How Sleep the Brave

I saw How Sleep The Brave on video in about 1982. It had already gained a reputation between my group of video watching school friends as being pretty nasty so it had to be seen. After watching it I was pretty shocked mainly by the excessive use of foul language (as a kid you love swearing but this film set new limits) and the realistic combat footage. I have the original UK VHS release and watched it a few years back and do you know what........I still didn't notice that it wasn't shot in Vietnam! It was only after reading the previous reviews on here that I realised it was shot in Berkshire. (Maybe I watch too many low budget films and am now immune to such subtleties as Berkshire trying to portray Vietnbam). So, with a new interest, I dug out the tape and watched it again last night and yes, some shots (i.e. the base camp) are blatantly non tropical but, as much of the action is shot in close up, you don't notice this as you're more interested in whether the point man is about go 'deep 6' and not the foliage they're walking through. This was a VERY low budget film and if you ignore the forest backgrounds the action is still pretty intense. Also, the sun was out which never happens in th e UK hence I was so easily confused :) As already mentioned the acting is atrocious but I'm sure not every GI was Tom Hanks Acting Academy Trained. As with all low budget / no budget films you often need to look past the technical inadequacies to enjoy the movie. I would compare this film to Last House on the Left, which is now rightly commended as being a classic. However, to the casual viewer all they would see is an old, no budget movie with poor acting and general scenes of ultra distastefulness. To anyone now not in their mid thirties you must remember that this film was released on video at a time when simply watching the next video in the Video Library (remember them??) was a special treat. There were literally thousands of low budget films available and HSTB does not warrant being slated as one of the worst (Trust me - I'v seen loads worse). A commendable attempt, using low budget trickery, to relay the closeness and ultimate waste of the Vietnam War. In this day and age maybe someone should go to Weymouth Beach and remake HSTB on Digital Video but updated for the current Gulf crisis? I'm sure in 20 years time some wise ass would say 'this film is terrible because the sand wasn't the correct colour' - MISSING THE POINT!

Filmed in England with English actors I believe, this film manages to convey the confusion and grim reality of jungle warfare and is well worth tracking down.

Captain Hansen insists on his platoon heading into the jungle every day to take on the VC, even though most days the platoon ends up carrying body bags back to the camp. He's had word that a VC village holds a large arms cache and doubles up the effort in finding the weapons. That's all good for him though, as he gets to sit back in camp, smoking cigars.

It's up to Lt. Johnson and his men to take on the task, but his soldiers are either battle fatigued or fresh meat sent to replace the dead G.Is. What ensues is a running battle through the jungle which takes up most of the film as the remainder of the platoon find themselves up against an entire battalion of VC. And it's grim, depressing stuff.

How Sleep the Brave is also extremely violent. Stomachs are blown out, people are graphically blown up or stabbed and one poor guy gets an arrow through his neck. I didn't have a problem with the acting at all, and although the budget shows, I think the film was pretty close to depicting war in the jungle. Put it this way: I enjoyed this a lot more than I enjoyed the Deer Hunter.

It looked like my copy (by the defunct 23rd Century label) was widescreen too - a bit washed out, but good enough. Recommended.

I watched this movie about 30 times when i was a kid, i recently found it after years of hunting as its a very rare film. Watching it as an adult was like dejavu as i rememmbered most parts of the film, but i can now understand the horrors and politics of that war much better, making it more sad to me nowadays. The plot has not been given any spending power, and the English countryside is obvious, but this shows that there wasnt a plot during the Vietnam war, only the deaths of young men at the hands of eachother. It did make more of an impact on me as a kid but its still a powerful film that will have you looking into the window of the souls of those depicted. If you did see this movie as a kid too, nostalgia at its best.

AKA Once apon a time in Vietnam AKA Combat zone

10/10 for me.

Worst Vietnam movie ever made? From what I remember (I saw this in the early 80s) it was the most realistic depiction of the stupidity of war since Paths of Glory and until Saving Private Ryan.

Storyline gave way (to a certain extent) to simply showing it like it must have been - normal guys forced into being unfeeling killers, simply because the likelihood of your colleagues getting killed made it not worthwhile getting to know them well.

See it for yourself, it won't be everyone's cup of tea but it's worth a look.

I watched How Sleep The Brave as a teenager in the early eighties and was blown away by it. Yes, my friend and I laughed at the English-looking countryside (we had no idea at the time that it actually was made in England!), but we both thought it was a fantastic film about the realities of battle in the Vietnam war. "Worst Vietnam Movie Ever?" - no way! OBVIOUSLY the film was low budget but if you can see past that you will find yourself with an engrossing and moving film experience.

When Platoon came out a few years later I was amazed at the similarities to How Sleep The Brave. Platoon was in the news for weeks with talk about America exposing and coming to terms with the realities of the Vietnam war, and generally blowing sunshine up Oliver Stone's a*se. Well I reckon Olly watched How Sleep The Brave and got the idea for Platoon! I immediately picked up on the use of haunting classical music to accentuate the tragedy, futility and brutality of the war. How Sleep The Brave was way ahead of the rest with it's ideas and techniques on the treatment of the subject.

Generally I see the film as a fantastic finished product of a great idea on a very low budget. It delivers the message and then some. I haven't seen the film since that first time, but I will try to rent it out again and may post more comments with my current thoughts.