The Hanoi Hilton

1987 "For Americans captured in Vietnam, one war ended. Another was about to begin."
6.1| 2h6m| R| en| More Info
Released: 27 March 1987 Released
Producted By: Cannon Group
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Lionel Chetwynd's film documents the horrific struggles that faced American POWs held in the North Vietnamese prison Hoa Lo -- more infamously known as the Hanoi Hilton -- between 1964 and 1975. Williamson (Michael Moriarty) leads a group of American servicemen who are prisoners at the detention camp. He assumes command after Cathcart (Lawrence Pressman) is dragged off to be tortured.

Genre

Drama, War

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Director

Lionel Chetwynd

Production Companies

Cannon Group

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The Hanoi Hilton Audience Reviews

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.
dworldeater Let me start off by saying that I was 1 year old when we pulled out American troops from Vietnam, but if I was an adult or teenager around that time I would have opposed the war as well. This film in question, The Hanoi Hilton is based on the experiences of American POW's and their experiences in captivity during the war. The film does have a right wing tone that is in favor of the United States involvement in the conflict, but mostly is about the perseverance, solidarity and strength that these men had to endure while in captivity. The Hanoi Hilton was made by Cannon films, a company best known for action films like the Missing In Action series and Chuck Norris dose not show up to save the day in this one. This project, while not an action vehicle is another low budget film from Cannon. However, this is a pretty solid dramatic film with good performances from its ensemble cast. While hardly Oscar worthy, the movie gets across what it needs to by showing the horrific conditions, torture and squalor that American soldiers in captivity by the enemy had to endure and the efforts by their captors to break these men. The reality of the situation was, I am sure much worst then portrayed on celluloid. But, this gives the audience a good idea of what it may have been like for these men. Michael Moriarity is the leading man in this film and is told through his perspective and he delivers a solid performance. I remember this playing all the time on cable and it is a good film and holds up fairly well.
Wizard-8 First of all, I feel I should say that I am not against the idea of a movie praising U.S. soldiers who were imprisoned by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. These soldiers suffered greatly, and their stories are stories that need to be told. "The Hanoi Hilton" was obviously an attempt to tell these soldiers' stories, but it is greatly uneven. One big problem is that the movie has a number of heavy-handed touches, namely with certain characters. It's not just with some of the communists (the prison warden, a visiting Cuban military officer), but also with liberal western characters (a visiting journalist, a Jane Fonda clone). The movie also takes way too long to get to the 1970s, and then it starts moving so quickly that the viewer barely gets a chance to absorb the now quickly unfolding scenes. And Michael Moriarty, while giving good performances in other works, is really miscast here. He seems too wimpish and meek to be a military person of high rank.On the other hand, every so often there is a really good touch in the movie. The period detail is pretty good for the most part; real P.O.W.s praised the look of the movie. Some of the acting by the mostly no-name cast is pretty convincing, and there are a few scenes (a torture sequence with the audio cut out, the P.O.W.s having a Christmas dinner) that are really well done and have genuine power. So the movie is far from terrible, but it also isn't exceptional. You may learn some things from this movie, but I have a feeling that if you want to learn what it was really like for these unfortunate men, you might find a book on the subject matter more informative.
mr_whud The Hanoi Hilton is a must-see film. Many leftists denounce its historical accuracy and positive portrayal of the men who fought and died to prevent the disaster that befell Vietnam. If you want to know what the men were really like, by all means see this film. Don't waste your time on Communist propaganda crap like the monstrosity Platoon. NOTE TO ALL LEFTISTS: As this movie shows, most of the soldiers who fought were courageous and honorable men, not mindless killers like the idiots in the media want you to believe.
danielgalea99 This movie was a excellent way of showing how American POWs survived in Vietnam during the war. Michael Moriarty gives a riveting performance as Williamson and Scotty Sachs gives a memorable perfomance as Soles. This movie is a must see a war buff and it will eat away at a person's heart.