Spike Lee contributes to the long history of American Vietnam War movies with his latest feature, Netflix's Lee felt it was important to release a movie about the war from a black perspective. The ongoing struggle for racial equality – which bled over into military service – and the growing unpopularity of the grisly war set the tone for enlisted or drafted black men.
While the most popular Vietnam War titles – such as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket – focus on the battlefield experiences of white American soldiers, Lee highlights the importance of giving voice to other perspectives with Da 5 Bloods. They may not be as well-known, but many other Vietnam War films released over the decades have done just that. Some dive into alternate American viewpoints and others detail the impact on the most overlooked players: the Vietnamese people.
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
In Da 5 Bloods, four black Vietnam veterans return to the country to find the remains of their former squad leader. During their journey, the men contend their past experiences during combat, the present political atmosphere, and the lasting impacts of the gruesome war.
The veterans are played by Norm Lewis, Clarke Peters, Delroy Lindo, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. Chadwick Boseman co-stars as the squad leader Norm.
Hearts And Minds (1974)
Peter Davis's influential documentary contrasts the American government's assertions about the Vietnam War with the violent, horrifying reality of what troops and Vietnamese people experienced on the ground. To achieve this, Davis plays news footage alongside interviews with observers and participants.
Hearts and Minds is considered essential, but difficult, viewing. The documentary went on to win an Oscar, and the film crew used their platform during the ceremony to lambast the higher-ups in charge of perpetuating the seemingly never-ending war.
Rescue Dawn (2006)
Rescue Dawn is a more intimate, character-driven Vietnam War film directed by German filmmaker Werner Herzog. It tells the story of German-American Dieter Dengler, a fighter pilot shot down over Laos who spent time in a Vietnamese prison camp.
Christian Bale stars as Dengler. Based on true events, critics hail Herzog's film for its immersive, realistic experience – one lacking the histrionic Hollywood effect.
Coming Home (1978)
While telling the story of a white American soldier, Coming Home focuses on the experiences of a soldier returning to America a paraplegic. Jon Voight plays the veteran, Luke Martin, who is embittered and traumatized by his experiences.
Jane Fonda plays Sally Hyde, a volunteer at the VA hospital where Luke resides. As Luke becomes involved in anti-war protests, Sally questions her gung-ho approach to ing the war. In the meantime, a romance develops between the two.
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Jacob's Ladder is another film that tackles the Vietnam War's lasting effects on veterans. Tim Robbins stars as Jacob Singer, a man literally haunted by what he endured during the war.
A horror movie, Jacob's Ladder takes place in 1975 New York City. Jacob traverses the city followed by specters, hallucinations, and prophetic visions. Also suffering from severe panic attacks, Jacob concludes something otherworldly is at play.
Journey From The Fall (2007)
Journey From the Fall is directed by Ham Tran, a Vietnamese man from Saigon who immigrated to the United States with his family in 1982. His movie focuses on a family dealing with the aftermath of the war, specifically after American troops left Saigon on April 30, 1975.
When the North Vietnamese gained control of Saigon, residents who fought against the totalitarian Democratic Republic of Vietnam were at risk of being killed or imprisoned. In Journey From the Fall, a woman escapes to America with her mother and son while her husband remains in Vietnam, where he is condemned to serve time in a "re-education camp."
The Little Girl Of Hanoi (1975)
United States forces bombed Hanoi, the North Vietnamese capital, multiple times throughout the war. Over Christmas 1972, President Richard Nixon ordered an especially heinous bombing on the city. The Vietnamese film The Little Girl of Hanoi, shot before the war was officially over, tells the story of a girl whose mother and sister are killed during these Christmas bombings.
Directed by Hải Ninh, the movie traces the girl's journey to track down her father, a soldier serving in the People's Army of Vietnam, now the rest of her family is deceased. The Little Girl of Hanoi includes harrowing real-time war footage and contexts that exist outside the American narrative.
Deathdream (1972)
Deathdream is a low-budget, yet inventive, look at what happens when an American solider returns from the Vietnam War. Richard Backus plays Andy Brooks, a man thought to have died during combat who mysteriously appears back home.
Andy is completely comatose during the day, but he comes alive at night. Eventually, his family discovers he's out in the streets looking for human blood. Deathdream explores the violent fallout from the war, combining horror with social commentary.
The Abandoned Field: Free Fire Zone (1979)
Gritty and lacking the glossy finish of Hollywood war movies, The Abandoned Field: Free Fire Zone is set within a free-fire zone along the Mekong Delta, where locals lived in fear of being barraged by bullets from American helicopters flying overhead.
The family at the center of the film work with the Viet Cong while trying to maintain their day-to-day lives as rural farmers. Shot with a documentary-style rawness, few Americans have seen this film sanctioned by the Vietnamese government in the wake of the war.
When the Tenth Month Comes (1984)
The final film on the list is a taut love story set in the final days of the Vietnam War. Told from a Vietnamese vantage point, When the Tenth Month Comes revolves around a widow, Duyen, who chooses to hide her husband's battlefield death from her family.
Instead of subjecting them to sorrow and pain, Duyen works with a local schoolteacher to fabricate letters from her dead husband. Duyen struggles to maintain the charade as a romance brews with the schoolteacher.
