Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan
Directed by:
Kriv StendersScreenplay:
Stuart BeattieCinematography:
Ben NottComposer:
Caitlin YeoCast:
Travis Fimmel, Daniel Webber, Luke Bracey, Nicholas Hamilton, Anthony Hayes, Mojean Aria, Richard Roxburgh, Alexander England, Stephen Peacocke (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Late afternoon August 18, 1966 South Vietnam - for three and a half hours, in the pouring rain, amid the mud and shattered trees of a rubber plantation called Long Tan, Major Harry Smith and his dispersed company of 108 young and mostly inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers are fighting for their lives, holding off an overwhelming enemy force of 2,500 battle hardened Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers. With their ammunition running out, their casualties mounting and the enemy massing for a final assault each man begins to search for his own answer - and the strength to triumph over an uncertain future with honor, decency and courage. The Battle of Long Tan is one of the most savage and decisive engagements in ANZAC history, earning both the United States and South Vietnamese Presidential Unit Citations for gallantry along with many individual awards. But not before 18 Australians and more than 500 enemies are killed. (Red Dune Films)
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Reviews (3)
Travis Fimmel (Ragnar from Vikings) is commanding 108 inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers against an entire Vietnamese battalion, and it's a decent wartime carnage for the first time in a while. After a brief opening, the action hardly lets off the gas and, although it's not a big production, it looks very good, the characters are likeable and the emotions work too, especially at the end. The only that disappointed me a bit is that they didn't have the courage to add gore, there are none of those raw scenes from Hacksaw Ridge, but still it's an engaging and entertaining piece for war movie fans. 75%
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The umpteenth take on the Vietnam War, this time from the perspective of the Australian military, with the involvement of Australian filmmakers and actors. The visuals are OK, but there is no groundbreaking style of filmmaking to speak of. Danger Close shines with the precision and directorial virtuosity of Mendes (1917), in contrast with a routine editing and limited budget. Fans of war films will watch it, and that’s about it.
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It's a shame that the Australians didn't have a chat with the technical advisers of Band of Brothers, as they would surely explain to them what artillery fire or machine gun fire looks like. Especially the slow-motion shots of the flying members of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army were quite lame. Otherwise, I have nothing to complain about, the almost two hours just flew by, one action after another and, except for one farewell to Boromir, hardly any pathos.
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Gallery (21)
Photo © Transmission Films
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