Theme Song: A bunch of violins.
Interesting Dated References: People caring about Vietnam or the lasting impact of The Vietnam War.
Social Context: A Rumor of War was a made-for-television movie but was also released in theaters internationally and on home video domestically. This has led to various runtime lengths and varying comments on which is the superior cut. Clocking in at a choppy 106 minutes, the U.S.A. Video domestic home video release was used for this review. You’ll find references to cuts at 180 and 195 minutes online. I’ll refrain from talking at length about the jarring edits and jumps, but let’s just say they’re plentiful and disorienting.
Summary: Phil Caputo (Brad Davis, RIP) is bored with post-college life and decides to join the Marines. He excels and ends up in Vietnam as part of the initial efforts of the Vietnam War. Then we go from boot camp to haggard war vets in the span of ten minutes.
Caputo is leading a troop of men who misunderstand his command and somewhat intentionally kill two innocent Vietnamese. Caputo takes responsibility, and after some tribunals and testimony, things are wrapped up fairly quickly. Davis is wooden but intense throughout, even when some of the later scenes get procedural.
Look at this ridiculous supporting cast: Keith Carradine, Michael O’Keefe, Brian Dennehy, Chris Mitchum, Lane Smith, Stacy Keach, Jeff Daniels (who I missed in this edit), Chris Mulkey (who I also missed in this edit), Ken Foree (definitely missed him), Lawrence Fishburn, and last but not least, Chris Allport (RIP)!
Worth Mentioning:
– A Rumor of War is based on a book by the real-life Phil Caputo.
– Directed by Richard Heffron (Future World, Foolin’ Around).
– The scenery location for the Vietnam stuff was filmed near Mexico City, and it looks pretty good.
Poster and Box Art: The home video release has a somewhat soft look. I couldn’t find any TV Guide ads, so I don’t know what type of marketing it had.
