84C MoPic

Last updated
84C MoPic
84C MoPic film.jpg
Directed by Patrick Sheane Duncan
Written byPatrick Sheane Duncan
Produced by Michael Nolin
Edited byStephen Purvis
Music by Donovan
Distributed byNew Century Vista Film Company
Release date
  • April 7, 1989 (1989-04-07)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Vietnamese
Box office$154,264 (US)

84C MoPic (also known as 84 Charlie MoPic; released in the Philippines as Platoon 2) [1] is a 1989 [2] American independent found footage war drama film written and directed by Patrick Sheane Duncan. [3]

Contents

Premise

The film is a mock documentary of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) mission during the Vietnam War. The point of view is from a cameraman following a LRRP team on a five-day patrol deep in "Indian Country" (territory controlled by the North Vietnamese). The cameraman is nicknamed "MoPic" by the team, because of his alphanumeric military occupational specialty, 84C20, Motion Picture Specialist. The supposedly routine mission, however, goes wrong and eventually turns into a struggle for survival. At first the squad seems in control. Their leader, the black sergeant “OD” detects booby traps, and the squad lays some booby traps of their own. They evade detection by an NVA patrol, and press deep behind enemy lines. One night, over the radio, they hear a whole army company being overrun by an NVA unit. They catch an NVA regiment in the open, and order an artillery strike, taking out much of the enemy.

Now that the NVA knows there are Americans nearby, they avoid any gunfire and make their escape in the bush as silently as possible. OD catches a 6 man NVA patrol on their tail, only 50 meters away. The squad takes them out, and carry a wounded NVA soldier with them. Their position is exposed by the noise, and a sniper takes out Pretty Boy. The sniper repeatedly shoots him in the limbs, torturing him, in an attempt to lure other squad members out into the open. Unable to rescue him, OD mercy kills him. He then demands the LT kill the NVA soldier with a knife to avoid any more noise. He sadistically makes the LT look at pictures of the NVA soldier’s family before LT kills the soldier. The squad continues their escape, but encounter VC troops which wound OD, and kill Cracker. With OD barely able to walk, Hammer, a less experienced squad member, takes point. He triggers a booby trap almost immediately, killing him. With half the squad killed, the survivors make their way to their evacuation point. After a final firefight, MOPIC is killed. OD, LT, and Easy escape in the chopper as the film ends.

Cast

Production and reception

84C MoPic was filmed on a low budget in Southern California. [5] [6] The film is one of the earlier examples of found footage, a style famously implemented by The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity . [7] 84 Charlie MoPic has an 83% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 6 reviews. [8] Roger Ebert, awarding the film three stars out of four, wrote

"84 Charlie MoPic" deserves a place by itself among the films about Vietnam. It is a brave and original attempt to record nothing more or less than the actual daily experience of a unit on patrol, drawn out of the memories of men who were there. I’ve never seen a combat movie that seemed this close to actual experience, to the kinds of hard lessons that soldiers are taught by their enemies. The filmmakers have earned their right to shoot with a subjective camera — because the eyes we are really seeing through are their own." [9]

The film received three nominations:

The film is listed among recommended Vietnam war films in a blog post on the Council on Foreign Relations. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambush</span> Military attack from concealed positions

An ambush is a surprise attack by people lying in wait in a concealed position. Ambushes have been used consistently throughout history, from ancient to modern warfare. In the 20th century, an ambush might involve thousands of soldiers on a large scale, such as over a choke point such as a mountain pass, or a small irregulars band or insurgent group attacking a regular armed force patrols. Theoretically, a single well-armed and concealed soldier could ambush other troops in a surprise attack. Sometimes an ambush can involve the exclusive or combined use of improvised explosive devices, that allow the attackers to hit enemy convoys or patrols while minimizing the risk of being exposed to return fire.

<i>Platoon</i> (film) 1986 war film directed by Oliver Stone

Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone, starring Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Keith David, Kevin Dillon, John C. McGinley, Forest Whitaker, and Johnny Depp. It is the first film of a trilogy of Vietnam War films directed by Stone, followed by Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and Heaven & Earth (1993). The film, based on Stone's experience from the war, follows a U.S. Army volunteer (Sheen) serving in Vietnam while his Platoon Sergeant and his Squad Leader argue over the morality in the platoon and of the war itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-range reconnaissance patrol</span> Military unit that patrols in enemy-held territory

A long-range reconnaissance patrol, or LRRP, is a small, well-armed reconnaissance team that patrols deep in enemy-held territory.

<i>Lost Patrol</i> (video game) 1990 video game

Lost Patrol, also known as The Lost Patrol, is a survival action role-playing strategy video game developed by Shadow Development and published by Ocean Software for the Amiga and Atari ST computers in 1990. An MS-DOS port by Astros Productions was published in 1991. Set during the Vietnam War, the game follows a squad of United States Army soldiers who are stranded behind enemy lines after their helicopter crashes, and must reach a U.S. military outpost for rescue.

The punji stick or punji stake is a type of booby trapped stake. It is a simple spike, made out of wood or bamboo, which is sharpened, heated, and usually set in a hole. Punji sticks are usually deployed in substantial numbers. The Oxford English Dictionary lists less frequent, earlier spellings for "punji stake ": panja, panjee, panjie, panji, and punge.

<i>The Green Berets</i> (film) 1968 film by John Wayne, Ray Kellogg

The Green Berets is a 1968 American war film directed by John Wayne and Ray Kellogg and starring John Wayne, David Janssen and Jim Hutton, based on the 1965 novel by Robin Moore. Much of the film was shot in the summer of 1967. Parts of the screenplay bear little relation to the novel, although the portion in which a woman seduces a North Vietnamese communist general and sets him up to be kidnapped by Americans is from the book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Brooks (actor)</span> American actor, singer and director (born 1962)

Richard L. Brooks is an American actor, singer, and director. He played the eccentric bounty hunter Jubal Early in the space-western Firefly and assistant district attorney Paul Robinette in the NBC drama series Law & Order from 1990 to 1993, later appearing as a defense attorney on that same show. In 2013, he began starring as Patrick Patterson in the BET drama series, Being Mary Jane.

<i>The Odd Angry Shot</i> 1979 film by Tom Jeffrey

The Odd Angry Shot is an 1979 Australian war comedy film written, directed and produced by Tom Jeffrey. It is based on the book of the same title by William Nagle, and follows the experiences of Australian soldiers during the Vietnam War. The movie, which was shot on location in New South Wales and Canungra, Queensland, traces the tour of duty of an Australian Special Air Service Regiment reconnaissance team from their departure to their return home to Australia. It avoids much of the political comment on Australia’s involvement in Vietnam, unlike Hollywood films which tend to explore the rights and wrongs of the Vietnam War.

<i>Conflict: Vietnam</i> 2004 video game

Conflict: Vietnam is a tactical shooter video game developed by Pivotal Games and 8bit Games and published by Global Star Software and SCi Games for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Microsoft Windows, and mobile phones and N-Gage. the N-Gage version was ported to DS as Operation Vietnam. Released in 2004, it is the third installment in the Conflict series.

Patrick Sheane Duncan is an American writer, film producer and director.

<i>Go Tell the Spartans</i> 1978 film directed by Ted Post

Go Tell the Spartans is a 1978 American war film directed by Ted Post and starring Burt Lancaster. The film is based on Daniel Ford's 1967 novel Incident at Muc Wa about U.S. Army military advisors during the early part of the Vietnam War in 1964, when Ford was a correspondent in Vietnam for The Nation.

<i>The Walking Dead</i> (1995 film) 1995 film directed by Preston A. Whitmore II

The Walking Dead is a 1995 war film written and directed by Preston A. Whitmore II and starring Allen Payne, Joe Morton and Eddie Griffin. The film depicts the lives of five Marines who are all assigned to rescue a group of POW during the Vietnam War in 1972. It opened to poor reviews and low box office receipts. Previews billed it as "the black experience in Vietnam".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NLF and PAVN battle tactics</span> North Vietnamese and Viet Cong tactics in the Vietnam War

VC and PAVN battle tactics comprised a flexible mix of guerrilla and conventional warfare battle tactics used by Viet Cong (VC) and the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) to defeat their U.S. and South Vietnamese (GVN/ARVN) opponents during the Vietnam War.

The World of Charlie Company is a one-hour film documentary produced by CBS News in 1970 that shows what life was like in the jungles of South Vietnam for a rifle company of American soldiers fighting regular units of the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).

The Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) (Sinhala: දිගු දුර විහිදුම් බලකාය Digu Dura Vihidum Balakaya) is a covert operation unit of Sri Lanka Army Special Forces. This unit is also known as the Deep Penetration Unit (DPU). Colonel Raj Vijayasiri of the Special Forces is credited as the main figure who introduced the DPU concept first to Special Forces of Sri Lankan army.

Michael Nolin is an American former motion picture producer, former studio executive, former writer/director and current educator. Since 2003 he has been Professor of Film & Television and Dramatic Writing at SCAD in Savannah, Georgia.

The Battle of Signal Hill was a company size engagement between members of Company E, 52nd Infantry (LRP) long-range reconnaissance patrol of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) from 19 to 21 April 1968 during Operation Delaware. Signal Hill was the name given to the peak of Dong Re Lao Mountain, a densely forested 4,878-foot (1,487 m) mountain in the A Sầu Valley. The strategic location made it an ideal communication and fire support site, vital to the success of Operation Delaware.

Company E, 52nd Infantry, (LRP) was a 120 man-sized long-range reconnaissance patrol unit attached to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in Vietnam in 1967-69. Its origin begins on January 1, 1967, as "LRRP Detachment G2," 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). It was then redesignated "Headquarters & Headquarters Company LRRP Detachment" in April 1967, and redesignated "Company E, 52nd Infantry (LRP)" on December 20, 1967.

Operation Cochise Green was a security and pacification operation during the Vietnam War conducted by the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Bình Định Province from 30 March 1968 to 31 January 1969.

Nam Angels is a 1989 Philippine biker Vietnam war film directed by Cirio H. Santiago and written by Dan Gagliasso. The film was released in West Germany as Hell's Angels in Vietnam.

References

  1. "Still on the Same War". Manila Standard . Kagitingan Publications, Inc. May 14, 1991. p. 14. Retrieved June 1, 2021. The film simply states the horror — and the boredom — of being a soldier. Writer-director Patrick Duncan...
  2. The Washington Post
  3. "84 Charlie Mopic (1988) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  4. "84 Charlie Mopic". Time Out London. 10 September 2012.
  5. "84 Charlie Mopic | TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
  6. Siskel, Gene (28 April 1989). "'84 CHARLIE MOPIC' TAKES YOU ON PATROL IN VIETNAM". chicagotribune.com.
  7. Heath, Glenn Jr. (2 May 2014). "Summer of '89: 84 Charlie MoPic". Slant Magazine .
  8. "84 Charlie MoPic," RottenTomatoes.com. Accessed May 9, 2018.
  9. Ebert, Roger. "84 Charlie MoPic," Chicago Sun-Times (April 28, 1989).
  10. 5th Spirit Awards ceremony hosted by Buck Henry - full show (1990) | Film Independent on YouTube
  11. Lindsay, James M. "Ten More Vietnam War Movies," Council on Foreign Relations website (May 20, 2017).