Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1989


84C MoPic

Buy 84C MoPic now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'84C MoPic' (also known as '84 Charlie MoPic'; released in the Philippines as 'Platoon 2') is a 1989[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/84charliemopicrhinson_a0a93d.htm The Washington Post] American independent found footage war drama film written and directed by Patrick Sheane Duncan.

Premise



The film is a mock documentary of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) mission during the Vietnam War. The point of view is from a cameraman following a LRRP team on a five-day patrol deep in "Indian Country" (territory controlled by the North Vietnamese). The cameraman is nicknamed "MoPic" by the team, because of his alphanumeric military occupational specialty, 84C20, 'Mo'tion 'Pic'ture Specialist. The supposedly routine mission, however, goes wrong and eventually turns into a struggle for survival. At first the squad seems in control. Their leader, the black sergeant OD detects booby traps, and the squad lays some booby traps of their own. They evade detection by an NVA patrol, and press deep behind enemy lines. One night, over the radio, they hear a whole army company being overrun by an NVA unit. They catch an NVA regiment in the open, and order an artillery strike, taking out much of the enemy.

Now that the NVA knows there are Americans nearby, they avoid any gunfire and make their escape in the bush as silently as possible. OD catches a 6 man NVA patrol on their tail, only 50 meters away. The squad takes them out, and carry a wounded NVA soldier with them. Their position is exposed by the noise, and a sniper takes out Pretty Boy. The sniper repeatedly shoots him in the limbs, torturing him, in an attempt to lure other squad members out into the open. Unable to rescue him, OD mercy kills him. He then demands the LT kill the NVA soldier with a knife to avoid any more noise. He sadistically makes the LT look at pictures of the NVA soldiers family before LT kills the soldier. The squad continues their escape, but encounter VC troops which wound OD, and kill Cracker. With OD barely able to walk, Hammer, a less experienced squad member, takes point. He triggers a booby trap almost immediately, killing him. With half the squad killed, the survivors make their way to their evacuation point. After a final firefight, MOPIC is killed. OD, LT, and Easy escape in the chopper as the film ends.

Cast



* Jonathan Emerson as LT

* Nicholas Cascone as Easy

* Jason Tomlins as Pretty Boy

* Christopher Burgard as Hammer

* Glenn Morshower as Cracker

* Richard Brooks as OD

* Byron Thames as MoPic

Production and reception



'84C MoPic' was filmed on a low budget in Southern California. The film is one of the earlier examples of found footage, a style famously implemented by 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'Paranormal Activity'. '84 Charlie MoPic' has an 83% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 6 reviews.[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/84c_mopic? "84 Charlie MoPic,"] RottenTomatoes.com. Accessed May 9, 2018. Roger Ebert, awarding the film three stars out of four, wrote

The film received three nominations:

* 1989 Sundance Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic (Patrick Sheane Duncan)

* 1990 Independent Spirit Award, Best First Feature, Patrick Sheane Duncan (Director); Michael Nolin (Producer)

* 1990 Independent Spirit Award, Best Screenplay, Patrick Sheane Duncan[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssad-F_vlMo 5th Spirit Awards ceremony hosted by Buck Henry - full show (1990) | Film Independent on YouTube]

The film is listed among recommended Vietnam war films in a blog post on the Council on Foreign Relations.Lindsay, James M. [https://www.cfr.org/blog-post/ten-more-vietnam-war-movies "Ten More Vietnam War Movies,"] Council on Foreign Relations website (May 20, 2017).

References




Buy 84C MoPic now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1989



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1107013597.