The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 04, 1987, Page 4, Image 4
Features
4 THE GAMECOCK Friday, September 4, 1987
N othing
Review
By PA I Kit K JKAIN
Staff writer
The advertisements for Hamburger
Hill say it's "war at its worst;
men at their best," and makes it
sound like an overblown, overemphasized
film about the Vietnam
War offering violence aplenty but little
insight.
Bingo.
Hamburger Hill, the latest in a
series of "realistic" films about the
United States' most controversial
war, does nothing to heal old wounds
or help non-combatants understand
the gore and madness that occurred
there. The cast is respectable; the
script is not.
One of the film's main problems is
its slow pacing. The plot deals with
an American battalion's efforts to
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iiviicricM
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take a hill deep in the Vietnamese
jungle in 1969, but the movie plods
along for an hour before it gets there.
If there were some meaningful
Nuueuiciiib ituuvu wit: wai tiiiu us
fighters in that hour, things would be
fine. There aren't.
The script is another major problem.
Soldiers tell each other what
the war is doing to them and what
they remember back home, but their
conversations don't seem realistic.
There's also no subtle humor or
suspenseful action, both of which arc
usually required to make a film
entertaining.
The war's violence isn't even portrayed
properly. Shootings and
deaths arc expected, but a few extremely
gory scenes arc thrown in for
no reason other than shock value.
Students With IDs
2 For 1
September Onlyl
Nightly 7 & 9
Sal 2 4-6-8-10 13 For Stufenta At
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No previous yearboo
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%A
>ut Vietn
One soldier, for example, struggles
to hold in his bowels after they're
blown open by a bomb. Another gets
his face shot off, but that's probably
octtcr than the Viet Cong soldier who
gets his head shot off.
By the way, that Vietnamese opponent
is the first one actually seen
onscreen ? after the film is more
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than an hour old. Talk about the
"unseen enemy."
Hamburger Hill keeps aspiring to
symbolic greatness, but it never gets
there. Only a few scenes work, including
one where a flurry of
helicopters fly the troops into the
battle. The sky steams; smoke swirls;
the platoon's members mournfully
iook at one anoincr wnue i ne
RATORS for RENT
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MANAqER TO RENT ONE
Inotl $
i need of B type blood,
per month for 3 hours
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olofiicals. Inc.
Middleburg Dr. Suite 105
olumbia, S.C. 29204
254-6537
PAPAL VISI
All students who will
September 11, will be i
1 new white USC I.D. Ca
The Horseshoe visit wil
j Only those members o
Validation Sticker on tlTo
have your studer
li nresent vour new whit
r /
ssssssssssssssssssssss
FRIDAY, SEP
i 8:30 AM-5:00 P
TUESDAY. Si
I 8:30 AM-5:00 F
; WEDNESDAY
I 8:30 AM-5:00 I
THURSDAY,
8:30 AM-5:00 I
On Friday, Septemt
validated I.D. card 1
of the Horseshoe),
will close at 3:00
scheduled to arrive
I If you do not have a
strip on back), you r
be made at Petigru
11
I
Hamburg
Animals' "We Gotta Get Out of this i
Place" plays in the background. 1
Once the battle ? a fierce 10-day
struggle between the Americans and
the Vietnamese to claim a muddy hill
? begins, the film begins to pick up.
It actually becomes halfway interesting
and entertaining, but by
then, it s too late. There have been
too many wasted scenes and too
much stupid dialogue along the way
to save face.
Jim Carabatsos' script should provide
a new exploration into the horrors
of the war and the men who were
changed by their Vietnam experiences.
Its violence should evoke
horror, and its theme should give a
new understanding of what happened
over there. It doesn't.
The script never rises above the
stereotypical Hollywood treatment
of Vietnam. Black soldiers play soul
music and complain about repression.
Young soldiers talk about their
girlfriends and parents back home.
Sergeants are given pseudo
CAROLINA'S TOTAL EN
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INCLUDING THE ROCK A R
!; Sm. - Teen Night
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; > Screen TV's FRff Pizza
;; And Chili Dogs With Admk
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FrU? ? - $ 1.00 Cover for Ev<
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;; Him Hmt - MM.TWI. 4:WKH?
;? Ftm Mhn - <:w-?oo
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' ? A k. -
r STUDENT ID >
enter the Horseshoe for the
required to hove a Papal Visit \
rd.
I be open only to USC students
f the Carolina family who hav<
^eir I.D. cardswill be allowed 01
it I.D. card validated with
e USC I.D. at the following locc
TEMBER 4
M Russell House
:f I trvsotK d
>M Russell House
SEPTEMBER 9
=>AA Russell House
SEPTEMBER 10
PM Russell House
>er 11, all students, faculty, a
1- 1 A I II I 11
fo eruer me norsesnoe near /vm
rhe Horseshoe will open at ap
PM prior to the Pope's arriv
on the Horseshoe at about 5:0C
new I.D. card (white card with r
nust have your new I.D. card m
begnning Tuesday Septembei
jer Hill'
meaningful lines such as, "They
don't have to agree with it. They just
have to show up." Blah.
The cast of young unknowns 0 tfj
manages to hold its own, but no one
steals the show. Only Courtney
Vance is impressive as Doc; in fact,
he could earn a Best Supporting Actor
Oscar nomination. Dylon McDermott
also shows some flair as Frantz.
The rest of the cast is OK, but, like
the film, they arc quickly forgettable.
Platoon was conventional, but it
provided a deeply personal and
realistic view of the Vietnam War.
Full Metal Jacket was less predictable,
but it served as an artistic
allegory for the meaninglessness of
war.
Hamburger Hill has these two
tough acts to follow, and doesn't succeed.
It should work to heal the old A
psychological wounds; instead, it re- ^ ^
nntnc them. Its scriot is bland; its
characters are weak; it's missing
what is needed most in a war film ?
heart.
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TERTAINMENT J;
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VALIDATION
Papal Visit on Friday,
/alidation Sticker on the
, faculty, and staff.
e the special Papal Visit
the Horseshoe.
)1
the Papal Visit Sticker
ations:
*
B6866S8SS86S9e6SSS8S888fit
2nd floor Lobby j
2nd floor Lobby | [j
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2nd floor Lobby
2nd floor Lobby t
10)
lew bar code and magnetic [
ade. Student I.D. cards will
- 8.
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