Danger Close (2019) – War is hell

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Genre – War Movie (true story)

Time: 2 Hours

Platform: Amazon Prime

Director: Kriv Stenders.

Platform : Amazon Prime

Whenever we think of the Vietnam War, the popular image is the American image, with helicopters ferrying troops, US air force combat planes blasting and napalming jungles and pictures of various civilian and military casualties on both sides. The histories of various military TV channels also show only the American side of the story. Very few people know (or even care to know) that the Americans had “Allied Armies Fighting against Communism”, on their side. Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea, Philippines also sent troops to fight alongside the Americans and the South Vietnamese. Their contributions to individual battles has been mentioned as a line or two in various military histories.  Thankfully, there has been a surge in the publication of books about the contribution of these “Allies” in recent years.

The Battle of Long Tan in August 1966 was mainly an engagement between ANZUS (Australian and New Zealand) soldiers, along with South Vietnamese soldiers, against a considerably larger North Vietnamese force. Contrary to popular opinion, the North Vietnamese were not a ragtag bunch of ‘guerilla’ soldiers but well trained, disciplined North Vietnamese Army soldiers with a clear purpose and strategy. The battle took place in a rubber plantation, amidst pouring rain, with savage fighting between the opposing forces. The Australians soon found themselves surrounded and running out of ammunition. The fortuitous arrival of heavily armed M113 Armored personnel carriers and long-range artillery support annihilated the approaching North Vietnamese force, forcing them to retreat.

So what does the term Danger Close mean? It literally involves dropping bombs or artillery shells near friendly positions. So close that it may (and did) result in ‘friendly fire’ casualties. It also shows the intensity of fighting. Knowing the overwhelming American firepower, the North Vietnamese used tactics to neutralize it by fighting in close proximity to American/Allied positions.

All these and more are showcased in this Australian film that surely deserved better publicity. Even though the battle was bloody and resulted in many Australian casualties, the film doesn’t shirk from showing them as such. We can tolerate the occasional “filmi” characters that are meant to add drama. The entire battle happened in pouring rain. The film only shows the rain halfway through the battle, and perhaps that’s the only mistake in the film. Naturally . it would be literally hard to FILM a battle amidst pouring rain. In this case, some liberty can be given for cinematic purposes.

The tiniest of details are shown accurately. Eg – the Australians had the Owen submachine gun  of WW2 fame (picture above) , which was used till 1971 by the Australians. Unlike other SMGs, this one had its magazine positioned vertically, on top of the main body of the SMG. (Its successor the F1 also has a  vertical / top loading magazine) The Australians also fought with a mixture of American M16s, M60s and British SLRs which is also depicted faithfully.

Overall, this is an outstanding war film which, barring the odd ‘filmi’ drama, captures the intensity of the battle  The end screen is of the casualty figures and shows that no matter who won or who lost, war IS hell!

Real History/ Historical Background – 4 out of 5

Script – 5 out of 5

Story – 5 out of 5

Direction – 5 out of 5

Photography – 4 out of 5

Total – 4.6 out of 5