84 Charlie Mopic was a latter day entry in the late 80's cycle of Vietnam War movies. By this point in time there had been so many of these films that the sub-genre was running out of ideas. For that reason it seems likely that film-makers had to come up with new methods of presenting this material. To this end, 84 Charlie Mopic adopts a decidedly different approach in that it takes the form of a docudrama shot from a first person perspective via the video footage of a combat journalist sent out with an American platoon on a reconnaissance mission in the jungle. You have to remember that this was a very early example of the found-footage genre which was popularised a decade later by The Blair Witch Project (1999) and which has become very common place since. And while this was not the first film to use this technique, it was still very uncommon at the time and from this perspective has to be considered a commendably original approach.
Having said this, I just wish I could say I liked the movie more. On paper, it sounds like a good concept that has considerable potential. In practice it doesn't really work so well. It's very low budget is always obvious and it never really feels like we are ever in Vietnam, it looks more like a forest in the American Everglades or something. Not only this but it is very slow-paced and relies on dramatics far more than on action. Nothing wrong with that but the problem is that for this to work the script has to be decent but sadly for the most part the dialogue is fairly poor and the characters are not especially well defined, not helped by quite mediocre acting. Don't get me wrong, it has moments of interest, such as a tense interview scene which illustrated how racial differences that are an issue in civilian life cease to be relevant in the context of a combat platoon. There is also a dramatic scene in which an enemy soldier is captured and the manner in which this is dealt with showcases the ugliness of war; while the ending of the film worked quite well even if it was a little sudden. So, there are good moments in this movie, yet for the most part I found it to be a plodding and overly limited production. I give it credit for ideas but its execution was very lacking.
Having said this, I just wish I could say I liked the movie more. On paper, it sounds like a good concept that has considerable potential. In practice it doesn't really work so well. It's very low budget is always obvious and it never really feels like we are ever in Vietnam, it looks more like a forest in the American Everglades or something. Not only this but it is very slow-paced and relies on dramatics far more than on action. Nothing wrong with that but the problem is that for this to work the script has to be decent but sadly for the most part the dialogue is fairly poor and the characters are not especially well defined, not helped by quite mediocre acting. Don't get me wrong, it has moments of interest, such as a tense interview scene which illustrated how racial differences that are an issue in civilian life cease to be relevant in the context of a combat platoon. There is also a dramatic scene in which an enemy soldier is captured and the manner in which this is dealt with showcases the ugliness of war; while the ending of the film worked quite well even if it was a little sudden. So, there are good moments in this movie, yet for the most part I found it to be a plodding and overly limited production. I give it credit for ideas but its execution was very lacking.