This is the only pro-Vietnam war film ever made. Most of the officers, like John Wayne or Bruce Cabot (Frank Pierce in 1967's "The War Wagon"), are much too old to be running around the jungle looking for the VC. Aldo Ray, though a bit too old for this part, pulls it off with a tough-as-nails portrayal of Sgt. Muldoon. Mike Henry, a lousy actor at best, actually has a decent scene, in which, unfortunately, he dies. Henry's character, Kowalski, shows what hand-to-hand combat with martial arts training can really do.
Oliver Stone has denounced this film as racist; I have yet to find out why. I have seen this film at least a dozen times, and the ruthlessness of the Viet Cong is shown honestly. The scenes with American actors in blackface (greyface?) portraying VC are rather silly, since there weren't too many six-foot VC around, but the Malayan Swing and punji stakes are frighteningly realistic, at a time when most Americans had never heard of such barbaric weapons.
Oliver Stone has denounced this film as racist; I have yet to find out why. I have seen this film at least a dozen times, and the ruthlessness of the Viet Cong is shown honestly. The scenes with American actors in blackface (greyface?) portraying VC are rather silly, since there weren't too many six-foot VC around, but the Malayan Swing and punji stakes are frighteningly realistic, at a time when most Americans had never heard of such barbaric weapons.