Many have tried to dismiss this film as nothing more than a comedic vehicle for Robin Williams. The concept of making light of the horrors of war, particularily Vietnam since it's still so recent in the minds of many turns alot of viewers off to the important potential lessons to be learned in this wonderfully insightful movie.Based on the true life accounts of Air Force officer and D.J. Adrian Cronauer we get a birds' eye view into the strict and ridiculous bureaucracy that can at times reign over military policy and in effect hamper the morale and efforts of the American military.
Cronauer provided a much needed spontaneity to the air waves of Vietnam radio and brought however briefly to the American soldiers the contemporary music they wanted to hear. There is alot to laugh at in this film, what else could you expect with the likes of Robin Williams in the lead role. However there is much more going on than what first meets the eye. The concepts of acceptance, friendship, trust and love soon become entangled into the comedic elements which lead to the sad and poignant realization that cultural differences can't always be overcome by good intentions. A bittersweet truth so poignantly conveyed by the beautiful Trinh when rebuffing the romantic advances of Cronauer with the statement, "Vietnam ladies not friends."
This film will definitely make you laugh. It will also make you cry and even more importantly make you think. In the final analysis that's what it's all about. There are many wonderful performances in this movie complimenting Robin Williams amazing tour-de-force. My two favorites are Tung Than Tran as 'Phan' and Chintara Sukapatana as 'Trinh.'
Highly Recommended!!
The V.P., a V.I.P., the P.C., on the Q.T, the V.C, MIA and K.P.
Who else can take all these initials, string them into one sentence and have us in hysterics. Only Robin Williams. The one liners are fast and non stop. He's absolutely perfect as he portrays the real life Adrian Cronauer, an armed forces DJ who shakes things up a bit in Saigon 1965.
Cronauer is a hip DJ, who tries to the chagrin of his lieutanant, to bring a little fun into the lives of the weary soldiers in Viet Nam. He livens up the base and surrounding Saigon with funny characters,absurd news stories(the real ones are edited), and some Rock and Roll, as the Vietnam War occurs around them. The Lt. is more of a Lawrence Welk/Jim Nabors kind of a guy and is appalled at this DJ's style.But nothing can stop this wild and crazy guy from his mission. The script is rollicking good fun, and of course all that great music from the 60's is on tap. But there are poignant moments and a serious nature to this film as well. The war still goes on, and for the people of Saigon it is tragic.As Cronauer finds out when he befriends the townspeople.
Williams' immense talent explodes in this film. He is both funny and compassionate. But he is not alone in making this film the classic it has become. It is directed by the brillant Barry Levinson(Rain Man/The Natural),who always knows how to pull us into a story and keep us there.The supporting cast is marvelous and play right to Williams. It includes the wonderful character
actor Noble Willingham, Bruno Kirby,Forest Whitaker, Robert Wuhl and I must also make mention of Tung Thanh Tran, who plays Tuan/aka Phan Duc To.
A story of Vietnam like no other. It's one I can pull out and watch anytime without tiring of it. The VHS is a good quality. It has nice picture and hi-fi Stereo sound.It has closed captioned for hearing impaired as well. If you haven't seen it in a while, watch it again, and remember why you liked it so much the first time around. For those that have not seen it, you
are in for a real treat.
Thanks and enjoy...Laurie
recommended reading:
Into the DMZ A Battle History of Operation Hickory, May 1967, Vietnam(see my review for bnook details)
Buy Good Morning, Vietnam (25th Anniversary Edition) (1987) Now
i love good morning vietnam because robin williams does an amazing job of balancing humor and drama. this is one of my favorite movies of all time, and i highly reccommend it to everybody. you've got to watch it more than once, because you'll see something new or catch another sly joke each time.Read Best Reviews of Good Morning, Vietnam (25th Anniversary Edition) (1987) Here
Robin Williams is exceptional (as usual) as the controversial radio disc-jockey Adrian Cronauer who is sent to Vietnam during the war to lift the military morale with his special brand of on-air banter. Cronauer's improvised, lightning-speed monologues keep getting him into strife with his superiors, yet are adored by the soldiers who avidly listen to him. While stationed in the war-torn country, Cronauer meets and gets to know some of the locals intimately, and learns about the catastrophes and disasters that lie beneath the airwaves through which his flippantly humourous broadcasts are transmitted.Cronauer's radio persona is an accurate mirror of Williams himself, yet he also portrays well the man who becomes more human and vulnerable as a result of his exposure to the situation in his new environment.
GMV is both side-splittingly hilarious, touching and at times devastating, as we witness the horrors of war contrasted against the light-hearted satirical entertainment of Cronauer's on-air speeches. There has also never been a more ironic use of Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" than here, played as a background to a heartbreaking montage of tragic images.
The soundtrack is also excellent, blending some appropriately upbeat period tunes with snippets of Williams funniest monologues.
Want Good Morning, Vietnam (25th Anniversary Edition) (1987) Discount?
My 1* rating is for the DVD, not the movie which is 5*.Most poeople will have seen this film on video and tv and enjoyed it, some of you old folks may have even seen it at the cinema. I think that this is a great film and it belongs in my favourite collection.
A lot of reviews here talk about the film so I wont. I just bought the DVD and watched it, although I have the video as well.
The picture quality was bad, fuzzy and grainy in many places, and I mean the picture, not the mpeg compression.
It was possible in quite a few places to see the mpeg rings. The sound was average, not brilliant but not poor.
There are no real extra features to talk about.
So given that this movie has a great following in many countries I would have expected the DVD conversion crew to have done a much better job.
With no extras and not been a really long film there is no reason to allow compression rings to be visible, where they are visible the conversion people just have to lower the compression rate for that part, and us the viewers would never know.
It appears that all they did was to copy the old movie onto a DVD without any effort, knowing that many people will buy the DVD. I think that the video copy I have matches the DVD for picture quality, not for sound of course.
If you have Good Morning Vietnam on video treasure it and save yourself £15 ($20). Maybe in the future a 'special' anniversary edition will be released that the producers will have invested both time and money in to give us a DVD worth buying, of course they could just release it again as is for all us muggs to be ripped off again.
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