How Vietnam Effected Our Entertainment
By: Darby H.
The Vietnam war has influenced all kinds of media and entertainment since its occurrence. Below are a few examples of the countless movies, songs, and even musicals that exemplify Vietnam's ever-lasting impression on American History.
Movies
Platoon (1986)
"A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man."
Director: Oliver Stone
Writer: Oliver Stone
Stars: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091763/
"A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man."
Director: Oliver Stone
Writer: Oliver Stone
Stars: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091763/
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
"An unorthodox and irreverent DJ begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the US Armed Services Radio station in Vietnam."
Director: Barry Levinson
Writer: Mitch Markowitz
Stars: Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Tung Thanh Tran
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093105/
"An unorthodox and irreverent DJ begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the US Armed Services Radio station in Vietnam."
Director: Barry Levinson
Writer: Mitch Markowitz
Stars: Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Tung Thanh Tran
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093105/
Apocalypse Now (1979)
"During the U.S.-Viet Nam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe."
Director: Francis Ford Coppola (as Francis Coppola)
Writers: John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
Based on the Novel: Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"During the U.S.-Viet Nam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe."
Director: Francis Ford Coppola (as Francis Coppola)
Writers: John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
Based on the Novel: Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Forrest Gump (1994)
"Forrest Gump, while not intelligent, has accidentally been present at many historic moments, but his true love, Jenny Curran, eludes him."
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Winston Groom (novel), Eric Roth (screenplay)
Stars: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109830/
"Forrest Gump, while not intelligent, has accidentally been present at many historic moments, but his true love, Jenny Curran, eludes him."
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Winston Groom (novel), Eric Roth (screenplay)
Stars: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109830/
Musicals
Miss Saigon (Premiered 1989)
"It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover. The setting of the plot is relocated to the 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam War, and Madame Butterfly's story of marriage between an American lieutenant and Japanese girl is replaced by a romance between an American GI and a Vietnamese bar girl."
Music: Claude-Michael Schonberg
Lyrics: Alain Boublil, Richard Maltby, Jr.
Basis: Opera by Giacomo Pucini: Madame Butterfly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Saigon
"It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover. The setting of the plot is relocated to the 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam War, and Madame Butterfly's story of marriage between an American lieutenant and Japanese girl is replaced by a romance between an American GI and a Vietnamese bar girl."
Music: Claude-Michael Schonberg
Lyrics: Alain Boublil, Richard Maltby, Jr.
Basis: Opera by Giacomo Pucini: Madame Butterfly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Saigon
Songs/Album Artwork
- "Imagine" by John Lennon (1971)
- "Blowing in the Wind" by Bob Dylan (1963)
- "Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen (1984)
- "The Unknown Soldier" by The Doors (1968)
- Album artwork for "Meat is Murder" (1985) by The Smiths
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_Is_Murder