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Vietnam, is going to puzzle, anger and (I hope) fascinate audiences as much as any
film he has made to date. The movie... will inevitably be compared with Oliver
Stone’s Platoon, but its narrative is far less neat and cohesive— and far more
antagonistic— than Mr. Stone’s film” (Canby, 1987).Reel History Versus Real History
Marine Corps veterans attest that the boot camp portion of Full Metal Jacket is
remarkably accurate— with certain qualifications. Half of Lee Ermey’s hilariously
caustic lines are derived, almost verbatim, from Hasford’s novel. The rest he impro-
vised himself; as a former Marine drill instructor, Ermey knew from whence he
spoke. Though drill instructors are forbidden from hitting recruits, such incidents
were not uncommon in the pre– all- volunteer era. Veterans have observed, how-
ever, that se nior drill instructors tended to be less abusive than Ermey’s Gunnery
Sgt. Hartman; that role was reserved for ju nior drill instructors. Pvt. Pyle’s stress-
induced breakdown is a common boot camp occurrence, but no recruit has ever
yet murdered his drill instructor. The Vietnam portion of the film recounting the
Tet Offensive— including the Viet Cong night assault on Da Nang Air Base (29 Jan-
uary 1968) and the subsequent Battle of Huế—is quite accurate historically. As
depicted in the film, Stars and Stripes reporters were under orders to put the best
face on the war, writing “ human interest” stories while studiously ignoring Ameri-
can military blunders, setbacks, or crimes against civilians. Likewise the Huế
sequences ring true— even though they were filmed just outside London. As shown
by a mass grave in the movie, the Viet Cong carried out atrocities in Huế. Ameri-
can troops did encounter snipers as they fought house to house to recapture the
city in what was the only sustained urban combat during the Vietnam War. The
pig- tailed young sniper is also historically credible; the Viet Cong numbered many
teenaged girls among their ranks.Fury (2014)
Synopsis
Fury is an American war film written and directed by David Ayer that stars Brad
Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, and Jason Isaacs.
The film depicts the combat experiences of the crew of a U.S. Army Sherman tank
nicknamed “Fury” as it advances into the heart of Nazi Germany during the final
days of World War II.Background
Fury is the exclusive brainchild of Navy submarine veteran turned action picture
writer- director- producer David Ayer, who researched, wrote, directed, and co-
produced the film. The script that Ayer fashioned involves the trial by fire of a reluc-
tant soldier and an Alamo- like last stand: plot ele ments obviously borrowed from
Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan.