DVDs

Hamburger Hill

Region 1

Region 4

By Richard Moore

Hamburger Hill never got classified as being among the best of the Vietnam War movies, but having seen it on a number of occasions it is fair to say it may have suffered from not being full of big-name stars.

Remember it was made in 1987 and the likes of Dylan McDermott, Don Cheadle and Courtney B. Vance did not have the profile they do today. They head a very solid line-up of actors in an at-times gruesome film that doesn't pull punches about the way US soldiers behaved.

They get drunk, going whoring, get into fights and do their best to stay sane in the madhouse that was Vietnam.

Hamburger Hill focuses on Bravo Company of the 101st Airborne and its attempts to take a piece of high ground known only as Hill 937.

The men tried 10 times to take the hill and suffered up to 70 per cent casualties in trying to do so. The battlescenes are full-on and the gore level is pretty high. You don't want to get too attached to the soldiers of B company because they get chewed up at a pretty fast rate...

The characters in Hamburger Hill are pretty good and while there are some standard subplots - the usual tensions between black and white troops, guys just wanting to get home - the actors make them believable. Vance is particularly good as Doc.

The video transfer is fine and does come from 1987 stock. The sound on Hamburger Hill is very front oriented and it isn't until quite late in the movie that your surround will kick in as a couple of F4 Phantoms roar through to drop napalm. Still, the front speakers do get a good workout with lots of distinct channel movement.

Conclusion: Movie 80%