The Siege of Firebase Gloria

The Siege of Firebase Gloria is a 1989 Australian war film starring Wings Hauser and R. Lee Ermey that was filmed in the Philippines.[1] According to a question and answer period in Sydney, director Brian Trenchard-Smith said that R. Lee Ermey wrote the screenplay.

The Siege of Firebase Gloria
The Siege of Firebase Gloria Theatrical Poster
Directed byBrian Trenchard-Smith
Produced byD. Howard Grigsby
Rod S.M. Confesor
Written byWilliam L. Nagle
Tony Johnston
Additional Dialogue:
Brian Trenchard-Smith
R. Lee Ermey
StarringWings Hauser
R. Lee Ermey
Music byPaul Schutze
CinematographyKevan Lind
Edited byAndrew Prowse
Production
company
Fries Entertainment
Eastern Film Management Corporation
Bancannia Entertainment
International Film Management
Distributed byFries Entertainment (US)
Hoyts Distribution (Australia)
Release date
  • January 27, 1989 (1989-01-27)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
Australia
LanguageEnglish
Vietnamese

Plot

At the start of the Tet Offensive, a Marine unit on patrol stops at Firebase Gloria. When the base comes under attack the patrol remains to help in its defense. The U.S. Army soldiers and Marines are subjected to numerous attacks by the Viet Cong, but in the end hold the base with assistance from the 1st Cavalry Division. While the Marines try to defend the base, the Viet Cong commander discovers that he is in a similar position: it was never his mission to win the battle, but to lead his men to their deaths in order to allow the North Vietnamese Army to take a more substantial role in the war. The Americans are subsequently forced to abandon the base having lost too many men in the process of defending it. In the end, the soldiers and commanders on both sides take stock of the loss of life for this single base.

Cast
  • Wings Hauser as Cpl. Joseph L. Di Nardo
  • R. Lee Ermey as Sgt. Maj. Bill Hafner
  • Robert Arevalo as Cao Van
  • Mark Neely as Pvt. Murphy
  • Gary Hershberger as Capt. A.J. Moran
  • Clyde Jones as Coates (as Clyde R. Jones)
  • Margaret Trenchard-Smith as Capt. Flanagan (as Margi Gerard)
  • Richard Kuhlman as Ghost
  • John Calvin as C.O. Williams
  • Albert Popwell as Sgt. Jones
  • Michael Cruz as Vietnamese Child
  • Erich A. Hauser as Patrol Member (as Eric Hauser)
  • Guel Romero as Patrol Member
  • Don Wilson as Patrol Member (as Donald Wilson)
  • Nick Nicholson as Photographer

Release

Although the film was written, produced, and directed by Australians, it was not considered Australian for the AFI Awards.[2]

References
  1. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p140
  2. Alex Mitchell, 'AUSSIE MOVIE SHUNNED', Sun Herald, 23 July 1989 p11
  • The Siege of Firebase Gloria on IMDb
  • The Siege of Firebase Gloria at AllMovie
  • The Siege of Firebase Gloria at the TCM Movie Database
  • "Brian Trenchard-Smith (Drive Hard) Talks Making a War Movie in a War Zone". The TalkHouse. 18 October 2014.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.