The Siege Of Firebase Gloria

Above all else a movie must present a well crafted story. While "The Siege of Firebase Gloria" is fictional as is "Go Tell the Spartans" both pictures were very well crafted and well acted throughout. Both present a different time frame in the same war. A war where an American lead military invention into a communist insurgency was conducted to different sets of rules. Fire Base Gloria showed to me that that the American tactics fell into the same errors maded by the French - fixed positions on the one hand with localised incursions into other areas occupied by the Viet Cong or the North Vietnamese.( "Hamburger Hill" "We Were Soldiers"). At all times the countryside was never pacified - only the areas actually occupied could be said to have been partially pacified. While movies like "Platoon" attempted to make political and moral statements about the Vietnam War, it was and is evident that notwithstanding the bravery of the average American soldier, the tactics employed by the upper level of the American military revealed a false premise in that they never really came to grips with the nature of their enemy, whereby the make up of their enemy were peasants who plowed the rice paddies by day and picked up a AK 47 at night. An enemy who did not hesitate to hide over geographical borders how and when it suited them. What Fire Base Gloria typifies that the thinking of American military command were geared up to fight a conventional ground war with an enemy that did not play to their rules.Ho knew that if he sent enough Americans and their allies back home in body bags then it would be the American public who would lose their hearts and minds in the war and any determination to continue the war, but this attitude may not have been necessarily the attitude of the American soldiers themselves. This comes through in the conclusion of Fire Base Gloria.Movies like "Go Tell the Spartans" and "The Siege of Fire Base Gloria" tell a graphic truth, and that truth is that an army geared to fight a European war with General Patton like tactics will never completely defeat a local "peasant" insurgency war where the enemy can simply melt away into the general population - Afghanistan typifies this.It always seems strange to me the that American Military command did not seem to learn from the earlier British experience in Malaya, a campaign that actually defeated the communist insurgents.I highly recommend "The siege of Fire Base Gloria" as a depiction of the Vietnam War - a well crafted movie.

Good quality DVD. arrived in a very short time.

I travel and sometimes don't have the ability to stream. I like having a backup plan

Only wanted to watch the Gunny again, movie is actually pretty poor but what the hell.

Blu-ray = 5 stars, but DVD = only 1 star. This is a great movie (supposedly based on a true story) and in my humble opinion, it's one of the best and most realistic Vietnam war movies out there. Just make sure to buy the Blu-ray version because it's totally awesome in every way, and the DVD was a real let down! I bought them both from Amazon (recently) but unfortunately I bought the DVD version first, and was very disappointed to find the picture has been SEVERELY cropped from all four sides. I know this, because I've owned this movie on VHS for many years, and it is not cropped down like this DVD. In fact this DVD version is so badly cropped that I can hardly stand to watch it, because you miss so much. So finally, after a few months went by, I decided to take a chance and try the Blu-ray version too, and I'm really glad I did! What a difference! The Blu-ray is excellent quality in every way, and the picture is beautiful. It plays a true widescreen format with detail and nothing is cropped, so it's a real pleasure to watch! I'm very happy to finally own such a fine copy as this for my collection, and will look forward to viewing it many times, in the coming years.

I am a Vietnam veteran who was transfixed by this movie. It does not glorify war or combat, and also portrays leadership, both good and bad that was the norm during that era.The setting was the beginning of the 1968 Tet Offensive, but the setting is in an Army firebase into which the small Marine patrol had gone through when the offensive started. The way the defense was handled, including some ultimate sacrifices, was, again, realistic and contains lessons in leadership and the importance of preparation and managing changing battlefield dynamics.This would actually make a good training film if integrated with a lesson and facilitation plan because every time I watch this (more than a dozen times) I spot something new that illustrates the realities and challenges of combat situations.There is a back story that provides some background on Wings Hauser's character, Di Nardo, but it is not as important as the way he and R. Lee Ermey's character, Hafner, organize, made decisions and work as an experienced team to save the firebase that otherwise had a leadership vacuum and low morale and discipline.I have to say that this and  We Were Soldiers  are probably the two most realistic portrayals of Vietnam, but this one peels back an additional layer and exposes leadership and morale issues that I the other one does not.

Siege of firebase Gloria was an unexpected surprise. There were a few kitchy moments, but that never detract from the great story, fast pace action & the grim realities of war.R. Lee Ermy was the DI in Full Metal Jacket, so you know ehat your getting with him.Overall I would have to rate this an 8.7 & will play it many times over. It's worth adding to any war movie collection, it's that good.

Goede film, stijl

Buena película bélica, muy entretenida. La edición en DVD es de la suficiente calidad, no se puede pedir más en este caso.

VO sans sous titrages français, c'est trop dur à avaler, même si les dialogues ne sont l'essence même de ce film.Mais on voit une version action des meilleurs films sur le Vietnam avec le côté Vietcong et ses commentaires pendant les combats...Actions bien réussies en convaincantes.Bon film qui restera une pépite dans le genre, car peu connu.

輸入盤のDVDだが昔見たビデオをDVDでマタ見られたので大変良かったです。映画の筋書きは上級曹長率いる小隊が長距離遠征で様々な困難を乗り越えて２００～３００人の基地に辿り着きその基地で北ベトナムの正規軍３０００人と激戦を繰り広げる映画です。細かい部分にベトナム戦争の真実や悲劇が描かれていて大変良くできた戦争映画です。戦争映画を好きな方にはお勧めの一品です。輸入盤なので字幕が有ません。