On 10 May 1969 Troops of the 101st Airborne Division engaged the enemy at the base of Hill 937 in the Ashau Valley. Ten days and eleven bloody assaults later, the Troops who fought there called it Hamburger Hill.

It's got the score from Philip Glass. It follows the story of a large group of soldiers played by young new actors. Some will become famous including Michael Boatman, Don Cheadle, Dylan McDermott, Courtney B. Vance, Steven Weber. At the time, the lack of stars are meant to keep the film authentic. There are lots of touches to give authenticity to the movie. The movie seems like a series of Vietnam War vignettes of people talking bs and doing simple soldier things. The story doesn't really flow especially with the large cast. The focus is never on one character and it has a scatter shot effect. The action looks good considering this is pre-CGI. Once they're in the jungle, the intensity goes up and the action on the hill is the toughest of all. In the end, the movie achieves a sense of senselessness.

In may of 1969, in Vietnam, an American squad is assigned to conquer a mountain called by the Americans as Hamburger Hill. Very well protected by the Vietnamese, a very bloody battle has happened for days, with many deaths. This realistic movie shows, almost like a documentary, some days of a platoon before reaching the top of a strategic mountain. The dramatization is great, as well as the direction of John Irvin and the performance of the cast. Today I had watched first `When Trumpets Fade', another John Irvin's film, therefore the impact of `Hamburger Hill' was very reduced. Both movies are mandatory, recommended for audiences who look for raw and naked true stories of war. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `Hamburger Hill'

Unfairly forgotten and left in the slipstream of critical darlings Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill can proudly fly its own worthwhile flag. There's nothing preachy or political here, director John Irvin and writer James Carabatsos approach the subject with a refreshing humane honesty, making us viewers privy to the American soldiers mindset as they cope with life in Vietnam before an assault on some turd pile strategic hill, a battle that the survivors of that particular bloody conflict would call Hamburger Hill.

No matter what one feels about the war, the politics of such etc, the fact that quite often Vietnam films zoom in on the misdemeanours and egotistical sides of the American presence in Vietnam, tends to detract from the bravery of men and boys who were doing the job their government decreed they should do. Hamburger Hill addresses this, proudly so. Pace is deliberate and literate, building up to the assault on Hill 937, with little slices of kinetic action inserted along the way to tantalise and torment in equal measure.

Not all the acting is smart, there's a cast of up and coming thesps on show that features some who have gone on to be "name" actors, while others that were out of their depth subsequently found a level more befitting their abilities. Yet this is also a cunning tactic in the film's favour, no stars needed here, young adult actors without baggage or headlines kind of feels appropriate for this portrayal of soldiers in an alien world, many of whom would lay their shattered bodies down in the mud at Hamburger Hill. 8/10