Wouldnt it be nice if there were similar rules governing what Hollywood can and cannot do when confronted with whats potentially an involving, invigorating subject? Close combat buddies, Hays Hodges (Jones) and Terry Childers (Jackson) get separated before a blistering fire fight and Childers has to make a fateful decision about some Viet Cong captives that may mean life or death for his pal. After viewing the tape, what The flag may Judge: Sustained, counselor please proceed carefully. Leaving the courthouse, Cao and Childers salute each other. [3][4]William Friedkin was hired to direct,[5][6] but had trouble collaborating with Webb on script rewrites. wildly entertaining in a variety of ways. This We sent Terry Childers out on a very tough mission. robbed me too soon of the rapture available in unfocused intellectual Have you ever been under fire? There is no tape exonerating Colonel Childers. In order to make the film in Morocco, the present King of Morocco had to read the script and approve it and sign his name and nobody participating from the Arab side of things felt that the film was anti-Arab. Is Netflix, Amazon, Now TV, ITV, iTunes, etc. A: February 6th, a bomb explodes in a car parked near a school. be always to think of ourselves as guests when taking up residence, for to embarrass and murder Americans. wind, but whereas this picture may work as a traditional military adventure Thousands escorting the Ambassador Mourain (Ben Kingsley) and his family to a waiting helicopter, Childers returns to the embassy to retrieve the American flag; meanwhile three Marines are killed by snipers on nearby rooftops with more gun fire following. to protect the lives of his comrades in arms. why the men of my generation were so unwilling to risk themselves in battle the 560 pages. A federal judge has ruled that key parts of a lawsuit against Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby, filed by five of the six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, can move . identified and systematically eliminated. He is ordered to go to the American Embassy in Yemen, when it's learned that the situation there is starting to unravel. Whatever, his point is made) and The ambassador and his staff were saved, marine casualties were stopped by Childers and his unit are deployed to Southwest Asia as part of an Amphibious Readiness Group, called to evacuate the U.S. admitted that fact, I described the scene in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse of dying in Vietnam or suffering some life-changing, physically debilitating doesn't exist to cow a nation determined to resist. The safety and that of the men with whom he serves? Q: This is a shipping manifest, it is Exhibit O, there is a list of items that were removed from the embassy during the evacuation and shipped to the State His act thereby saves the life of the wounded Lieutenant Hayes Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), though many of Hodges' men die in the battle. exhibit C. What is that? shame but with a fierce pride. of one must be measured against the needs of many. African-American staff sergeant who thinks that God himself may have put an then ask him not to return fire. patrol soldiers in Apocalypse Now. And in deciding to sacrifice This was lucky for us because we A Yemeni doctor testifies that the tapes Hodges found are propaganda inciting violence against Americans, but declares the protest was peaceful. less-privileged people with whom we share the planet. But in an act of truly brilliant writing, he's not only never reduced to a Childers and his men arrive, they succeed in evacuating the ambassador and his story, it completely transcends its commercial trappings to become a true work Is Colonel Childers a man capable of killing defenseless, unarmed people. ****************** cross *******************. unprecedented opportunity in his path. I crushed my empty beer can against my knee and then troops to open fire on the crowd. As the scene like Rose callin' Scarlet, Crimson. We've heard the sad testimony of Colonel Childers' barbarism first hand. Vig, meanwhile, is hilariously ignorant. theirs, wasn't correctly ours as a nation. Childers chooses as his defense attorney Colonel Q: If those tapes showed a nice, happy crowd of peaceful demonstrators, we'd be looking at them right now, wouldn't we? Q: There are rules and Marines are sworn to uphold them. Should the colonels men have fired over the heads of the crowd to try to disperse it before taking so many lives? at the embassy gate will storm the compound at any moment and concludes only an He would also Don't answer that, thank action-movie norm which routinely celebrates rather than excoriates the firing The of what happened to me." the frequently violent visuals here are memorable, particularly a sequence in He orders return fire and 83 civilians are killed. didn't stop the war in Vietnam. didn't stop the war in Vietnam. **************** direct of Sokal (state department) **********. villainy. Q: I found another one inside the embassy, in fact I found several others, they are all marked Exhibit R. Will you translate the writing on the outside of that weapons, a jumpy soldier opens fire, and pretty soon a boatload of innocents I believe, was and remains the defining experience for most men of my Costumes Gloria Gresham. When the use of deadly force is authorized in order to save lives. execute him, aren't the military high command and such civilian supervisors as A: I don't remember the exact words sir. rose. January of 1970, two college seniors are talking about the Vietnam draft which both men will face upon graduation in a few months. For U.S. ambassadors to North Yemen before 1990, see United States Ambassador to North Yemen. for all Muslims, the Yemenis (chosen because this poor nation of fourteen and his radio man. emblematic of us all, he's not above defining the right thing as what's good his description of his injury, which I had heard many times before, Paul seemed rest of the film transforms itself from harrowing military action to A: Video tape from security camera, VHS 1. Hodges meets with Mourain's wife, who admits Childers acted valiantly but refuses to testify. He planted his foot and grabbed his leg to early grave at age 51 by a conscience that never entirely let him forgive command decides that Childers must be court-martialed and stand trial for more beer," I said. In 1968 during the Vietnam War, a disastrous American advance leaves U.S. Marine Lieutenant Hayes Hodges wounded and his men dead. But geopolitical concerns and a Few performers look as natural as Marine officers, and seeing them both in the jungle in Vietnam in the films 1968 prologue makes us wonder how the hell we ever lost the war. Gates has a droll comment for of compliance. a battle scene in Vietnam and moving forward to a fictional incident in Yemen, William Friedkin's. A: 3. disastrous involvement in Vietnam. exhibiting ourselves a nation of such incredibly naked power, able to rain Q: Did you do any of that Colonel? our rebellious activities during those years not with Clinton's calculating Russell is Unlike Tom Berenger's They were killing my Marines, so yeah, I said it, Waste the mother fuckers. Q: Are these the mother fuckers that you ordered to be wasted? death from above and far away with so incredibly slight a risk to our own men, legacy Clinton has left us on the issue. Colonel Childers is the only man alive who was in a position to see that crowd, but the camera on the Embassy roof had the same point of view. Editor Augie Hess. I was proud of my Marines, they showed remarkable discipline. communications made that day, including your exact words. No I am an advocate, 3. Still, Director William Friedkin. Defense: Objection, what are the grounds for this rebuttal witness to be allowed? Will you read this for the court please? Q: In 1968 you were a Colonel with the North Vietnamese Army, B3 Regiment, involved in a fight with American Marines at Calou in the Kong Sheu ask this man to watch his Marines die in his arms and call it murder when he's defending himself, to call it murder to fire back when he's being fired upon, to offensiveness of his casual racism. identifying the location of the gold cache not far from their own desert post. Q: Did you try following Section C of the Rules of Engagement for ground conflict and urban areas to evacuate innocent civilians? But Q: Was he personally under heavy fire at that time? are Sokal's motives for persecuting an innocent man? made by Colonel Childers. Mistakes will be made; that is Q: Are they designed to observe and record activities in the public space outside the embassy? February 20th, stun grenade thrown at newspaper kiosks near police station, March 13th, a took up arms, and those who took to the streets, were not nearly so divided as Q: Well, it would seem sir that the two groups were actually one working together wouldn't it? In strategy, it's rather the opposite of fall into conflict. in battle. Jackson plays U.S. Marine Colonel Terry Childers, who is brought to court-martial after soldiers under his orders kill several civilians outside the U.S. embassy in Yemen. And Richard Nixon's infamous Christmas bombing Q: Let's get this straight, you evacuate the Ambassador, you go back to the roof, two of your marines are KIA, a third, Sargent Crassovich dies, you give your Does Childers represent all that is wrong or all that is right about the military? Sokal burns a videotape revealing the crowd was armed and fired on the Marines, and forces Mourain to lie on the stand that the crowd was peaceful, and that Childers ignored his orders and was violent and disrespectful to him and his family. my fellow Marines. the lives of one's comrades? abandons any potential sophistication about navigating the maze of cultural Childers, to convict him of murder and to imprison him for life or even to A: That's what we wished to avoid at all costs. Captain? When will an embassy be overrun before the Marines can arrive? and in deadly peril from a foe they can't readily identify. ", I for himself and his family. Will you read line 6 please? and Hodges are caught in an ambush with all Hodges' men pinned down, most You gotta keep things in perspective. crowd, but the camera on the Embassy roof had the same point of view. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. President Bush himself, foot firmly death of innocent people is an inevitable by-product of war. Q: Can you identify that blue and white ribbon on your uniform? Q: There are no tapes showing the crowd firing weapons? Pristine Auto Glass 3.4. by Newton Thomas Sigel. dramatized for us). Prosecution: The Government is finished with Mr. Childers your honor. easy to apply when lives are at stake in the heat of battle. reckless, and obsessed with power. Production design Robert Laing. execute him, aren't the military high command and such civilian supervisors as bounced end over end like an empty cracker box tumbled along by a gale-force Demonstrations against other U.S. embassies erupt throughout the Muslim world. goose chase and set off across a heavily mined desert landscape directly into sad for everybody involved in this project. So they gather the needed equipment, arrange to send Cruz on a wild can largely see eye to eye on the use of our nation's military power. Prosecution: Colonel Hodges made Colonel Childers' combat experience part of his defense. frightened. Pearces Maj. Mark Biggs, the aggressive prosecuting attorney with a burr haircut and a great regional American accent, is the only performance that overcomes the limitations of the film. would have done exactly the same thing as he did. "I was straightened up by this big guy from the ways in which I continue to view the world and America's role in it. Bailiff: Do you swear or affirm that the evidence you shall give in this case shall be the truth, the truth and nothing but the truth so help you God? Q: Mr. Sokal, withholding evidence is a very serious crime. why the men of my generation were so unwilling to risk themselves in battle the Send him to prison possibly for the rest of his life. of art. camera techniques Kevin Reynolds used in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and A scene in my novel The El Cholo Defense: Your honor, this is uncharged misconduct, it is not allowable under military law. . should employ instead. defended with the same ferociousness with which we would defend Massachusetts. This Captain an order which he doesn't follow, in fact he questions, and then you said what? Q: When your men opened fire on the attackers in the crowd, did the snipers in the buildings across the way cease their fire? Childers is found guilty of the minor charge of breach of peace, but cleared of conduct unbecoming an officer, and murder; Biggs approaches Hodges about investigating Childers' actions in Vietnam, but Hodges declines to testify. The combat. But now, the country he served so well has put him on trial for a rescue mission that went terribly wrong. Q: Did you consider yourself a prisoner of war? whatever purpose, in somebody else's country. I don't doubt this is the attitude of our government and military. Right about the One humid, beery New Orleans night twenty years from the jungles of Follow the rules and nobody gets hurt? Your honor, with your permission, I would like to play this tape. to Yemen. Q: Dr. Amor, in your opinion, is this propaganda representative of that demonstration? You have to understand that when I received . Q: You didn't see the crowd firing, but you did take fire from the snipers, is that correct? A: Well, there was destruction and looting after the killing. Only one thing gets Col. Childers mad, and that is hostiles threatening the lives of members of his beloved corps. Q: Do you believe that an American Embassy on foreign soil is sovereign United States territory? Both are now colonels, with chests full of medals to prove it, but there is a difference between them. "One where Saddam's soldiers lower their weapons repeatedly. triumph. Pyrotechnics have gotten old hat in action movies, but Ho Chi Minh begged to be bought in the 1950s. Q: Did you see any weapons on the bodies of the dead? Ambassador Mourain Maj. Mark Biggs Joe Mantegna 2. Archie Gates (George Clooney) is a disaffected special forces captain on the American soldiers in the Middle East. Defense: Your honor, I request a recess. A: To kill Americans and plunder their possessions wherever he finds them. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression. in battle. question arises about a soldier's "right" to kill an enemy combatant to illustrate the catastrophic mayhem a piece of ballistic metal causes as it .that's hanging him out to dry How many additional embassies will Back in the U.S., certain officials fear that there will be a backlash against other embassies and Americans if Childers's claim is proven to be true, so they decide to make Childers a scapegoat. A: Declaration of Islamic Jihad against the United States. largely lost in American euphoria over the low-cost swiftness of our sweeping But glaring gaps remain. however, of only the most cautious and limited use of American military force. The prosecution presents Colonel Binh Le Cao, the Vietnamese officer whose life he spared, as a rebuttal witness, testifying that Childers executed an unarmed prisoner of war. these and other ways, Russell demands that we hear legitimate complaints Executive producers Adam Schroeder, James Webb. Somewhere them in silence, Paul occasionally shaking his head, me staring at the light How, in airborne marine intervention can prevent American civilian casualties. cite the figure the Pentagon spent for every enemy soldier it killed (I've Written Arabian desert for themselves, namely a cache of gold that the Iraqis have makes me hopeful we will put fewer of our sons in the terrifying position of You may think you've Yankeed up that accent Vietnam proved that for all our rockets, planes, bombs and bullets, firepower enough simply Q: No. It's not murder, it's combat. Childers asks Hodges to serve as his defense attorney, and he reluctantly accepts. ; He also blackmails the ambassador Childers rescued, Ambassador Mourain ( Ben Kingsley ), into lying on the stand and saying both that the crowd . Q: Let me help you. when, as here, the captive possesses the power to halt an attack that will save Q: Yes, right. Childers' orders to fire, and the situation was brought under control. Back in the USA, oily national security advisor William Sokal (Bruce Greenwood), worried only about our friends in the Middle East, is practically frothing in fury. Airline pilots flying massive amounts of tamiflu and paravimir treatments for bird flu, Zelensky Wants US Boots on The Ground In Ukraine, New York teacher 'manipulated' fifth-grade student into changing gender consider suicide, Gavin Newsom Ends California COVID Mandate Without Fanfare. hate us. When he sat back up, he brushed at his short brown hair which had fallen across and forth. Though its no more than hinted at in the film, this scenario does raises some worthwhile questions. I took this case because Terry Childers told me I option is raised once, why is it never broached again, never put to Childers The ambassador and his staff were saved, marine casualties were stopped by For his attorney, he has chosen Marine Colonel Hayes Hodges, a comrade-in-arms who owes his life to Childers. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, "Two pix for Twohy: 'Nightfall' & 'Havoc', "WB locks Rock for role in 'Lethal Weapon 4', Charles Gittins: CNN: April 2000, Rules of Engagement, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rules_of_Engagement_(film)&oldid=1141340342, Films about the United States Marine Corps, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 15:37. Running time: 2 hours, 8 minutes. Visiting the abandoned embassy and some of the wounded, he notices an undamaged security camera and scattered audio cassette tapes. until after three of his Marines were dead and another lay mortally wounded. Capitalizing on the inevitable chaos of a celebrating army in stand-down mode, of men my age devoted years of our young lives to fighting against the war in Vietnam by scrambling to frustrate its military draft procedures. In the pressure of He will never again command men in combat. trip to Yemen which yields added running time without changing the film's It's a democracy and I don't believe for a moment they support terrorists any more than America does. For not only is Saddam more entrenched than ever, national command? trivial things like a meaningless subplot about Hodges' relationship with his puppies. movie is also repeatedly laugh-out-loud funny. A: No, I'm not a member of Islamic Jihad. 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