The Siege of Firebase Gloria

The Siege of Firebase Gloria is not a very well known Vietnam war film. In fact it hardly gets a mention at all and is overshadowed by films such as Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and others.

The premise is as follows: a Marine patrol led by sergeant Hafner (the great R. Lee Ermey) ends up in a remote US Army outpost deep in the jungles of Vietnam right at the start of the Tet offensive. Hafner takes command and must fend off waves of attacks by the Vietcong and NVA.

The story is quite interesting of how these men, outnumbered and almost forsaken must defend themselves against all odds. Although Ermey's role isn't too big (the film focuses on a few key soldiers), he is great in every frame he is in. Having been an actual Marine, he reprises his role as a tough commander with a witty tongue. The film in general find a nice balance between the main story while at the same time showing how war takes its toll on men. Interestingly enough the North Vietnamese commanders are also portrayed and fortunately not as cartoonish enemies but competent leaders.

The production values are quite good, there are lots of real helicopters, the sets and location are grand and well built and the action scenes quite vast in their scale.

However the film doesn't reach the levels achieved by Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket. Despite that, its still worth a watch.

An isolated firebase faces human wave assaults from the VC at the start of Tet.

This is the Vietnam War just the way we thought or preferred to think about it at the time: the Americans are the good guys, Charlie's the bad guy, South Vietnamese civilians are the ones being protected, everyone loves being in the Corps, inter-service co-operation is something you can always take for granted. The reality was a bit more complicated, but it didn't seem that way to a lot of people then.

It's about time the guys who were over there, or sit-at-home strategists back here, got a movie that validates their recollections and good intentions, one that's realistic, but without being too gung ho on the one hand (like "The Green Berets"), or too negative about US involvement on the other (like most other Vietnam films). I don't think I buy this point of view personally anymore, but it's good to have it available as an option.

Lee Ermey is totally authentic as always. Wings Hauser is not at that level but he's good enough. The Vietnamese are generally played by Filipinos who don't completely look the part but do a decent job.

There's plenty of mayhem for action buffs -- much of the movie looks like the climax from "Glory" (or "Zulu"). Pot-smoking is frowned upon in this one, as is poor grooming (I did say old-fashioned). Everybody does his duty, especially Charlie.

The good guys win this time.

If you've never heard of this movie before, you're in good company. Apparently, neither have Leonard Maltin, Roger Ebert, or the editors of the "VideoHound Golden Movie Retriever." Fortunately, the editor of VideoHound's book on war movies had heard of it. Based on his favorable review, I taped and viewed the film recently. If you enjoy a good "battle" movie, be sure to catch this one--you won't be disappointed.

"The Siege of Firebase Gloria" is a real film about real people in an unreal hell. Its apparently low budget was a blessing because it forced the creators to focus on plot and character development rather than on bombastic and meaningless special effects. Nevertheless, the battle sequences are believable and well-done.

This film is a sleeper that apparently did not get the exposure that it deserved. Then again, R. Lee Ermey and Wings Hauser, who played the lead roles, are not exactly box-office draws, and the other names in the cast were totally unfamiliar to me. However, Ermey, Hauser, and everyone in the cast do a solid job.

The action takes place during the Vietnamese Tet offensive in 1968, during a supposed holiday cease-fire, when the Viet Cong caught the South Vietnamese and U.S. forces by surprise with an all-out assault throughout South Vietnam. Ermey and his Marines are caught in the trap when they are ordered to help defend a small, meaningless outpost, Firebase Gloria, with virtually no help except, finally, from a small Air Cavalry unit. The Tet offensive was the beginning of the end for South Vietnam.

I never served in Vietnam, but this film has the feeling of being authentic. This is not a simplistic "good guys versus bad guys" film. The atrocities and inhumanities committed by both sides are not overemphasised but they are not glossed over either. They are just there as part of the fabric of the war.

Perhaps more importantly, they are shown in the context of a deadly, virtually unsurvivable siege and final battle. We sympathize with the Marines, of course, and we see them as ordinary, basically decent human beings. We may not condone some of the things that they do, but we understand why they may have seen no other alternative. It reminds me of the film "Zulu," about British troops trapped in a similar situation a century ago.

For many of us, our image of R. Lee Ermey is as the over-the-top drill sergeant in "Full Metal Jacket." His character in "Firebase Gloria" is more human and lower in key, yet you can see his character evolving into the drill sergeant following his tour in Vietnam. When you've walked through hell with your fellow battle-hardened Marines and been one of the few to come out alive, you know that you have to do everything in your power to prepare your green recruits to walk through that same hell.

Is "Firebase Gloria" on the same level of quality as "Platoon" and "Full Metal Jacket"? Not quite. I'd put it on a par with "Go Tell the Spartans," which, despite a strong performance from Burt Lancaster, has also never gotten the exposure that it deserves. These films deserve to be seen, not forgotten.

There are many comments already about this movie but as a vet and been there I consider this as many of the other vets have said in their comments...a super great and realistic movie. Not for the squimish but if you want to see what it really was like..this is the movie for you. Certainly NOT...for children! I agree with the other VN vets...only those who were not there would pick it apart for tech details and acting abilities. I agree the wisecracking chopper pilot is a bit overdone for sure but that's hollywood for you. Ignoring that, it is still the best and most truthfull depiction of what it was really like. Former USMC....Jerry von Lind

"The people were friendly. We liked them and they liked us... so it really hurt us to see their heads on stakes." This line, dryly spouted by R. Lee Ermey's character Sergeant Major Bill Hafner of the United States Marine Corps' Force Recon, begins a brutal portrayal of war at its worst. This film pulls no punches, showing combat for what it is: a slaughter.

Do not come into this film with a soft heart. If scenes showing piles of dead children, teenage Vietnamese prostitutes wrapping themselves in dynamite to act as suicide bombers or "sappers", American nurses and Embassy secretaries being machine-gunned by Viet Cong soldiers, the execution of prisoners by both the V.C. and Marines, and the wholesale slaughter of an entire generation of young men (both American and Vietnamese) have the potential to bother you, you might want to avoid this one. "Siege of Firebase Gloria" is frighteningly graphic and realistic and the only thing that keeps this movie from being little more than a snuff film is the humanity of the characters.

While the men on both sides commit acts that most people would consider atrocities, we can see them for what they are: scared human beings, some of them barely more than boys ("No way - Mighty Mouse could never get us out of this s**t," says Private "Shortwave" Coates) who don't know why they have to do these horrible things, only that they must if they want to survive.

In the end, it is the North Vietnamese Army Colonel Cao Van who gives the best summary of the situation: "The courage of your enemies does you honor."