SYNOPSICS
1969 (1988) is a English movie. Ernest Thompson has directed this movie. Robert Downey Jr.,Kiefer Sutherland,Bruce Dern,Mariette Hartley are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1988. 1969 (1988) is considered one of the best Drama,War movie in India and around the world.
Two college students, Ralph and Scott, live in a small minded Maryland town at the onset of wide public dissatisfaction with the Vietnam War. While Scott's brother Alden enlists in the country's armed forces, he and Ralph are outspoken in their opposition to the war. Scott's attitude alienates him from his father and he and Ralph leave town to enjoy their freedom. But when Ralph is expelled from college, he suddenly becomes a prime candidate for serving the country's armed forces. When they learn Scott's brother is declared missing in action, the lifelong friends take drastic - and illegal - measures to ensure Ralph's freedom. This event proves to be the catalyst needed to bridge the gap between father and son and enlightens them both to the true cost of war.
Same Actors
Same Director
1969 (1988) Reviews
Well-meant but lighthearted look back on the 60's
For a directorial debut, "1969" is better than average, but for an overall coming-of-age movie, it misses its mark somewhat. Ernest Thompson tells the story of two college freshmen, Scott and Ralph, who are coming to terms with the grips of the world at present (Vietnam, family, patriotism, drugs) while their smalltown home, and their own parents, remain buried in the ideals of the flag-waving 50's. Scott is naive, idealistic and hopeful; Ralph is cynical, careless and wild. Although opposites, they complement each other. Scott wishes to become another human catalyst to help change a world he sees as having limitless possibilities. Ralph just wants to get high, ignore his studies and stay out of Vietnam. In between them is Beth, Ralph's younger sister whose also coming into age and also in conflict with the world at hand. Both guys have trouble with recognizing Beth as a new woman and not just a kid anymore. Although the story centers on Ralph and Scott, all three of them are at odds - in different degrees - with their parents. Scott is in most turmoil. His brother has just been shipped off to Vietnam and their father begins projecting hostility towards Scott for objecting the war. Truthfully, Scott's father has deep fear about the fate of his son in Asia, but clumsily hides it under a blanket of patriotism. One misused character was Beth; whose personality was equal parts of her brother and his best friend; she had Ralph's sense of reality and Scott's optimism. I thought she would serve as the bridge between Scott and Ralph but she is used rather as the cause of a rift when Scott and Beth become romantically involved. I liked this film just for the energetic performances by Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder, Bruce Dern, and most of all Kiefer Sutherland as the wide-eyed wishful. The film score is totally corny (especially in the finale), but Thompson puts good 60's tunes to fill in the scenery. The film does have a realistic vision of smalltown life and effectively creates those various hippie hangouts like angry college campuses, head shops, and nude beaches. Its not "The Doors", but it works.
Shallow perhaps but meaningful
Granted there wasn't much of a plot to 1969 and the acting was fair, but nevertheless I thought the film did accomplish something important. It made you realize that this kind of "drama" - coping with the aftermath of a Vietnam KIA - played out in tens-of-thousands of homes throughout the country during the '60s and '70s. The sum of all that pain and anguish makes me cringe. I served in South Vietnam from the summer of '68 to the summer of '69 in the USMC and I am glad to see this kind of message portrayed in a movie. It keeps alive the suffering endured by family and friends from that time. Maybe that sounds morbid but I think it's important for the here and now to acknowledge and remember that suffering. We can use it to give us perspective on how fortunate we are to be able to flourish and live to a ripe old age. For me of course it has special meaning. I could have ended my life at 19 and would have missed so much. But that's what happened to so many. A horrible shame.
Hip, Hippie, Hooray!
As the child of a hippie, I can fully "get" this film. Downey is brilliant as Raplh, the drug taking friend of Scott (Sutherland), I guess life CAN imitate art. Scott's overbearing father is played equally well by veteran actor Bruce Dern. And the girl who wants to save the world is played nicely by Ryder. However, the movie is truly fueled by Sutherlands performance. His portrayal of a borderline hippie comming of age is heart warming and endearing. I don't think there is another actor who could have done this role. The fims content is heavy and the acting is really good, but it is Sutherland performance that makes this fim so good. Not to mention a kick-ass soundtrack featuring bands like Cream, Canned Heat, CSNY, and of course, the king, Jimi Hendrix. I truly recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in a good tale about growing up hard. I give this one ****!
Doesn't really capture the period...
I graduated from high-school in 1968. Guys in the neighborhood, my friends, cousin, older brother, everybody it seemed, was being drafted. I joined the Army Reserve in 1969 to dodge the draft. (I wasn't college bound at the time.) Most everyone I knew made it back okay or didn't go to Vietnam. No one really close to me died, but I knew some that did. Some who did go to Vietnam, came back a little screwed up, some a lot. Many laughed about killing civilians or atrocities against the enemy. It alway seemed like an exaggerated, overly macho, nervous king of laugh. But it was okay, it was 'pay-back' in their minds. I was in basic training during the walk on the moon and Woodstock in 1969. I'm glad I didn't go. I wish that some of the guys I went through basic and advanced training had not gone. I met some really great guys there (I hope they're all okay.) I still can't understand why so many volunteered. My father was a World War II veteran with a purple heart who fought in Europe. He didn't believe in the Vietnam war and he wasn't ashamed to say so (maybe because he was a father). I watched the death counts on the 6 o'clock news with him, through my junior and senior high school years. I knew it would be over soon and I wouldn't have to be involved, but it wasn't, and it was possible that I would be. I listened to the A.M. radio stations each night before I went to bed listening again to the death counts, and to dedications from young girls to their boyfriends and young husbands. They always played 'Soldier Boy' and 'Mister Lonely' as they read the dedications. It made you feel sick. I've yet to see any movie that really conveys the true feelings of that time, but I do see a lot of parallels to what is going on today in the Middle East today. A lot of young guys that are being convinced of the same concepts of 'my country, right or wrong', 'love it or leave it', and of course 'pay-back'. This movie did try. At least it made me think about making a comment. It sends a good message, but lacks the true feelings of the times, i.e., total confusion and desperation.
Odd movie good cast.
This is a very strange movie but not in a very bad way.Some of the acting is poor and could have been much better.I liked most of the movie but the story is off the road and rather "drunk".1969 is a good movie to view by yourself.A lot of 80's films such as this one are corny but good at the same time.