The Vietnam Chronicle: A Rumor Of War

This was a "Made for TV Movie", that was on two nights for 2 hours each, on CBS. The high quality of this movie is very surprising for a 1980 TV movie. It is a shame this movie has not been put on DVD. The VHS version that I have is 195 minutes, which I believe is the full length version. It is hard to believe this movie is 30 years old now. Some of the actors in this movie are so young it will be hard for you to pick them out, like Laurence Fishburne, as Lightbulb.The movie is negative against the Vietnam War, but as a veteran, I believe it is fair for Vietnam. The war did get to many over there, and there was nothing to be happy about. In the end those who came home, most eventually went on with their lives, as did the Lt. Philip J. Caputo.Of course there are some technical issues with this movie. The big thing was the type of Huey helicopters used never made it to Vietnam until very late if at all. The Marines in 1965-66 were mostly flown in UH-34D's, known as "Goonybirds". Their hair is long for this time period. The Marines still required the "High and Tight" in this time period. In the big picture of things, these are minor. They still don't take away from a well done movie.This movie stays true to the awarding winning book, which is really saying something for a TV movie. The viewer will also be treated to a great performance by Brad Davis, a great actor who died way too young. I hope this will come out in DVD so future generations will be able to see this great movie.

The only known way to get the full version of this film (unless you were lucky enough to have recorded it from tv) is this sort of gray market region 0 dvd.Now most on here are talking about the Chinese subtitles. For those that are wondering since it was never mentioned in any other review, the subs are burned in. They are NOT forced subs but ones truly burned into the picture. When I had received th disc, the first thing I did was make my backup on the pc and take a closer look at the subs to verify if they were forced or actualy burned into the picture.So again if subs appearing on the bottom of the picture are going to bother you, than skip this disc. However if you are dying to get your hands on the full version of this wonderful film, than suck it up and deal with the subtitles.I did not find them bothersome at all.2015 update- of you are reading this now, myself and another havetwo more comments you should check out since some of this info has been updated and verifed- this is not the full version as it runs 156mins- so if you have a few seconds, please read the additional comments for more info

I finished the book for at least the third time about a month ago and took a chance on the movie despite the problems mentioned in other reviews. Most complaints had to do with the Chinese subtitles. I've watched a lot of subtitled movies and now don't even notice them after a few minutes into a movie so they didn't bother me at all. The visual quality wasn't all that good but it was acceptable. The problem was, in my opinion, that the book is just too big for a movie. The book wasn't intended to be an action filled war story. There was more thought and emotion that doesn't translate well into a movie. The acting was good enough and the actors fit their parts well enough and the scenes were from the book but there just wasn't enough precedent to what was portrayed to fully understand each scene in context with the rest of the story. Perhaps the screenwriting could have been better, but I really don't know. The weapons were correct for the time but the helicopters weren't but there probably weren't enough H34's in existence to do the job. I don't believe a book like "13th Valley" could ever be put into a two hour movie. "Matterhorn" would be difficult. "Fields of Fire" might make a good one with really good screenwriting. I don't fault the movie at all and I don't regret buying it. Perhaps it would be better to see the movie then read the book to fully appreciate the cognitive dissonance Caputo had to deal with during his tour.

1) The movie is incomplete. Some sizable parts of it are missing; in fact, there is a big gap in between where Lt Caputo (Brad Davis) is at HQ and then transferred back to the field. The scenes of the HQ Marines w/Caputo playing volleyball in the rain are also missing. 2) It looks like this is a poor quality bootleg copy taken from an old VHS tape, perhaps even while the VHS copy was being played on a TV screen in front of a video camera? In any case, poor quality. Unless you are a super hardcore diehard fan of this movie that doesn't mind a bad and incomplete copy of it, then I would not buy it. Sad because it is a good movie that deserves better than this Chinese made junk. Buyer beware.

Great movie! Very realistic, candid, honest, and true-to-life! (I can say that, having spent some time in the bush and Hue City with the 5th Marines in Quang Tri Province back in 1968.) You really don't notice the indelible Chinese subtitles after a while because the film is so engaging. I was a little disappointed to see M-1 Garand rifles dressed up to look like M-14s and AK-47s. There was this one infuriating scene dealing with a body-count, some rotting "enemy" corpses, and the arrogance of some Marine brass. This segment clearly demonstrated exactly why a grunt might be motivated to frag some officers. This motion picture is so on-target that I would have given it five stars except for the burned-in and immovable Chinese subtitles. Whose bright idea was that? I mean, talk about a SNAFU!!!

Phillip Caputo, came to Vietnam, as a shavetail 2nd Lieutenant, in 1965. an idealist, who came to hate the war. they would not let them fight, the way they wanted. that cost a lot of U.S. casualties, including too many K.I.A.'s. This is a true and very moving, made for television film. Brad Davis is in top form, as Phil Caputo. a must see, for true story lovers. it shows a Marine corps, that is seldom seen.

Good movie

Great tv movie that is only available in this cut down version with subtitles in Chinese that can not be removed. As this version is the only one available and the price is relatively low it may be worthwhile depending on your desire for this film.