AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Yvonne Jodi Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Martyn Scott I saw How Sleep The Brave on video in about 1982. It had already gained a reputation between my group of video watching school friends as being pretty nasty so it had to be seen. After watching it I was pretty shocked mainly by the excessive use of foul language (as a kid you love swearing but this film set new limits) and the realistic combat footage. I have the original UK VHS release and watched it a few years back and do you know what........I still didn't notice that it wasn't shot in Vietnam! It was only after reading the previous reviews on here that I realised it was shot in Berkshire. (Maybe I watch too many low budget films and am now immune to such subtleties as Berkshire trying to portray Vietnbam). So, with a new interest, I dug out the tape and watched it again last night and yes, some shots (i.e. the base camp) are blatantly non tropical but, as much of the action is shot in close up, you don't notice this as you're more interested in whether the point man is about go 'deep 6' and not the foliage they're walking through. This was a VERY low budget film and if you ignore the forest backgrounds the action is still pretty intense. Also, the sun was out which never happens in th e UK hence I was so easily confused :) As already mentioned the acting is atrocious but I'm sure not every GI was Tom Hanks Acting Academy Trained. As with all low budget / no budget films you often need to look past the technical inadequacies to enjoy the movie. I would compare this film to Last House on the Left, which is now rightly commended as being a classic. However, to the casual viewer all they would see is an old, no budget movie with poor acting and general scenes of ultra distastefulness. To anyone now not in their mid thirties you must remember that this film was released on video at a time when simply watching the next video in the Video Library (remember them??) was a special treat. There were literally thousands of low budget films available and HSTB does not warrant being slated as one of the worst (Trust me - I'v seen loads worse). A commendable attempt, using low budget trickery, to relay the closeness and ultimate waste of the Vietnam War. In this day and age maybe someone should go to Weymouth Beach and remake HSTB on Digital Video but updated for the current Gulf crisis? I'm sure in 20 years time some wise ass would say 'this film is terrible because the sand wasn't the correct colour' - MISSING THE POINT!

robert-turner-1 "How sleep the Brave", like countless other independent movies produced around this time, undoubtedly took advantage of the home video rental boom of the early 1980s. It is also pretty safe to assume that without the VCR it would have sunk without trace.It is painfully obvious from the beginning, that this film was shot on a tiny budget. It looks like a badly made home movie produced by well meaning but technically clueless war reenactment enthusiasts.The acting is, for want of a better word, embarrassing. Compounded by a script which is brainless and punctuated (literally) with unnecessary four letter expletives.With all the best will in the world, a wood in the leafy wilds of rural Berkshire is never going to accurately recreate the steamy intensity of a South Vietnamese jungle. I almost expected to see some blue rinsed old dear emerge from the foliage and tell them to keep the noise down! It is interesting to speculate whether this film would have been a success at the Box Office had it have been given the full Hollywood treatment. The director's intentions are commendable, but the quality just isn't there.As it is, "How Sleep the Brave", will always remain a largely forgotten and obscure celluloid oddity - let's just be thankful for that!

brownash I watched How Sleep The Brave as a teenager in the early eighties and was blown away by it. Yes, my friend and I laughed at the English-looking countryside (we had no idea at the time that it actually was made in England!), but we both thought it was a fantastic film about the realities of battle in the Vietnam war. "Worst Vietnam Movie Ever?" - no way! OBVIOUSLY the film was low budget but if you can see past that you will find yourself with an engrossing and moving film experience.When Platoon came out a few years later I was amazed at the similarities to How Sleep The Brave. Platoon was in the news for weeks with talk about America exposing and coming to terms with the realities of the Vietnam war, and generally blowing sunshine up Oliver Stone's a*se. Well I reckon Olly watched How Sleep The Brave and got the idea for Platoon! I immediately picked up on the use of haunting classical music to accentuate the tragedy, futility and brutality of the war. How Sleep The Brave was way ahead of the rest with it's ideas and techniques on the treatment of the subject.Generally I see the film as a fantastic finished product of a great idea on a very low budget. It delivers the message and then some. I haven't seen the film since that first time, but I will try to rent it out again and may post more comments with my current thoughts.

gemproductions English non-actors running through the English countryside, what were they thinking about? So bad you won´t believe it, and quite hard to track down.See "Zapper" instead.