Veterans React to Vietnam War Movies, ft. Mat Best

[@BlackRifleCoffeeCompany]

Did we miss any quintessential Vietnam War movies?

[@deadlight2002]

There was a TV show called tour of duty. I know not a movie but there was an episode where someone insulted a tunnel rat squad. Great TV show for its age and I remember the tunnel rat scene was funny.

[@BlackRifleCoffeeCompany]

@Morgan Oates We Were Soldiers was covered in EP16: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWaQf6GkadppfJI

[@colincampbell817]

2 Aussie films - The Odd Angry Shot and Danger Close. Both well worth a look at.

[@bitkarek]

there was alot of Vietnam movies with Chuck Norris :) (MIA)

[@garykimber1989]

Hamburger Hill. Under rated movie. Another great episode of veterans react.

[@GhostDrummer]

My dad was in Nam; enlisted at 17, and his dad was happy to sign the paperwork. He was 101st Airborne Ranger, tunnel rat, and led a small group through the jungles terrorizing anything and everything they came across. He was shot up, spent 18 months in Japan, and another 6 months at The Presidio. When he had flashbacks, it was some of the absolute scariest times. There wasn’t a pattern to what would trigger one. The worst one he had next to me was when two Chinooks and five Huey’s flew over us when we were working outside. He had a 24oz framing hammer in his hand and stopped mid swing. He grabbed me and threw me to the ground before covering me until the helicopters were gone. Once he realized what he was doing, he got up, puked, and went back to work. He never said anything about it, and I never brought it up.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

His first instinct was to protect you. You had a good dad.

[@BulletSpectre]

damn, cant imagine

[@dmac2899]

He protected you. He may have been out of it but he was a hero even in the flashback.

[@neilreynolds3858]

What's to say? This shit happens. Move on.

[@Wowzersdude-k5c]

My dad was also a Vet (1st Cav airmobile) and I experienced some of the same stuff. I never brought it up to him and he never addressed it either.

[@jordanwrose]

Fun fact: If you listen to the commentary track for tropic thunder Robert Downey stays in charecter as Osiris until the credits roll just like he said in the film, and THEN drops it to Kirk Lazarus and only for the last tiny bit speaks out of charecter as R.D.J.. That level of dedication to a bit is the greatest damn thing evar...

[@Bryan_Koala]

I don’t drop character until I done the DVD commentary

[@coleyjohnson6325]

@Miles Doyle maybe you should try a lighter roast

[@mjpraetorian4386]

@Miles Doyle da fuq

[@Stormfire1777]

My grandfather was a marine in Vietnam. He said that fastest he ever saw anyone run wasn’t from gunfire or explosions. It was from the hornets that were there

[@herrdoctor2895]

Hornets will do that

[@zacharyjohnson6453]

The reason why the battle scenes in the Vietnam Sequence looks so well done in Forest Gump is because not only Captain Dale Dye was the Military Advisor, but because Tom Hanks and the director did not want to do some cheesy World War II stlye film on the back lot of an MGM Studio as well as something like the movie The Green Berets . They wanted to do something that would be more true to life and more respectful to the experience and the men that went through in Vietnam.

[@timmcwade7420]

My uncle fought in Vietnam. All he ever says was her wore the ranger patch. He said he had to walk out of apocalypse now. It brought back to much.

[@austinowens1548]

Hacksaw ridge

[@carbonking53]

As a Vietnam vet father had had a tough time with Apocalypse Now and Platoon. On base in Vietnam they had an FNG that apparently had a disagreement with a guy on his second tour. The guy on his second tour out of nowhere shot the new guy right outside my father's hut. The kid was 18 and took his last breath in my father's arms. Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan are all shitholes we wasted too much blood and money on.

[@marvinhunt9467]

Tears of the sun for my grandfather

[@davidoftheforest]

@Miles Doyle fuck that

[@Trav_Can]

Probably the worst part of Vietnam was has having to listen to "Fortunate Son" every time you rode in a Huey. I don't know how those helicopter guys did it. I still can't get that song out of my head.

[@jamesseebacher9294]

Ironically Forrest Gump is the only Vietnam War movie with Fortunate Son in it.

[@Trav_Can]

@@jamesseebacher9294 That's funny. I was making a Family Guy reference. I think most of those "Vietnam songs" came from that movie.

[@dubugga]

The scene in Apocalypse Now where we are introduced to roach really stuck with me. Especially when captain Willard asks him, "do you know whos in charge here?" And Roach just goes, "...yeah."

[@kevingnomen6092]

Tropic Thunder is still one of the best comedies ever haha 😂

[@StalowyZolw]

Best part about "Roach" scene in Apocalypse Now is that its atcually real stuff. Michael Herr in his "Dispatches" brings up a story that his colleague witnessed in Khe Sanh, and its basically it.

[@iamthewalrus2211]

I was looking for a reason to take a break from work. Can't think of anything better! Keep up the great work, guys!!

[@BlackRifleCoffeeCompany]

Is there any better way to spend that break?

[@sandy9064]

Eerie. I work at a library and had a conversation with a patron this past week who is one of our regulars, a retired teacher and a Vietnam vet. He donated a book about helicopter rescues in Vietnam. The author, Phil Marshall, writes a series of these, and this fellow has been in several...due to the fact that he got shot down 3 times while he was over there. I can't even imagine what he went through.

[@MegadethTillDeth]

Take more time to talk to him. A little extra compassion goes a long way for guys that were spit on coming back.

[@kennethhummel4409]

Those fighters that dropped the napalm were F5-As or Es. You can still find them in service with some air forces. The soviets got one for evaluation, their pilots loved it. On mock dog fights it would beat Mig 21s and 23s no matter how hey stacked the deck against it. The pilots that flew it called her the foreigner. Like militaries every where the Soviet promptly forgot every lesson they learned from the evaluation.

[@920utdoors9]

Those look very much like F4 phantoms

[@kennethhummel4409]

@@920utdoors9 the plane at 8:23 is an F4 phantom. The 3 aircraft at 12:02 are F 5s, phantoms don’t have wingtip fuel tanks as an option.

[@williamhudson8755]

the Lt. Dan band is awesome! saw them while I was a Cadet at The Citadel.

[@traveltrailerlife]

I'm a Veteran of Vietnam (70-71) and Iraq ( 04-05) Wars . I was a door gunner UH-1 helicopter in Nam with the 118th AHC .... And in Iraq worked on AH-64A Apache attack helicopter for the 1/151Aviation Regiment ....A lot of these movies are crap....Only one that was good would be ... We Were Soldiers Once and Young: Ia Drang - the Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam.

[@Jenufir]

I went to see WWS when it came out. When it ended and the lights came on, an older man behind me turned to his wife and said "that's exactly what it was like". He was sobbing uncontrollably. Though in fairness, most of us were.

[@traveltrailerlife]

@@Jenufir me too....they got it right

[@ls7196]

Did the 118th AHC make the trip into Laos, February-March 1971?

[@parkertang2134]

@@traveltrailerlife can I ask why most of the Vietnam War movies are crap except WWS? Is is because the other movies are hollywood fiction such as they portrayed American and South Vietnamese soldiers as incompetent soldiers and as baby killers or is the action garbage?

[@randybobandy9828]

I heard one of the best representation of ww2 was "band of brothers" for how accurate the combat sounds and fighting where.

[@tone210texas]

The movie Dead Presidents has a pretty awesome Vietnam war scene in it! Its awesome how it fades from him running away from getting caught hooking up with his girl, to him running in the jungle in Vietnam with the war radios fading in from the background as it transitions! Its flippin awesome! Do it I dares ya! Lol ;)

[@johnard611]

I remember that scene! The 1980 movie "Coach of the Year" has Robert Conrad returning a kick off in a football game and then cuts to him running to avoid bullets and explosions during a firefight in Vietnam.

[@Man-In-The-Shadow]

You guys should get Recon Marines or Marines in general to react to Generation kill. Guys like Rudy Reyes and Jason Lilley

[@kohbu]

I can't agree more with Mat about the tunnel rats... There's a movie called Tunnel Rats, and I'm not claustrophobic either but damn that movie... So much respect for those men.

[@SenorGato237]

Apocalypse Now was a fuck of an accomplishment. FFC had a bunch of ex-pat "MIA" Vietnam vets just walking onto the production and telling how to make the movie more accurate. Sheen had a heart attack during filming. There's a lot of reasons that went into it being such a masterpiece.

[@OneBadSSG]

Check out the documentary "Hearts of Darkness" is you haven't already.

[@brian96597]

Anyone heard of Little Dieter Needs to Fly? About a German who fled Germany during WWII, migrated to the US, became a pilot and fought in Vietnam. Excellent documentary. Would be worth a reaction from these guys.

[@johnard611]

Was the basis for the excellent "Rescue Dawn" movie.

[@jamesbednar8625]

"Apocalypse Now" was filmed in the Philippines. ALL the helicopters were on loan from the Philippine military. Once filming for the day had ended using helicopters for whatever scene, they then would be loaded up with live ammo and then flown against whatever insurgents that the Philippine government were fighting at the time, probably better explained by other persons in the comments. Then, next day, the helicopters would return to the movie set for the next day's scenes. In todays "movie world" everything would be CGI with maybe a few actual helicopters sprinkled in for good measure.

[@owenmccabe9519]

Thanks for what you guys do for not only the veteran community and the regular community. I’m rocking my AK espresso shirt today!

[@BlackRifleCoffeeCompany]

We will never stop supporting veterans and our military and first responder communities. 🤘🏻 We appreciate your support.

[@owenmccabe9519]

The coffee is awesome too lol

[@northernsoutherngirl]

Some of my favorite war movies were listed. And I ❤Tropic Thunder, especially Robert Downy Jr's part. "Don't go full re*trd!!"

[@jessewildoner20]

16:34 Vince Vargas did that exact scene in our barracks during basic training. Oscar worthy

[@dierkrieger]

I was born in 1971 and grew up in a small town in Kansas so almost every man in the community had been in Vietnam. I had multiple sets of Tiger Stripes and ODs. There were a few former Special Forces guys and one guy who was a tunnel rat. What great generation of brave men.

[@DonPatrono]

fun point about Mat bemoaning the swamps and his comment "living with bacteria everywhere" at 5:37...he speaks from first-hand experience, he got a bad skin infection during Ranger School's "Florida Phase", almost having to be medically discharged and having to redo the phase because of it, so, yeah, his pain is real

[@somthingbrutal]

not only did he get drunk that was a real mirror he broke, the making of documentary Hearts of darkness is just as good as the movie

[@garner2267]

Yea. That blood on the bed is his. Practical effects are the best.

[@chrisholland7367]

The film was based on the book 'Heart of Darkness ' by Joseph Connrad about the Belgium Congo .

[@johnard611]

"Hot Shots: Part Deux" had a making of documentary called "Hearts of Hotshots Pat Deux: A Filmmaker's Apology."

[@gbonkers666]

Yes, Martin Sheen back then had a severe drinking problem. And when you are bored out of your mind in a foreign country waiting for the rain to stop so you can start filming, then yes, you are going to get hammered, and yes, FFC filmed MS drunk as a skunk as a scene. Sheen punching the mirror was totally unscripted and, yes, Sheen cut his hand.

[@duaneborgaes7449]

5:27 I love how Matt was pointing out, the nasty sh!tty war was in a nasty sh!tty place, when Eli brings up the draft like, "...So, you were with some real shit bags too."😂😂😂 Like for every foot we took, morale was straight up struggling😁

[@MrViking69]

You might've seen tunnel rats with guns that were equipped with what looks like a suppressor. But that is actually a flash hider. When they went into the tunnels they didn't want to get blinded by the muzzle flash.

[@jakecleveland1051]

You guys need to react to the shootout scenes in Wind River and I'd suggest Hot Shot part Deux for fun

[@adamberndt4190]

And thats why Tom Hanks is and will always be America's Dad! Being born in 1984 I grew up with Tom Hanks films. I remember when Apollo 13 came out and that was not just a big deal for that week it was a big deal the whole summer! Hardee's had kids meals where they would give you a portion of the Apollo 13 rocket so after 4:00 or 5:00 kids meals you could put together this 3 ft tall Apollo 13 model!

[@Quakerman14]

I've met Gary Sinise. He was really nice. Band was actually really good too

[@TianDiener]

The road they patrol in the Vietnam scene was directly across from Forrest’s childhood home.

[@EdgeMaster9000]

Fun fact when the velociraptor walked in the kitchen the sound it made was turtles doing the DEVILS TANGO

[@anotherpeasant]

If you guys thought Martin Sheen was a trip drunk off his rocker (he was battling a pretty heavy drinking problem in the 70s, he also later had a heart attack and the scene where the PBR is under attack by the arrows, is actually his brother acting as a stand-in), ole Sam Bottoms, the dude playing Lance the surfer, dropped acid to do the Do Lung Bridge scene like his character does in the movie. Also, Dennis Hopper got a 14 year old Laurence Fishburn and Sheen's son Emilio Estevez on I think cocaine during filming. The 70s man.

[@darrengreen804]

You have to do Full Metal Jacket when there flying in and the door gunner is opening up on the vc "if they run there VC if they stand still there well disaplined VC" 🤣

[@bigkilla2608]

You should do Veterans react to the High gas prices & out of control inflation.

[@BlackRifleCoffeeCompany]

You want 30 minutes of all of us crying?… what a sick joke

[@oneonlyxram]

Movies with flight deck activities, reacted to by veterans that were part of the airwing and worked up there everyday... I'll volunteer 😉

[@baysooner5745]

Hamburger Hill, Full metal jacket...the jolly green giant scene is epic.

[@limeon8426]

Full metal jacket one of the best vietnam movies ever It was halfway through the movie were we got our first taste of action and the action ended as fast as it started

[@joshuaburkhart4711]

Thank for what you guys do to keep us motivated

[@daijudo]

These are too short, they need to be like an hour long minimum! I love these!

[@danielshannon961]

damn so cool Eli was able to watch movies of a war he was in

[@patdalager2598]

I went through tunnel rat school when went through RECONDO school. Absolutely suxed. Thank the lord I didn't go to Vietnam. BUT 2 long tours on the DMZ guaranteed frost bite.

[@untrainedboogboi4084]

Gotta do we were soldiers. My personal all time favorite Vietnam movie.

[@joereilly1519]

Another war movie you guys should check is called " Cross of Iron" it was a Sam Pekinpah film that told the story of German soldiers fighting a losing war against the Soviets. Used real Russian T-34 tanks. A lot of really good old school actors

Sheen was hammered when he did this scene

[@northernprepper1173]

filmed in Alabama, N,S, Carolina and Virginia was where Forest Gump was filmed

[@alanf403]

Fun or not so fun fact, @4:33 tunnel rat assignments were handed out to soldiers under 5'5" tall.

[@jenger83]

12:50 learning so much about effects today

[@Joe.G]

Thank you for another badass video. Much respect ✌🏻

[@BlackRifleCoffeeCompany]

You're welcome. That's what we do.

[@lphan4597]

Best description ever of the rain in VN.

[@dhannaecg]

Commonality among Veteran’s. No matter how much sh!t they’ve been through, the first thing they’ll mention is how f@cked up the weather was. Dad what was Korea like? Cold. Dad what was Vietnam like? Hot……& wet.

[@oif3vetk9]

you know, never really thought about it but you're right. Doesn't matter where etc the first thing is weather. Any time I've been asked about iraq the answer is hot, dusty, shitty. lol

[@dhannaecg]

@@oif3vetk9 Generally Combat Vets don’t like talking about war itself, so I guess they go to something everyone can relate to…..weather. I myself never served, but know a lot of Vets for someone who didn’t.

[@randybobandy9828]

I'm pretty sure weather was a reason most draftees wanted the European front over the Pacific front in ww2. Must have been miserable.

[@actionjackson1stIDF]

Agreed. My father was a career Marine who fought in WW2, Korea and was in Lebanon in 57. He hated cold and wet. He also could not stand diesel fumes. The smell of diesel reminded him of the Higgins Landing craft which brought back memories of his assaults on Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima with the 4th Marine Division during WW2.

[@adamberndt4190]

Forrest Gump came out in 1994 and Apollo 13 came out in 1995! Tom Hanks gave two of his greatest performances and they were back to back!!!

[@crippledcrusader1321]

I could never imagine having to go doing into a rat tunnel. It’s dark, humid, smells awful, and your only light gives you away to enemies easily, but you have to use the flashlight otherwise you’re going in blind. Plus the paranoia of every corner could have a hiding spot for the enemy

[@DMNSMN]

4:35 Tunnel Rats are the prior modern 74D’s.

[@HeyMikeyLikesIt2]

Yeah, screw that tunnel rat stuff…… the tunnels at Camp Mckall left me scarred for life. I thought I was stuck a few times. Just close your eyes and keep crawling, you’ll get out in a few hours.

[@jesperwall839]

This was really good! 👊😂

[@MsBritanie73]

Monsoon season is heaven after the sweltering humidity. Motorbikes in 3 feet of sewage and rain with a cat sized rat swimming beside me was an experience. I don't forget that I CHOSE to live there and didn't have to wonder if the kid beside me was going to take me out.

[@badguy1481]

Those planes were F-5's. They were a "fighting" version of the USAF's T-38 trainers. Those aircraft were used by the South Vietnamese Air Force during the Vietnam War.

[@FrankHorigan]

The tunnel rat part is so unrealistic with Forrest going in to the tunnel system usually they’d send in the shortest guy not the tallest guy into the cave system to search for Viet Kong in the cave system.

[@Baldwin-iv445]

Martin sheen was hammered for the whole move, and it wasn't method acting he was a legitimate alcoholic, the director just told him to get as drunk as he wants.

[@andrewbaskett8581]

I got to work for the Vietnam veterans memorial fund. We did a bunch of stuff with dale dye, the military advisor for so many movies, including forest hump. Dye told us a great story that when they were shooting the scene around the mall, hanks asked dye if he had been to the Vietnam memorial yet, and he said no. Hanks put his arm around him and said he’d be honored to go with him. And they walked over together and experienced it.

[@macjeez1450]

Dale Dye appeared in Platoon.

[@andrewbaskett8581]

@@macjeez1450 he did, he has actually been in a ton of movies and tv shows. He was the go to military coordinator for Spielberg - most famously on saving private Ryan and band of brothers.

[@cachemoney2075]

Native American/Colonial War Films (Last of the Mohicans, the Patriot, Dances with Wolves, Geronimo, etc)

[@TheRisingTide89]

Kennedys tie going from white to black is hilarious, all he did was turn 90 degrers

[@Droneslaught]

I was thinking to myself that this is one of the best reactions I have seen. 15:04

[@sterling8298]

Forest Gump is one of my favorite Tom Hanks movies. I watch at least once a year.

[@johnetterlee1580]

They actually filmed the Vietnam parts of Forrest Gump in South Carolina near Beaufort (Fripp Island and Hunting Island State Park).

[@Gearparadummies]

IIRC, night scenes in Apocalypse Now were filmed using Philippine army air raid searchlights. The Director of photography was the Oscar-winning Néstor Almendros, one of the greatest of all time.

[@BadKarma714]

Tunnel rats is the right term good job matt

[@dj1143]

Tropic thunder is gold!

[@rooky1991]

Never realized it before watching this again, but the chopper gunner in Forrest Gunp looks suspiciously like Ian from forgotten weapons...

[@TheSlasherJunkie]

Movies that made us says the lot Forrest Gump used for Vietnam was, no joke, across the street from the house.

[@seamusoreilly804]

I’m in my 70’s. I like your coffee. I was in that hellhole when I was 19. I feed cats now, am a retired cop, and I don’t like talking or thinking about that shit. But I do like your videos. I’ll probably have a cup of your coffee in my hands when I crap out.

[@xero724]

Forest Gump was filmed in the south east States. It's on Netflix the movies that made us

[@jacobsmith375]

Their dry season is equivalent of our fighting season in Afghan.

[@Razgriz85]

That helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now was referenced in the anime Gate.

[@EricHarvieJr]

Richard Ryan is right. ALL of the best war movies ever made have been mostly because of the Gaffers, you cannot tell me the sounds don't take you back there. It's visceral.

[@jmweed1861]

The closest to my experiences in Vietnam were from Platoon. Of course you can not duplicate the smells, heat & humidity, fear and being in a Real Firefight. Also, having no contact with the World... JMW 1st Cav Division - Vietnam Conflict, 1970-71

[@Wowzersdude-k5c]

My dad was drafted in 1965 and ended up in the 1st Cav (airmobile). He was in country from '66-'67. It was a very rough 1 year he had to do over there.

[@Rob_Kankerboef]

The scene in apocalypse now Martin Sheene was having an actual nervous breakdown

[@BIGJAKE-sq4ds]

Tunnel Rats. My uncle was one of the first to volunteer for that assignment.

[@jefffaulkner2875]

Apparently, T-Rex didn't roar. They purred. Didn't have the vocal cords. I know, weird.

[@dlarso11]

I imagine flour burns quite nicely when part of an explosion, cheaper than diesel

[@Beer-can_full_of_toes]

In apocalypse now the flight of the Valkyries scene one of the chopper pilots was R Lee Ermy.

[@1baby12bear]

"Glue that's on fire". That is exactly how my uncle, who was a Vietnam vet described it.

[@randybobandy9828]

I was thinking more like petroleum jelly on fire.

[@thewisconsin555]

Yeah we do hearts and minds Splattered

[@thattruckguy]

I think the vietnam scenes were filmed in NC. They talk about it in a Netflix show

[@texas2627]

Forgot "Good Morning Vietnam!" with Robin Williams!!

[@Saltine_American]

*”it’s such a repugnant group of people” Hafer said “it’s like the worst of American society, and I got to flush the toilet of some of those people that kind of hijacked portions of the brand.”*

[@spookerredmenace3950]

i always loved the scene in Full Metal Jacket- Get Some, , where the guy is just shooting randomly and laughing, such a messed up scene. you guys should cover that movie as well please :D

[@BlackRifleCoffeeCompany]

Oh we have in Veterans React EP5: kzbin.info/www/bejne/op6Zfn-Vh5iYsKs

[@spookerredmenace3950]

@@BlackRifleCoffeeCompany oh ok cool, thank you brother!

[@Anthony-yn9dg]

On a solid note, I was in Cambodia and at some war museum and a M60 was there with shrapnel in it. That poor team that got fragged obviously didn't make it

[@Betts_The_Lesser25]

Not a Vietnam specific suggestion - but might be cool to branch out into Naval War movies - like Run Silent Run Deep - Hunt for Red October - Tora Tora Tora, etc.

[@JetEyeMonkey]

Can you guys react to the scene in the new Batman where Batman walks forward and soaks up bullets without flinching?

[@robenbloodworth6934]

My dad has scars all over never even told my mom about him in the Nam.

[@HighTowerOG]

Tears of the Sun

[@DaimothCL]

what chastity cage does black rifle coffee company recommend to its first time coffee buyers?

[@lewisshort4718]

You guys should watch the brothers In arms, narrated by Charlie sheen. Documentary about the making of platoon.

[@excamarocruiser8682]

apocalypse now i used for a report in high school haha, it was one we could pick from, from the list

[@pr0_tr0ll]

How about the skating scene from blades of glory. Or the bridge scene from anger management, Adam Sandler with Jack Nicholson singing "I feel pretty" .