GO TELL THE SPARTANS is set in 1964 Vietnam, apparently just before the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. Major Barker, one of the U.S. military advisors (Burt Lancaster) is ordered to send his men to lead some ARVN troops to defend the unimportant village of Muc Wa. Barker sends the super-patriotic, naive Lt. Hamilton and burnt-out sergeant "Oleo" on the expedition, where they quickly find themselves in over their heads.
Wendell Mayes' screenplay, based on Dan Ford's novel, is very well done. I've never been in the military, so I can't be sure how accurate the details are, but the soldiers of this movie are a lot like the soldiers I've met: some brave, some lazy, some ambitious, some compassionate, all griping and profane. There are some good, biting moments, particularly when Lt. Hamilton gives his ragtag ARVN troops a rousing patriotic speech; when the interpreter translates the speech, the men all burst out laughing. The rampant corruption amongst the South Vietnamese officer corps is well portrayed. Cap. Olivetti (Marc Singer, in an early performance before he turned to a Z-movie career) is a well-written minor role, a young officer who sees the defense of the village as merely a convenient way to advance his career.
Unfortunately, GO TELL THE SPARTANS doesn't seem to have had much of a budget, and it shows. The sets are cheap and stark, and the movie appears to have been shot in an American temperate forest rather than a jungle. The acting is a very mixed bag. Lancaster and Singer are good, as is Jonathan Goldsmith in the role of Sgt. "Oleo." However, Joe Unger is never quite convincing as Lt. Hamilton, and Craig Wasson is flat and dull as the idealistic Cpl. Courcey. (One of the best performances is Evan C. Kim's portrayal of the sadistic, repulsive but intelligent South Vietnamese interpreter, "Cowboy"). Ted Post's direction is loose, taking a long time to move between effective scenes, and his handling of the movie's conclusion is bizarre. His battle scenes are too much Hollywood action fare, failing to portray the exhaustion, pain and fear of real combat; this undercuts the cynical tone of the dialogue. The cinematography is lackluster and often poorly focused.
GO TELL THE SPARTANS is intended to show the overall story of the Vietnam war in microcosm. Because the movie lacked the budget for the actors and director it needed, it doesn't succeed as well as it might have. But it's still watchable and entertaining.
Rating: **1/2 out of ****.
Wendell Mayes' screenplay, based on Dan Ford's novel, is very well done. I've never been in the military, so I can't be sure how accurate the details are, but the soldiers of this movie are a lot like the soldiers I've met: some brave, some lazy, some ambitious, some compassionate, all griping and profane. There are some good, biting moments, particularly when Lt. Hamilton gives his ragtag ARVN troops a rousing patriotic speech; when the interpreter translates the speech, the men all burst out laughing. The rampant corruption amongst the South Vietnamese officer corps is well portrayed. Cap. Olivetti (Marc Singer, in an early performance before he turned to a Z-movie career) is a well-written minor role, a young officer who sees the defense of the village as merely a convenient way to advance his career.
Unfortunately, GO TELL THE SPARTANS doesn't seem to have had much of a budget, and it shows. The sets are cheap and stark, and the movie appears to have been shot in an American temperate forest rather than a jungle. The acting is a very mixed bag. Lancaster and Singer are good, as is Jonathan Goldsmith in the role of Sgt. "Oleo." However, Joe Unger is never quite convincing as Lt. Hamilton, and Craig Wasson is flat and dull as the idealistic Cpl. Courcey. (One of the best performances is Evan C. Kim's portrayal of the sadistic, repulsive but intelligent South Vietnamese interpreter, "Cowboy"). Ted Post's direction is loose, taking a long time to move between effective scenes, and his handling of the movie's conclusion is bizarre. His battle scenes are too much Hollywood action fare, failing to portray the exhaustion, pain and fear of real combat; this undercuts the cynical tone of the dialogue. The cinematography is lackluster and often poorly focused.
GO TELL THE SPARTANS is intended to show the overall story of the Vietnam war in microcosm. Because the movie lacked the budget for the actors and director it needed, it doesn't succeed as well as it might have. But it's still watchable and entertaining.
Rating: **1/2 out of ****.