Rating: R
Genre:
Action
Release Date: 08/30/2005
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Run Time: 114 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language
Distributor/Studio: HBO Home Video
Go Tell the Spartans is set in Vietnam during that period in which American troops were euphemistically termed "advisors". Reluctantly dispensing much of that advice is veteran American major Asa Barker (
Burt Lancaster). Though he knows what works and what doesn't on the battlefield, Barker is obliged to carry out the go-nowhere policies of the American military brass. His current objective is a woebegone, barely crucial outpost, which he must defend with a handful of green soldiers and end-of-tether Vietnamese militiamen. True to his predictions, the outpost is overwhelmed by the Vietcong, who have something to fight about and are ruthless in their tactics. Before the relief troops can arrive, virtually everyone is senselessly killed, including Barker. The only survivor is Corporal Stephen Courcey (
Craig Wasson), a willing draftee whose initial idealism dies along with his comrades.
Wendell Mayes adapted
Go Tell the Spartans from the novel
Incident at Muc Wa by
Daniel Ford.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide