Spike Lee's latest Netflix feature, Da 5 Bloods, is a film of many moods, seething with brilliant moments of comedy and social relevance. It deals with a group of four Vietnam war veterans who return to the Asian country for the pursuit of a secret treasure.
While Da 5 Bloods is unique since this Vietnam War film features an all-Black cast while tackling topical issues, it still falls short in some regards when compared to its predecessors. Here are 5 ways Da 5 Bloods stands as the best Vietnam War movie ever made, and five other alternatives that hold the title.
DA 5 BLOODS: The Flashbacks
The usage of time-shifts proves to be an effective strategy, as shows the negative effects that war can have on soldiers years after the war. The protagonist, Paul, suffers from extreme PTSD in the present. The flashbacks, however, show him and the others as more confident and strong. At the same time, these flashbacks reveal the other war America was facing: the race war.
As the opening montage with archival footage reveals, many African-Americans protested against fighting for America as it was the same country that had been denying them basic rights for years. Finally, the titular five soldiers face these moral conflicts too while defending themselves in the forests of Vietnam. The cherry on the top in these engaging flashbacks is Chadwick Boseman's captivating oratory.
ALTERNATIVE: Apocalypse Now (1979)
Francis Ford Coppola's unforgettable adaptation of Heart of Darkness was a nightmare in making for its cast and crew, but it yielded one of the most moving dramas of all time. Martin Sheen plays a young military Captain who's sent on a mission to comprehend Colonel Kurtz, a soldier-turned-warlord with a craving for power who builds his own cult of Vietnamese soldiers.
The protagonist's journey to reach Kurtz is tumultuous and brings him face-to-face with the terrifying aftermath of the violent conflict in Vietnam. Towards the end, the lead and the viewer both question everything, from Kurtz's intentions to the very reasons why this war took place. Vittorio Storaro's haunting cinematography and Marlon Brando's iconic act as Kurtz are other plus points for this epic.
DA 5 BLOODS: The Subplots
Most iconic Vietnam War films deal with the time in Vietnam or soldiers training for it. But Spike Lee's film has its own subplots taking place, thanks to a present-day setting and a balance of tones. Throughout the movie, Da 5 Bloods pursue a treasure in memory of their fallen comrade. Thrown in the mix are a French millionaire and humanitarian mine removers, making the plot unpredictably amusing.
On the emotional front, there are questions about race, Trump-era politics, and Paul's flawed relationship with his son. There's a lot going on in the film's long duration but there's enough intensity and tension to keep the viewers engaged.
ALTERNATIVE: The Deer Hunter (1978)
Surprisingly for a grim film, The Deer Hunter opens with scenes of a couple of friends merrymaking in their small town. They attend a marriage, dance happily, and embark on hunting expeditions. All of these scenes seem unrelated to the war but are pretty important as they contrast with the film's second half when these same friends go to Vietnam. The horrors and trauma they face over there affect their friendship and their normal lives forever. It's haunting, unapologetically brutal, and very realistic.
While Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken give extremely believable performances as troubled soldiers, Meryl Streep's performance is equally moving. Streep's character goes on to show how war can affect not just soldiers but also his loved ones.
DA 5 BLOODS: Modern-day relevance
The time-shifts also reveal race relations in America in both eras. Towards the final act, the fictional plot connects itself to the real life Black Lives Matter movement, with a powerful montage that serves both as a reality check and a call for unity.
Lee could have been preachy and forceful in tying the lives of these Veterans with modern-day issues of racism, but it all fits believably, revealing that Lee as one of the most socially conscious directors out there. The pantheon of the greatest Vietnam War films are known to be hard-hitting stories with social messages; and Da 5 Bloods has plenty of such social messages.
ALTERNATIVE: Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Depending on who you ask, Stanley Kubrick's films can be the epitome of grimness and cynicism, and Full Metal Jacket is no exception. What seems a simple, linear narrative of soldiers receiving training and then entering the battlefield is transcended into an unbiased epic drama that tries depicting the devastating impact the Vietnam War had on the lives of both American soldiers and Vietnamese civilians.
This gut-wrenching saga of the war's ironies and mental toll should be shown with a trigger warning as it can get disturbingly real in a few scenes. R Lee Ermey's role of a harsh and vulgar Gunnery Sergeant and Vincent D'Onofrio's portrayal of a dim-witted Private make the film, even more, haunting - even if their scenes don't even take place during the war.
DA 5 BLOODS: Paul Shines
This doesn't justify much, but Da 5 Bloods might easily yield the best leading performance in a Vietnam War, thanks to Delroy Lindo's career-best performance of Paul. Lindo's dialogues and dramatic monologues (especially in the scenes where he talks to himself) are top-notch and add a lot of flavor in the film.
Other Vietnam War films have iconic performances too but in most cases, the lead's acting pales in comparison to the supporting actor's bravado. This has been the case with Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, Willem Dafoe in Platoon, and R Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket, just to state a few examples.
ALTERNATIVE: Platoon (1986)
Boasting a talented ensemble, Oliver Stone's magnum opus Platoon is another one of those realistic war films whose characters question the futility of the very war they are fighting. As the title suggests, Platoon deals with a platoon of American soldiers who fight the Vietnamese and even themselves.
Internal factions are created in the unit as Sergeant Grodin (Willem Dafoe) asks the soldiers to exercise restraint in their conduct towards civilians so as to avoid collateral damage. But Grodin's nemesis is the bloodthirsty Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger) who believes in fighting with no remorse and decimating every non-American that he sees. Inspired by Stone's own service in Vietnam, the film reveals how human perception can change everything, especially a war.
DA 5 BLOODS: It Mixes Multiple genres
The Netflix film features a showcase of many genres, a factor that sets itself apart from the other films on the list. It's much more than a war drama.Simultaneously, it's an adventure film, a human drama, a war film, and even a comedy, balancing all these tones hardly making the narrative haphazard.
There's a lot to take away from Da 5 Bloods in the end, with its smart jokes, historical montages, stylishly shot action scenes, and a soundtrack filled with classics from the War era. While all other Vietnam War classics serve as human dramas of the highest order, Da 5 Bloods interprets drama in its own whacky way without focusing on a singular theme.
ALTERNATIVE: Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Ron Kovic was a Marine Corps sergeant in Vietnam who lost his legs and mental peace in the war. His paralysis and the aftermath of the war made him go through bouts of depression and hopelessness, eventually making him find his purpose as an anti-war activist. It's this troubled real story that was brought to the big screen by Oliver Stone with Tom Cruise's unnerving portrayal of Kovic.
Kovic himself wrote the screenplay based on his memoir making the film as brutally real as possible. Unlike the other Vietnam War classics, it shows more of the aftermath rather than action but that is enough to show the tragic realities of wars caused by global politics. But deep down, the anti-war critique also shows the endurance of human spirit, giving one some optimism for the future.