Film

The Green Berets

Name: The Green Berets
Genre: War, Drama
Released: 1968
Cast: John Wayne, David Janssen, Jim Hutton, Aldo Ray, Raymond St. Jacques

Action

John Wayne's 1968 Vietnam War drama follows elite Green Berets on two dangerous missions in South Vietnam. It's a straightforward military action film made during the war itself, unapologetically pro-soldier and pro-war effort. For those interested in how Hollywood processed Vietnam in real time, or Wayne's final years as an action star.

TMDb rating

2.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a sturdy, old-fashioned Vietnam-set war picture with classic studio staging, big-screen set pieces and a square-jawed hero, and you can enjoy it as a relic of its time.

Skip it if you want the Vietnam War seen with any ambiguity, since this is an unapologetic, earnest film of its era that rarely questions its own politics or its heroics.

What it asks of you: Over two hours of measured pacing, with long stretches of talk and camp-building between the firefights, and a sincerity it expects you to take at face value.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

We Were Soldiers2002

Mel Gibson leads a meticulously staged account of the first major engagement between American forces and North Vietnamese regulars. It has the same reverence for soldier camaraderie and tactical detail, with better modern cinematography and less propaganda.

But Three hours long and genuinely brutal about the cost of war—there's almost no relief, which some find exhausting rather than moving.

Apocalypse Now1979

Coppola's Vietnam epic is hypnotic and visionary in ways The Green Berets never attempts. If you want to understand how the war fractured American cinema and consciousness, this is the film that did it.

But Deliberately hallucinatory and oblique; it resists plot and clarity in favour of mood and madness. Nothing like a straightforward war story.

84 Charlie Mopic1989

A lean, realistic account of a six-man reconnaissance patrol in Vietnam. No stars, minimal music, maximum tension. Captures the grinding paranoia and professionalism of actual jungle warfare better than most bigger films.

But Low-budget and unglamorous; long stretches of waiting and whispering. If you need action beats and heroics, you'll find it slow.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Green Berets

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Flags of Our Fathers2006

A direct ideological opposite: The Green Berets sells the war; Flags dismantles how war gets sold. Both are about Vietnam's spiritual ancestor.

Clint Eastwood's meditation on the difference between what soldiers do and what America tells itself about what soldiers do. It's about the Iwo Jima photograph, but it's really about The Green Berets—about how war gets sold and soldiers get used.

But Deliberately static and reflective; the real action is all memory and politics, not combat. If you want firefights, this will disappoint you.

The Deer Hunter1978

Michael Cimino's masterpiece follows working-class men before, during and after Vietnam. It's operatic and devastating, showing war's invisible wounds with unflinching power.

But Nearly three and a half hours, with a controversial Russian roulette sequence that overshadows everything else for some viewers.

We Are Marshall2006

Matthew McConaughey leads a film about rebuilding and resilience after tragedy. It has the same earnest, can-do spirit as The Green Berets, but channelled into something human and emotionally honest.

But Sentimental to the point of schmaltz; it works only if you surrender to its sincerity completely.

Hamburger Hill1987

Ten days, one hilltop, one platoon. Anthony Barille directs a visceral account of a real 1969 battle. Harder and meaner than The Green Berets, focused entirely on the soldiers grinding through it.

But Relentlessly grim with a small, rotating cast; easy to lose track of who is who and why it matters.

Black Hawk Down2001

Ridley Scott's kinetic account of the 1993 Mogadishu raid. If you like military precision and teamwork under fire, this delivers it with stunning technical craft and a huge ensemble cast.

But A different war, different era, different politics entirely—connection is purely structural, which some find too thin.

The Patriot2000

Mel Gibson in a different war, fighting different enemies. Same earnest soldier protagonist, same rousing speeches about duty and sacrifice.

But Sanitised and flag-waving in its own ways; the American Revolution allows less moral complexity than even a contentious Vietnam film might risk.

Navy Seals1990

Charlie Sheen in a straightforward shoot-'em-up about special operations. If you just want elite soldiers doing elite things without too much burden, this delivers.

But Formulaic action film with paper-thin characters. It's competent but forgettable.