Welcome Home Soldier Boys (1971) We stand absolutely amazed that there's not a single review of this film posted on either MRQE or Rotten Tomatoes.......
Talk about a movie that flew under the radar......even though it held the dubious distinction of being one of the first feature films to deal with the disconnect and mistreatment of returning Viet Nam war veterans.
That's probably because this particular film was most definitely not a major studio release, like the Jon Voight/Jane Fonda "Coming Home" or the Henry Winkler/Sally Field/Harrison Ford "Heroes". (on that one, check out our post from 5/9/18......)
"Welcome Home Soldier Boys" was designed as quick, fast-buck exploitation trash for the Drive-In trade and the all night "3 Big Hits!" grindhouses......promising a wham-bam shitload of violence to keep the rubes happy as they grazed on their tubs of hot buttered corn.
What's interesting here are all the little true and honest moments the film manages to pile up during its random, wandering build-up to that all too expected apocalyptic finale.
Before we get to that......and for the benefit of any history-impaired young 'uns here, let's remind everyone how Viet Nam vets were treated upon their arrival back in the U.S. of A.........
Unlike today's volunteer armed forces, they didn't come back to a country lionizing them as 'Hometown Heroes'. Vietnam vets returned to a country deeply divided over the way we ended up in the war and how we fought it.....a nation with a growing majority of people sick and disgusted with this endless war and its tragic destruction of young American draftees forced unwillingly to fight it.
These vets didn't get to ride in Hometown Hero parades......to an unsettled public, they were embarrassing collateral damage, something to be ignored, shunned, belittled.....even insulted and ridiculed for their part in waging an unpopular war.
Given that history, you know things will not go well for four Green Beret buddies just back from the war....Danny (Joe Don Baker), Shooter (Paul Koslo), Kid (Allan Vint) and Fatback (Elliot Street). Their big dream: a cross country trip to start a cattle ranch on land supposedly owned by Ki
That dream starts to crumble piece by piece as their trek begins in a used limo the boys refurbish themselves with spare parts. They pick up a blowsy, stranded whore (Jennifer Billingsley) who comes to a startling end that fazes our crew only briefly.... before they move on a dispiriting visit to Danny's hometown and family..
In one telling barroom scene, the boys are sneered at and taunted by some Korean war veterans, who can't conceive of fighting in a never ending war that soldiers can leave when their tour of duty's finished.
All of these disappointments, slights and psychic wounds finally take their toll on Danny's slow burning rage when they reach a tiny Texas town whose only gas pump is locked up till the proprietor's good and ready to open for business.
And hence we come to this movie's entire reason for existence, a hellacious, Sam Peckinpah 'Wild Bunch' shootout between the four ex-soldiers and the sparse populations of this one block long flyspeck town.
We found ourselves asking two primary questions watching this mini-Armageddon in progress....(which the movie never bothers to answer....)
First, why are our boys toting along what looks like a full arsenal of Vietnam war weaponry.....automatic weapons, grenades and rocket launchers? We wouldn't think they'd need all that stuff on a cattle ranch, unless maybe they thought the livestock might turn combative.....
Second, why would the 80 or so people eking out their arid existence in this middle-of-nowhere gas stop suddenly seize up with the urge to engage in a raging firefight equal to Iwo Jima in its ferocity and body count?
There are, of course, no reasonable answers to these questions. The filmmakers set their threadbare story up as an excuse to let the vets work off their anger and frustration by bringing the war right back to the heart of America.......with good old fashioned American-as-apple-pie carnage.
Other films would follow in this same mold, but none of them would hit the zeitgeist with such precision as Sylvester Stallone did in the "Rambo" films. You could think of "Welcome Home Soldier Boys" as the first rough draft sketch of all the rage-fueled Vietnam Vet movies that followed in its wake.
We'll say this much concerning two thirds of the movie before it reaches that big nihilistic showstopper of a finale......you will see a full compliment of the best character actors working at the time.....Lonny Chapman (a sharp role as Joe Don Baker's estranged father), Geoffrey Lewis,( a funny bizarre turn as a strange motel owner) and Billy Green Bush (as a friendly, sympathetic Sheriff, a change of pace from the way this character's usually written).
For those of you who might savor a long lost, little remembered chunk of early 70's, pulpy Viet-sploitation, by all means, check it out. That last 10 minutes is a sight to see. 2 stars (**).
No comments:
Post a Comment