Starring:
Robin Williams as A2C Adrian Cronauer
Forest Whitaker as Pfc. Edward Montesque Garlick
Tung Thanh Tran as Tuan (aka Phan Duc To)
Chintara Sukapatana as Trinh
Bruno Kirby as 2nd Lt. Steven Hauk
Robert Wuhl as SSgt. Marty Lee Dreiwitz
J.T. Walsh as Sgt. Maj. Phillip ‘Dick’ Dickerson
Noble Willingham as Brig. Gen. Taylor
Richard Edson as Pvt. Abersold
Juney Smith as Sgt. Phil McPherson
Richard Portnow as Dan ‘The Man’ Levitan
Floyd Vivino as Eddie Kirk
Cu Ba Nguyen as Jimmy Wah, Owner Jimmy Wah’s
Special Features:
Raw Monologues
Production Diary: Six behind-the-scenes features, including
– How the movie came to be
– Actor improv
– Music of the movie
– Origin of the “Good Morning, Vietnam!” sign-on
– Shooting in Thailand
– Overview of the film a year later
Original theatrical trailer
Original theatrical teaser trailer
Other Info:
Widescreen (1.85:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
French Language Track
Running Time: 121 Minutes
Synopsis:
Good Morning, Vietnam was originally released in 1988. The following text is from the DVD cover:
“When the U.S. Army engages irreverent, nonconformist deejay Adrian Cronaur, it unleashes a secret, if unpredictable, weapon: laughter. Academy Award®-winner Robin Williams (Best Supporting Actor, Good Will Hunting, 1997) shakes up 1965 Saigon in the role that garnered him his very first Oscar nomination.
Imported by the Military to host an early a.m. radio show, Cronauer (Williams) blasts the formerly serene, sanitized airwaves with a constant barrage of rapid-fire humor and the hottest hits from back home. The G.I.s love him, but the top brass is up in arms. Riddled with sidesplitting comic salvos, bittersweet bombshells and hot ’60s rock ‘n’ roll, the landmark film chronicles one man’s raucous Saigon adventures amidst a world gone mad. Featuring all-new bonus material that includes hilarious outtakes from Robin Williams’ “raw” monologues, this Special Edition of Good Morning, Vietnam scores a direct hit every time you watch.”
Good Morning Vietnam is rated R.
Mini-Review:
When living overseas in the 80’s, we had a videotape copy of Good Morning, Vietnam that I watched over and over. I liked the film because of the great comedy by Robin Williams, the fantastic music, and the picture that it gave of life in Vietnam as the war heated up. (I had a hippie social studies teacher that drilled Vietnam history into our brains.) All of this came together to make Good Morning, Vietnam a great film. It was a movie that Robin Williams was born to play and it made the most of his improvisational talents. (The film also had the dubious distinction of inspiring the song, “Me So Horny”, but that’s another story.)
The ads for this “Special Edition” state that it contains “8 ½ minutes of never before seen footage”. That might lead you to believe that there are new scenes included in the film, but that’s not the case. This statement just refers to some raw monologues included in the bonus materials. In it we see Robin Williams improvising radio dialogue and trying different versions of the same jokes repeatedly until he gets what you see in the final film.
Also included in the bonus features is a great production diary where a number of the cast and crew are interviewed about the making of the film. This all appears to be recent footage of them. But more interesting is footage of the real Adrian Cronauer. He talks about the film, what was accurate, and what wasn’t accurate. They also talk about shooting in Thailand, the music of the film, improvisations, and other aspects of the filmmaking. It’s a great little documentary, but the footage looks awfully unprofessionally shot.
This DVD is a required addition to the collections of Robin Williams fans and anyone that enjoys military comedies.
