User reviews

This is a unique film. It not only is filmed from a first person POV, but it didn't glamourize war as even humanist films do. There is not too much action yet the film is still fascinating. Instead, the film features what soldiers do in between all the glamourized gunfights. The soldiers camp out, quietly hike, interact and create tension amongst each other and also grow closer, scout out Vietcong positions, and talk about home. This is the most realistic depiction of Vietnam missions in film. The action is mostly incoherent, making it more realistic. There isn't any plagarized, motivating score (Pearl Harbor) set to dozens of soldiers running in slow motion. There are a few gunshots out of the jungle and a man goes down. THe film is emotional and powerful, a great war film.

8/10 or ***1/2 stars out of ****

The acting is first rate, with Richard Brooks delivering the the goods as OD, the defacto leader of this group of recon soldiers.

The first person perspective throughout the movie adds to the impact and lends a realism that conventional cinematography wouldn't have been able to pull off.

The violence (it IS a war movie) is very realistic and disconcerting, which further involves the viewer in the movie. Moreso, this movie investigates the personal dynamics of the group of soldiers, set into the horror of the situation.

In retrospect, the story and characters are really nothing you've not already seen. The stereotypical archetypes are represented, the redneck, the scared short-timer, etc, but while you watch this movie, the combination of a documentary style filming and first person perspective, combine to make this film feel new and refreshing. Granted "Blair Witch" had a similar feel, but this pre-dated that film by 10 years and pre-dated "The Last Broadcast" (from which the "Blair Witch" was nicked) by 9 years.

If you can find a copy of this film. Settle in, crank it up and immerse yourself in it. It isn't the same as "the real thing": it isn't even close, nothing is. But it does let you glimpse into the world, without the fake slo-mo sequences, mood enhancing soundtrack, and trappings that separate you from "real life", and you can actually almost believe this IS a documentary.

Something like this might not look original now, but back when it was released it was probably refreshing and innovative. An army cameraman (code-name Charlie MoPic) films a small recon platoon to record the procedures of combat situations in the jungles of Vietnam. Think of its low-budget (and it shows) and especially competing with Vietnam war films of the late 80s like "Platoon", "Full Metal Jacket" and "Hamburger Hill". Looking for a different angle to set it apart… which I don't know how successful it was, as I only heard of the film for the first time a couple months back. It does remind me of the TV show "Tour of Duty", which if I remember correctly had an episode using this concept.

Still "84 Charlie MoPic" is quite a personal, gut-wrenching and gritty look into the exploits on the front-line. It doesn't shy away either, giving the characters plenty of time to bond and open up with their differing perspectives. It's driven by its dialogues/characters, as it's in the details, commonplace but realistic. Sometimes a little slow and meandering, but those looking for constant action will be hugely disappointed, as when it occurs its only minor and the Viet Cong are kept mainly unseen, but it does have impact because we feel every inch of pain, discomfort and disorientation the soldiers encountered. This is where the intensity arrives from; the chemistry and respect between the men. That when they start getting picked off in quick concession, the intimate styling crafted gave it a more grounded sense that played to its strengths. It's primal, instinctive, as their combat training makes little headway in their quest for survival. There are no rules in this war, where danger is always there. The performances are raw, but believable and well-delivered by a bunch of no names. The low-scale handling gives it an organic, but tight and humid touch Written and directed by Patrick Luncan, he makes good use of the one idea concept and lets it flow accordingly to achieve maximum effect.

Much of the credit for the genuine feel of this film should go to two former Marines who had "been there, done that": Russ Thurman and Dale Dye. Dye's method of running the actors through a mini-boot camp helps raise this film to the level of "Platoon" and "Saving Private Ryan", his more widely-known achievements. Seen largely through the eyes (or lens) of the handheld camera of the mostly-unseen "Mopic", it gives viewers a different perspective on bonding that happens when men put their lives into each other's hands almost daily. Its ring of truth comes from endless tiny details that only former grunts would ever notice. When someone asks this former Marine which are the best Viet Nam films, "84 Charlie MoPic" and "The Odd Angry Shot" are at the top of a very short list.

84C 'MoPic' is a military cameraman filming a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) mission during the Vietnam War. LT is a lieutenant new in country and eager to climb the military ladder. OD (Richard Brooks) is a wise sergeant. Easy is short. With Pretty Boy, Hammer and Cracker, the group encounters the enemy and dangers along the way.

This is what is today referred to as found footage movie. The movie is filmed through MoPic's camera point of view. What I love the most are the little insightful moments of the cat and mouse game with the North Vietnamese. Some of the 'talk' with the group gets a bit too written. Asking Cracker about his black leader is too on-the-nose. The low budget doesn't interfere too much. It forces the movie to focus on the small group. The action isn't as compelling as one would expect because it does get confused. In a way, it's more realistic but less cinematic. This is a fascinating experiment in filmmaking.

Despite the obvious low budget, this film is definitely worth watching. The unknown actors are superb with the materials and situations they are given and make the reality of the Vietnam War come through in a very real fashion. In terms of scale, this is no "Saving Private Ryan", but it does have the same dramatic impact on the viewer. Highly Recommended!

As I recall, this was one of those movies that probably deserved a great deal more exposure than what it really got. It's timing was unfortunate. It came along on the heels of "Platoon" and "Full Metal Jacket" and even "Good Morning, Vietnam," so the various views of the Vietnam conflict had largely been done to death in the space of a few years and by much higher profile and higher budget filmmakers. The U.S. went from ignoring the conflict to a nationwide confession of guilt in the space of a year or so. Anyway, this was a good effort. It's low budget, but worthwhile, and, as the previous poster noted, the technique was the "first person" sort used in "Blair Witch" but done many years before that movie ever appeared.

Patrick Duncan's debut feature arrived late in the cycle of Vietnam War films but offered a unique perspective of the conflict, with no '60s nostalgia, no Heart of Darkness allegorical significance, and no coming-of-age baptism by fire. The film instead consists entirely of footage shot by an Army cameraman assigned to follow a six-man reconnaissance unit behind enemy lines, in effect making the audience another member of the patrol. It's a fascinating way to depict warfare at its most intimate and vulnerable level, without the crutch of big budget production values, but Duncan's faux-documentary technique sometimes works against itself because, strictly speaking, this isn't a documentary, and some of the dialogue sounds all too obviously scripted. The film works best when the camera is simply eavesdropping, showing how their proximity to death bonds each soldier together regardless of race or rank, and capturing like no other war film the tense ambiance of patrolling through hostile territory.

Couldn't make it past 20 mins. I tried....i really did. USMC eight point cover on an Army soldier, magazine loaded upside down, muzzles flagging everyone, random collection of military colloquialisms used improperly......it's like the dialogue was written from a collective source of other Hollywood military films. Maybe it gets better....i dunno. I don't think I've ever taken the time to actually look up a movie and take the time to leave a review until this one. And I'm almost 50 years old. I served in the United States marine corps as an Infantry Rifleman and was deployed to Af.

Just couldn't do it today. Rah!

Comparing this with my other favorite war movie, MASH, I'd call them both "naturalistic." They show humor and horror side by side, long stretches of tedium and short bursts of terror, without relying on an artificial plot or stereotyped characters. But 84 Charlie MoPic is much more realistic.

I was not in combat or in Vietnam, but I was in the Army at that time. Several of my Army friends had jobs making films exactly as shown in 84 Charlie MoPic. This is as accurate a picture of an American combat soldier's experience in Vietnam as any I can imagine. The first time I saw it, I was totally taken in, thought it was an actual documentary until the very end.

Incidentally, 84C or 84 Charlie is (or was) the code for the "military occupational specialty" of Motion Picture Specialist.

While it may not be the first war movie shot from a first-person

camera perspective, it's certainly the first and only one I've seen

and I like the whole Mo Pic documentary feel of the film. I don't

think this is a great movie or a great war movie, but it sure is

interesting and I like to watch it every now and then. From my

understanding of Vietnam and the military though, certain things

were highly unrealistic in terms of what characters say, but it's

easy to get past that. The plot moves right along and this movie is

NOT predictable. It's a smart low-budget (I'd assume) movie that

achieves what it sets out to achieve; a definite must-see for any

war film fans.

A 1989 Vietnam War drama that does not work at all. With a story and dialog quite similar to the one found in Full Metal Jacket this movie seems meaningless. The acting is OK, but the lack of impressive acting is too great. Only minor scenes are exciting but mostly the movie is slow and uninteresting. Not recommended at all, not even if you are in to Vietnam movies. 2/10.

Vietnam war film shot in 1st person POV. It really works and you feel that you are right there with the platoon who are on a recon mission in the jungle bush of Vietnam. This effort is surprisingly good and is more gritty and realistic than most war movies out there (not mentioning a few big budget titles). The acting is top notch and the original way it was filmed (over 10 years before Blair Witch) makes this one a gem to own in your vhs/dvd collection. I liked this film a lot and highly recommend it to any fan of 'Nam titles.

This is a curious mixture of good and bad . By 1989 the Vietnam war film had been blazing across cinema screens for over ten years and audiences were growing of tired of this genre in much the same way as America became literally tired of the ongoing conflict in South East Asia 20 years earlier . We'd already had the home front movie with THE DEER HUNTER and COMING HOME , war as expressionist horror film in APOCALYPSE NOW and black comedy in FULL METAL JACKET and GO TELL THE SPARTANS . You can see writer/director Patrick Sheane Duncan trying to do a grunts eye view of the conflict but is limited by budget so tries a new twist on this by having the entire action filmed as stock war footage

What Duncan does manage to do is convey the absurdity of tours of duty . In the Vietnam era American individual soldiers would complete a tour of duty then would be replaced by another individual soldier . What this meant that American units would be entirely composed of soldiers would have differing tour lengths with some men almost completing their tour while their colleagues had several hundred days till the " wake up " which meant a complete lack of unit cohesion with the veterans in the unit having undisguised contempt for the newbies which they'd describe as FNGs' . The film illustrates this very well with the de facto platoon leader OD having little respect for the new LT and the camera team

What the film doesn't do very well is giving a sense of time and place . Again the budget is the problem and at no time did I get the impression I was watching something take place in Vietnam in 1969 . Some people have argued that WE WERE SOLDIERS and THE GREEN BERETS were also set in the central highlands and wouldn't feature the dense humid jungles that's perceived as being a geographical feature of South East Asia but even so you're conscious that it probably wasn't filmed too far from the Burbank Studios in California and despite the use of strong language it has a look and feel of a TVM and for a film purporting to be true to life film footage it's not nearly stylised enough and it's difficult to believe this film influenced the likes of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT , CLOVERFIELD and other lost footage film

With so many Vietnam movies being done in the 80's, "84c MoPic" had to do something to differentiate itself. In that respect this movie was done POV style which was rare if it was done at all. I can't recall a movie as early as 1989 being done POV style though it would become very popular ten years later with "Blair Witch Project."

"84c MoPic" follows a small band of soldiers navigating the brush of Vietnam. Their mission is not entirely clear, but one thing is clear: they want to survive. They're led by OD (Richard Brooks). He's as tough as they come and precisely what the group needs to stay alive. MoPic (Byron Thames), short for motion picture, is the cameraman there to capture everything. It's really about the various personalities that one could see in Vietnam more than the tactical aspect of it.

But this is a movie about the Vietnam War so it wouldn't be complete without firefights and deaths. The firefights are brief but fatal and by movie's end you will be saddened.

84 Charlie Mopic (84C Mopic) is the best movie ever made about small unit warfare. If that's what you're into, you're golden with this mock documentary about a LRRP/Ranger unit. A cast of unknown actors (Richard Brooks of Law & Order, Glenn Morshower of CSI, Christopher Burgard, Nicholas Gascone) generate extraordinary performances.

The difference with other movies is that it gives a lot of attention to the detail of going on a small 5 man, 5 day mission as the LRRPs did. There is a lot of attention paid to noise discipline, and when enemy shots ring out, you have to work out for yourself from where. The enemy is seen up close only once in this movie.

There is no heavy handed treatment of "politics" as in Hamburger Hill, no lots of nonsense like in Platoon, just five (seven) guys who are thrown together and have a job to do, and hopefully come through alive.

If you like it, you may also like Sniper, with Tom Berenger and Billy Zane.

This low-budget movie packs a maximum impact. The cast of no-names eliminates the predisposition to the glorification of war associated with many big name "war" actors. I have rarely seen a film about small-unit dynamics as well done. Every part is well-acted. Of interest are the relationships between the draftees, the enlisted lifer, and the opportunistic Lieutenant. The tension, confusion, and boredom of combat operations is captured in excruciating yet tender detail. The film conveys a good sense of the terrible waste of the Vietnam war. This movie is down, dirty, and real. If you are a war film buff, this one is a must see!

As a Viet Nam veteran, I saw this movie on cable approximately 1 year after it was made. I was actually under the impression that this film was a documentary and not a movie. The realism and events were common place in "NAM". Not for the faint of heart. The film depicts a LRRP ( Long Range Reconisance Patrol) on one of its missions. It very vividly describes the terrain, problems, booby traps and other adverse conditions met by our troops during the Viet Nam Campaign. It also informs the viewer of some of the tactics used by the Viet Cong, the North Vietnamese Army and the U.S Forces during this war. It brings the thoughts, emotions and feelings of the patrols members as events occur during this patrol.

Sit down in front of the screen and see the Viet Nam war the way it REALLY was. A grim, gripping story of a 'routine' scouting patrol in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Sure there are the stereotypes, but here they only serve to examine the divided loyalties and strange bed fellows created by an un-popular war. The cast of virtual unknowns add to the reality, and they handle the acting chores flawlessly. This one is not for the squeamish, or those prone to RVN flash-backs!

This "mockumentary" was a forerunner to films like The Blair Witch project, and the tension and fear that the soldiers feel, trapped behind enemy lines with a broken radio and a dead comrades body, is a lot more believable than that felt by those three annoying kids running away from things that go "bump" in the night. You really do get a feel for what it must have been like. When the group are ambushed, you hear the gunshots, and the screams, but you just can't see where the enemy are. It must of been hell, getting shot at but not knowing where it was coming from.

The cast of relative unknowns really impresses, especially Nicholas Cascone as "Easy" ("soon to be promoted to PFC: Private F***ing Civilian") and Richard Brooks as "OD", the group's black leader.

The spirit of camraderie and brotherhood echoes strongly throughout this film, exemplified by scenes such as the one where Sgt. "Cracker", a self confessed redneck, is interviewed by the "Lessons Learnt" crew and is asked: "Coming from South Carolina, how do you feel about being led by a black man?". After a strained silence he answers: "Those are real-world questions. They don't have any place here in the Nam. Why don't you ask if OD is the best damn GI I have ever humped a ruck with, or if I would risk my life for him, and I have, or if he would risk his life for me, and he has. Those are the kind of questions you should be asking."

The action is interspersed with long periods of waiting, boredom, and contemplation. The futility of their mission, and indeed the entire war, is brought to the fore. They feel distanced from their loved ones, and long for some time "in the rear with the gear", away from the front lines, which are plagued by a shadow-like enemy and viciously effective booby-traps, not to mention the seemingly endless nights, when trees move just like Charlie.

This movie is recommended not only to War flick fans, but to anybody interested in seeing how a pseudo-documentary should really be made.

7 out of 10