Rutledge
Master Sergeant
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2006
- Messages
- 1,222
(Never heard of this one. Anyone?)
Brutal War Movies That Absolutely Got It Right
The great lost film about the Vietnam War, 84C MoPic (sometimes called 84 Charlie MoPic) was written and directed on a miniscule budget by Vietnam veteran Patrick Duncan. The film was made in southern California, and is one the earliest examples of a found footage picture. The set up is simple: what the audience sees is documentary footage from the camera of a Motion Picture Specialist (MoPic) assigned to a Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) in "Indian" (North Vietnamese) territory. LRRPs gathered intelligence on North Vietnamese movement and activity, which helped form the foundation of American tactics in the late 1960s. In the film, a routine mission goes awry, endangering the lives of the men in the LRRP. According to War and American Popular Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, edited by M. Paul Holsinger, pretty much about everything about 84C MoPic is accurate, from the language used by soldiers to the weaponry and details of radio communication. Throughout 84C MoPic, the central characters refer to Vietnam as "Charlie's war," an acknowledgement of America's hopeless position rarely stated so explicitly in films. US Army Iraq War combat veteran Mike Durand wrote of 84 MoPic: "There are no distracting sub-plots, only the immediate fight for survival, not only in combat but in the day-to-day activities of this one small patrol in the mountains where death may appear at anytime. Having been a soldier in combat this rings absolutely true. This you-are-there focus brings a tangible feeling of tension and reality to the film, which is expertly conveyed by the actors. When I first saw the movie I wasn't 100% certain it was fiction. I wondered if it was, in fact, a documentary. Adding to the movie is the care the director has taken to ensure accuracy in tactics and the depiction of life in the field."
Brutal War Movies That Absolutely Got It Right
The great lost film about the Vietnam War, 84C MoPic (sometimes called 84 Charlie MoPic) was written and directed on a miniscule budget by Vietnam veteran Patrick Duncan. The film was made in southern California, and is one the earliest examples of a found footage picture. The set up is simple: what the audience sees is documentary footage from the camera of a Motion Picture Specialist (MoPic) assigned to a Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) in "Indian" (North Vietnamese) territory. LRRPs gathered intelligence on North Vietnamese movement and activity, which helped form the foundation of American tactics in the late 1960s. In the film, a routine mission goes awry, endangering the lives of the men in the LRRP. According to War and American Popular Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, edited by M. Paul Holsinger, pretty much about everything about 84C MoPic is accurate, from the language used by soldiers to the weaponry and details of radio communication. Throughout 84C MoPic, the central characters refer to Vietnam as "Charlie's war," an acknowledgement of America's hopeless position rarely stated so explicitly in films. US Army Iraq War combat veteran Mike Durand wrote of 84 MoPic: "There are no distracting sub-plots, only the immediate fight for survival, not only in combat but in the day-to-day activities of this one small patrol in the mountains where death may appear at anytime. Having been a soldier in combat this rings absolutely true. This you-are-there focus brings a tangible feeling of tension and reality to the film, which is expertly conveyed by the actors. When I first saw the movie I wasn't 100% certain it was fiction. I wondered if it was, in fact, a documentary. Adding to the movie is the care the director has taken to ensure accuracy in tactics and the depiction of life in the field."
