The Change In Vietnam Films

The Vietnam War, lasted from 1954 to 1975, was a frightening and horrific event in human history. World War II was just as frightening and horrific even though it lasted for only 6 years from 1939 to 1945 comparing with much longer war in Vietnam. During both wars, millions of people were killed. In addition throughout these periods many films on war were produced. There are countless differences among films about war, including film style, genre, origin of narrative, and theme. Unlike earlier films depicting the world wars, or other conflicts, like the revolutionary war, or the Alamo; Vietnam War films provide new ideologies that were uncommon in war films. For my senior thesis, I will look at the evolving change in war films from 1949-1987,

One of the first major Vietnam War films was The Green Berets (1968). It starred actor John Wayne, who was also in the two pervious World War II movies I brought up. Historians and critics like Roger Ebert look at the film, and how it was created in midst of the Vietnam War, and filmed much like previous war/western films, in which America was the good guys and their enemies where the bad ones. As well as, the continuity of personnel within these movies that would be impactful. The next three films(Deer Hunter, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket) historians and scholars begin to argue and look at the changing features of war in film and if war is a genre in itself. All these films were nominated or received some type of awards, and by examining all these films through primary and secondary sources of personal experience, critical reviews, and historical examination, it’ll hopefully answer the questions regarding how the features of war in filmed changed and why it did. Was it because of public and critics views of the war? Was it the advancement of technology in film? Or was the view of the American solider

When the features of war in film change? What movies distinctively show the change of how war is depicted in film? The main challenge I’m going to face is taking two distinctively different wars with much different viewpoints and examine/analyze the various viewpoints and representations and see what was perceived to be at stake by filmmakers, film critics, audiences, and vets. In addition, besides plain documentation, the absence of movies on Vietnam makes it worthy of study. Many of secondary sources I was able to find are books/journals on film, wars, and ones that talk about both war and film. Primary sources I plan to rely on are critical reviews of the films by famous historians, such as, Roger Ebert who was an American film critic/historian for the Chicago Sun-Times, and movie reviews from the New York Times, and LA Times during the time period, as well as, the feature films in itself. These sources I‘ll most likely find in microfilms. Another aspect I’ll need to explore is the use of government propaganda in war film to see if that affected the features of war and how it was filmed. In addition, I’ll need to look at the restrictions and rules of filming and what is allowed, and what isn’t in the specific time periods. Lastly, by looking at historian and critic argument, the question of whether or not War should be considered a genre in itself may be