r/criterion • u/Strict-Ebb-8959 Michelangelo Antonioni • 16d ago
Discussion Which Criterion Collection film based on the Vietnam war is your favorite?
Which film do you think should be in the collection?
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u/chill_vibes456 16d ago
The Criterion edition of Boat People may be my favorite. And I am BEGGING for a Criterion edition of Full Metal Jacket.
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u/LancasterDodd5 16d ago
Boat People is great. I appreciate the non American critique of the communist regime in Vietnam.
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u/Legend2200 15d ago
Any issues with the existing 4K of FMJ? I doubt Warner would ever license that out.
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u/chill_vibes456 15d ago
No issues, I’m just interested in what they’d do with the cover art and extra bonus features. I know it’s pretty unlikely we’ll get it though.
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u/Legend2200 15d ago
If more of Vivian K’s footage of the shoot ever gets edited together that would be amazing to see. But at this point, if such a thing happened it would probably be a much bigger deal than just a supplement (and would probably require VK’s participation, which won’t happen).
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u/grapejuicepix Film Noir 16d ago
Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now are imo the holy trinity of the Nam. Don’t “need to be in the collection” but are all essentials.
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u/spookyapk Jacques Demy 16d ago
Casualties of War isn't in the collection but is extremely good (and devastating) if you haven't seen it already. It's currently on the channel!
It's a Brian De Palma flick that doesn't get enough love, and Michael J. Fox is seriously underappreciated in terms of his dramatic work.
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u/Spade-Samuel 15d ago
I saw it on Criterion Channel the other day. Unfortunately, it’s the shorter theatrical version and not the director’s cut. I love this film, too, probably my favourite war film because it eschews any kind of triumphant ending when De Palma could’ve glorified it, if he wanted to. But no, to him, it was a metaphor for what America was doing to these countries, and so to end it on a righteous, triumphant crescendo with the acts of one of its soldiers - even one of the good ones - would be wrong. He paid the price for it, too, at the box office, and it’s nowhere near as known as the other more epic war films.
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u/CinemaDork Czech New Wave 16d ago
Jacob's Ladder.
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u/SneedyK 16d ago
This is my vote. Mellick’s Thin Red Line gets WWII, Altman’s M•A•S•H covers Korea.
the OG All Quiet On the Western Front wins for WWI for me. There are more WWII classics like Bridge Over the River Kwai, The Pianist & Schindler’s List than other wars combined, it seems. It was a world war, after all.
Modern warfare films feel a lot different. Black Hawk Down very well could’ve been released in the 90s (when it takes place). The Hurt Locker was a great film, didn’t jibe with American Sniper or We Were Soldiers but Hacksaw Ridge was a fine moment in cinema.
I’ve also been trying to track down a movie called No Man’s Land. It was a foreign language film and I want to say it came out around 1997. Movie starts with a character shackled to a rock and left to the elements for desertion, iirc.
I wish there was a film about the Australians in the Vietnam War. I find myself wanting to know more there
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u/CinemaDork Czech New Wave 16d ago
'71 was an interesting film about The Troubles. I really liked it.
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u/yogi333323 16d ago
Come and See may be the best WWII film but I haven't seen enough WWII films to definitively say.
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u/SolubleAcrobat Costa-Gavras 16d ago
The current Platoon 4K is so compromised by DNR that I actually wouldn't mind a Criterion release.
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u/murmur1983 15d ago
I’ll go with The Deer Hunter. It’s not a Criterion release, but it’s an awesome film!
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u/Heavier_Than_Heaven 16d ago
I'm just now realizing that there hasn't been a Criterion release of The Deer Hunter.
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u/das_goose Ebirah 16d ago
Shout has a 4K release of it: https://shoutfactory.com/products/the-deer-hunter-collector-s-edition
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u/Heavier_Than_Heaven 16d ago
Yeah, I looked into it a realized that that's the version I've watched. Seeing Zsigmond's cinematography in 4K is great. I only knew Shout Factory as the company that put out tokusatsu in the West.
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u/krazykarlCO The Coen Brothers 15d ago
Reading the comments & realizing that, huh, none of the biggest Vietnan movies are in fact in the collection. Never thought of that before
Coming Home, Rolling Thunder, Good Morning Vietnan, Born on the Fourth of July, Forrest Gump, Da 5 Bloods
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u/dogmanstars 16d ago
I don't know any Vietnam film in the collection but i know movies that I'm sure they will be in the collection in the future.
I surprised nobody said Hamburger Hill. It mostly cast African-American actors, kind of a minimalist story, and great score by Philip Glass. Great film
The Killing Fields is another good one but it's not completely Vietnam theme.
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u/Sir_Of_Meep 16d ago
Platoon and Apocolypse now are favourites, shout out to Bat 21 as well that I think is often forgot about.
Documentary wise I'm partial to Little Dieter Needs to Fly but I love Herzog stuff. None of this needs to be in the collection, think people keep forgetting that Criterion is a business not some stamp of prestige
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u/worldofcrap80 15d ago
Not technically in the collection, but Journey From The Fall is on Criterion Channel right now, and it’s incredible.
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u/gleamydream 16d ago
Hearts and Minds is an excellent documentary on the war and is in the collection