This movie was horrible.
Two Navy pilots figure that they can make a real impact on the Vietnam War if they strike Hanoi, a target off limits for political reasons. Disobeying clear and direct orders they go into restricted air space and blow up a lot of SAM's (surface to air missiles) all with patriotic music in the background. This act is an impetus for North Vietnam to step away from peace talks. As a counter move, or out of sheer spite, our most glorious president ever, Richard M. Nixon, ordered that all Vietnamese heavy artillery targets be struck.
You see, these rogue pilots caused the war to finally go into full throttle. Their moralistic disobedience was a direct cause of all restrictions being lifted on the U.S. pilots that were itching to blow some crap up. Even the two rogue pilots were pardoned as a nod to the validity of their actions.
My goodness this movie was disgusting. The worst Vietnam War movie I've ever seen. This was nothing but some jingoistic military propaganda. "Woo haa! We're #1. U-S-A. Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out," pom pom BS. I guess the 90's is when Hollywood turned the Vietnam War into some glorious heroic war with righteous U.S. soldiers doing all kinds of brave miraculous stuff even in opposition of their commanding officers.
Our two hero boys were so good and so selfless that even when they were grounded they hopped in their jet to go save their commanding officer and help blow up stuff. So what if they were grounded; they would continue to defy orders to be the heroes they were meant to be.
Their CO was played by Danny Glover who was nothing but a raspy voiced cliche and an R. Lee Ermey wannabe. He spit out one bad line after another such as, "You don't have permission to die," and other military horse crap like that.
The "heroes," Virgil Cole (Willem Defoe) and Grafton (Brad Johnson), were two raging soldier boys that were willing to risk their lives and, at least, their careers for what was "right." They believed they could really end the war. No more bombing soft targets for them, they alone with just one jet, no navigation, and a jammed radar, were going to bomb the Viet Cong nerve center and change the course of the war. It was as stupid as it was arrogant. I only hoped that there would be some form of rectification or a lessons learned from their action. The lessons learned: you too can disobey orders, invade heavily fortified enemy territory, blow up crucial targets all by yourself and change the course of history. Operation Infinite Self-Righteousness.
Two Navy pilots figure that they can make a real impact on the Vietnam War if they strike Hanoi, a target off limits for political reasons. Disobeying clear and direct orders they go into restricted air space and blow up a lot of SAM's (surface to air missiles) all with patriotic music in the background. This act is an impetus for North Vietnam to step away from peace talks. As a counter move, or out of sheer spite, our most glorious president ever, Richard M. Nixon, ordered that all Vietnamese heavy artillery targets be struck.
You see, these rogue pilots caused the war to finally go into full throttle. Their moralistic disobedience was a direct cause of all restrictions being lifted on the U.S. pilots that were itching to blow some crap up. Even the two rogue pilots were pardoned as a nod to the validity of their actions.
My goodness this movie was disgusting. The worst Vietnam War movie I've ever seen. This was nothing but some jingoistic military propaganda. "Woo haa! We're #1. U-S-A. Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out," pom pom BS. I guess the 90's is when Hollywood turned the Vietnam War into some glorious heroic war with righteous U.S. soldiers doing all kinds of brave miraculous stuff even in opposition of their commanding officers.
Our two hero boys were so good and so selfless that even when they were grounded they hopped in their jet to go save their commanding officer and help blow up stuff. So what if they were grounded; they would continue to defy orders to be the heroes they were meant to be.
Their CO was played by Danny Glover who was nothing but a raspy voiced cliche and an R. Lee Ermey wannabe. He spit out one bad line after another such as, "You don't have permission to die," and other military horse crap like that.
The "heroes," Virgil Cole (Willem Defoe) and Grafton (Brad Johnson), were two raging soldier boys that were willing to risk their lives and, at least, their careers for what was "right." They believed they could really end the war. No more bombing soft targets for them, they alone with just one jet, no navigation, and a jammed radar, were going to bomb the Viet Cong nerve center and change the course of the war. It was as stupid as it was arrogant. I only hoped that there would be some form of rectification or a lessons learned from their action. The lessons learned: you too can disobey orders, invade heavily fortified enemy territory, blow up crucial targets all by yourself and change the course of history. Operation Infinite Self-Righteousness.