. Just curious about Jack Webb. Years ago I was told he was gay. Is that true?

A nicely paced romantic war story that should have got more exposure. The Czech pilot who played piano gives a mellow touch to the story. The flying footage may not have been enough for aviation buffs like myself, but then again, this really isn't an action movie. Though it does not have anything in common with the James Salter novel "The Hunters" that became the movie about Korean War F86 Sabre pilots, Dark Blue World had a similar feel but with more of a romantic element to it. Better in some ways than Battle of Britain in that it doesn't rely on big name actors. Suggest viewing this movie with some Czech beer and some Czech dumplings called kneldniky(sp).

The machine gunner in Hue who confronts Joker (Mad Dog?), was that Vicent D'Onofrio playing a second role? I did not see a credit for said machine gunner.

I was in Vietnam in 1968 with Hotel 2/5 ("two-five") of the 5th Marine Regt, 1st MarDiv but did not take part in the battle of Hue as I was in a military hospital; medevaced two weeks prior to the Tet offensive.

Jacket was what I would call an entertaining dialogue movie but did not serve as a very realistic portrayal of the war in Vietnam. As for the portrayal of the Marines, it was also overcooked but the campy one-liners and dialogue makes it worth a look and a lot of laughs.

Off limits became something of a quasi-cult film for me. I was in Vietnam with the Marines north and south of Danang in 1968 and once fantasized about hitching a ride down Highway 1 to see Saigon, no small feat as it is something like 580 road miles. But the highway was full of vehicles during the day and you could always catch a ride. I never did get Saigon during the war, but finally did with a group of war vets in 1994. One of my favorite quips in the movie is when Dafoe turns around and finds some South Viet QCs (MPs) coming toward him and says, "We've got mice." That's what we GIs called Viets wearing helmets with QC (Quan Canh) on them. I am now spending several months in Saigon on sort of a temporary assignment, i.e., staying with the in-laws of my Viet wife on a winter break. I would like to see Off Limits again just to critique the city backdrop it used and how realistic it was. I thought this movie could have become a TV mini series but realize it would have been more expensive than China Beach in coming up with SE Asian sets to shoot on. I give it a 7, perhaps too high of a rating, as it goes good on a rainy Saturday afternoon over drinks with friends, especially if they happen to be Vietnam vets.

Maybe not, but she showed she can act. Funny that she hasn't been in more movies. She's a solid acting talent who is sexy but not flashy sexy like Denise Richards. What has happened to Neve Campbell? Wild Things plays like the summation of screwing around by high school teachers in you-name-it, USA. If you have watched The O.C. only to find yourself flipping to The O'Reilly Factor or the History Channel for some "action," give Wild Things a try. But if you are a high school teacher, don't watch it with your wife or girlfriend.

Teresa Russell shows she still has some flash, whatever that means.

This movie should be rate H for horny.

I saw Boys of Company C when it came out with a buddy who was in Vietnam with me in 1968. We were both 0311s (rifleman) in a rifle platoon.

For starters, recruits never had relationships or dialogues with drill instructors as portrayed in Boys. While in Vietnam I never conversed with a captain, as depicted in Boys who was the company commander; unless you were a radioman there was little need to speak directly to a captain.

The soccer game in Vietnam came across as a tired movie vehicle. That is, when you run out of script throw in a sporting event for filler and a possible conclusion.

Boys ranks with Heartbreak Ridge and The Siege of Firebase Gloria as war movie screenplays that should have been relegated to the REJECT pile. Whoever threw this stinker together should have been court martialed and been given the same sentence as Breaker Morant: Rule .303

The throwing together of a New York City stick up man, a French embezzler, and a Palestinian guerrilla driving a load of explosives over a mountain road in the tropics makes for the ultimate odd crew. Every time I catch it while channel surfing I end up watching parts of it.

I was never clear on Roy Schneider's attraction to the old gal. Was she a hooker that he had a weird attraction to with his gaze at her? Caught parts of the original once. Does it play a lot better than the remake?

Is it made clear what country the oil field is in? Venezula, perhaps.

A decent "guy movie" choice for a rainy Saturday afternoon over drinks. I give it a shaky B minus.