Hamburger Hill (1987)

Vietnam 1969. Hill 937. 10 days. 70% casualties. Those are the facts - this is the story. The men of Bravo Company are facing a battle that's all up hill...up Hamburger Hill. Fourteen war-weary soldiers are battling for a mud covered mound of earth so named because it chews up soldiers like chopped meat. They are fighting for their country their fellow soldiers and their lives. War is hell but this is worse. HAMBURGER HILL tells it the way it was the way it really was. It's a raw gritty and totally unrelenting dramatic depiction of one of the fiercest battles of America's bloodiest war. Dodge the gunfire. Get caught behind enemy lines. Go into battle beside the brave young men who fought and died. Feel their desperation and futility. This happened. HAMBURGER HILL--war at its worst men at their best.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/MILITARY & WAR Rating: R UPC: 028485232884 Manufacturer No: 23288 Product Description

Hamburgers are always bloody

"Hamburger Hill" is a very good (anti)war movie. The DVD from Germany is cut, so I ordered the US version. It is not only longer, it has the better picture and sound quality too. October 6, 2008

A Second Helping of "Hamburger" Anyone?

This review is from;Hamburger Hill (20th Anniversary Edition)

"Hamburger Hill" is a Vietnam War movie that deserves to be a classic in its own right, but unfortunately it will always be not as highly recognized as the more popular movies of its genre including the highly regarded "Apocalypse Now", "Full Metal Jacket" and "Platoon" (all made by very revered directors Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick & Oliver Stone, respectively). Director John Irvin's "Hamburger Hill" is gritty, action packed and straight to the point film about the 3rd battalion of the 101st Airborne Division's assault on hill 937 in Vietnam from May 10 to 20, 1969. A bloody battle that had nearly a 70% casualty rate. Although underappreciated I personally liked this movie, but rather than review this movie as many others already have under the original Artisan DVD release link, I just wanted to point out the features for the new "20th Anniversary" release. I owned the prior DVD by Artisan (from 2001) and I decided to splurge on the new, 2008 release by Lions Gate.

The 20th Anniversary release of "Hamburger Hill" was given a new, anamorphic widescreen transfer by Lions Gate. Although I thought the old Artisan DVD contained a decent transfer, there were some imperfections or spots on the film. Not much, but some. The colors on the old transfer also looked slightly faded and fuzzy. The new transfer on the otherhand, looks slightly sharper and more focused. The imperfections I saw on the old transfer are gone on the new one. Great clean up job! I'm not really an expert on sound, but the new DVD contains a digital 5.1 sound track which for the most part sounds almost identical to the Artisan DVD. Although this is not really a complaint, the scene selection in the old transfer had 36 chapter stops while the new transfer has only 16. This is probably irrelevant to most people, but I just thought I would take note of it.

The 20th Anniversary DVD now contains commentary tracks from the film's writer/Producer Jim Carabatsos and actors Anthony Barrile, Harry O'Reilly and Daniel O'Shea. Most of the commentary is from Carabastos. Some of the commentary is screen specific, but most of it is about the films' origin and production. The actors mostly talk about their auditions and boot camp experiences at Subic Bay, Philippines in addition to their own experiences on the film.

The new release now contains a couple of new featurettes. One is called "The Appearance of Reality" (16 minutes, 50 seconds). This is your standard behind the scenes, film crew & cast interviews with some film footage. We also hear from director John Irvin and writer/Producer Jim Carabatsos. The feature also covers the difficulties encountered while making the film in the Philippines. Watching this reminded me of some the difficulties encountered when "Apocalypse Now" was made which was well covered in the documentary "Hearts of Darkness". Some of the troubled moments during the filming of "Hamburger Hill" included an electrician that was electrocuted (and died) during filming, a typhoon, some local fighting during the Aquino revolution against the Marcos Regime and some sniper fire towards the actors' van at night (the van had to drive with the lights off and the passengers had to crouch down for safety to avoid the sniper fire!).

The other featurette is called "Medics in Vietnam" which is about medics (about 6 minutes). Although very short in length, I still think it's great that some well, deserved recognition is given to the medics in the battlefield and some basic, understanding about how vital they are as supporting units in the battlefield. We hear excerpts from actor Courtney Vance who played medic Doc Johnson in the film as well as a military historian Colonel Robert Tomlinson, book author Artur Wiknik Jr. and former medic Bob Rogers. I found it interesting that some of the medics that went to Vietnam had such distinct backrounds. Some were ex-infantry men and some were conscientious objectors that didn't want to fight in the war, but wanted to help in the effort nevertheless.

The DVD also has an interactive "Vietnam War Timeline" filled with interesting key dates and facts. The timeline has a sixteen different date menus in chronological order from 1867 (the French Colonization) to 1975 (the American withdrawal). When you select each date with your DVD player's remote, some text notes, map locations and/or pictures appear to explain what happened in that specific time period you selected. Neat!

The last features on the DVD are trailers for other Lions Gate films including "Reservoir Dogs 15th Anniversary" (and video game preview), American Psycho, 3:10 to Yuma and Rambo (the new 2008 DVD and the Rambo "Ultimate Edition" set). Note there is NO trailer for "Hamburger Hill" on the 20th Anniversary DVD, but if you have purchased the new 2008 "Rambo" two-disc DVD set, the trailer for "Hamburger Hill" (20th Anniversary DVD) is there.

My only, minor complaint about the new DVD is the absence of actor Don Chealde from the featurette and the commentary. Chealde became famous later for his many roles in other films such as "Hotel Rwanda" & "Ocean's Eleven". Although his role in "Hamburger Hill" is somewhat minor (a stepping stone for him at the time), I appreciated all of his work and I still would of liked to hear any of his insights about "Hamburger Hill" despite the fact that he has become a much, more acclaimed actor now than he was back then. Otherwise, I think this is a worthy upgrade for fans of the film who owned the prior DVD and a worthy purchase for new viewers. Improved picture and some interesting features made the "20th Anniversary" a good purchase for me and possibly for you?


May 30, 2008

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