84C MoPic

1989
R
1h 35m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

The title refers to the U.S. Army's former "MOS" (job code) for a combat cameraman. The story follows a unit of American G.I.s in Vietnam, all with different backgrounds and motives for bein... Read allThe title refers to the U.S. Army's former "MOS" (job code) for a combat cameraman. The story follows a unit of American G.I.s in Vietnam, all with different backgrounds and motives for being there, through the lens of his camera.The title refers to the U.S. Army's former "MOS" (job code) for a combat cameraman. The story follows a unit of American G.I.s in Vietnam, all with different backgrounds and motives for being there, through the lens of his camera.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 nominations

Photos

Top cast14

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Jonathan Emerson

Nicholas Cascone

Easy

Jason Tomlins

Pretty Boy

Christopher Burgard

Hammer

Glenn Morshower

Cracker

Richard Brooks

Byron Thames

MoPic

Russ Thurman

Unnamed…

Joseph Hieu

Unnamed (Truong Nguyen?)

Don Schiff

Unnamed

Sonny Carl Davis

Radio Voice
(voice)

Dale Dye

Radio voice
(voice)

Glenn Plummer

Radio voice
(voice)

Mike Stokey

Radio voice
(voice)
(as Michael Stokey)

Director
- Patrick Sheane Duncan
Writer
- Patrick Sheane Duncan
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Vietnam War Story

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
"84 Charlie MoPic" comes from the Army Military Occupational Specialty code "84C", which was a Motion Picture Cameraman (MoPic) during the VietNam era.

Goofs
LRPs, LRRPs and Force Recon marines in Vietnam communicated by hand signals and obeyed strict noise discipline. Sometimes artistic license is taken with this in films, but in this film the soldiers on long range patrol continually talk amongst themselves in loud tones.

Quotes
MoPic: I was working in a lab, back in the rear - post-production. Sometimes we would get these cans of film in, you know? No cameraman, just the reels of film. And, we hear he got shot, he's dead or something. But the spookiest is thing is waiting for that film to develop, man, because you didn't know what you were gonna see. Sometimes you saw nothing. But other times...

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Miss Firecracker/K-9/Criminal Law/Scandal/84 Charlie Mopic (1989)

Soundtracks
Catch the Wind
Written and Performed by Donovan

User reviews35

Review

Featured review

8/10

Engrossing War Film

The acting is first rate, with Richard Brooks delivering the the goods as OD, the defacto leader of this group of recon soldiers.

The first person perspective throughout the movie adds to the impact and lends a realism that conventional cinematography wouldn't have been able to pull off.

The violence (it IS a war movie) is very realistic and disconcerting, which further involves the viewer in the movie. Moreso, this movie investigates the personal dynamics of the group of soldiers, set into the horror of the situation.

In retrospect, the story and characters are really nothing you've not already seen. The stereotypical archetypes are represented, the redneck, the scared short-timer, etc, but while you watch this movie, the combination of a documentary style filming and first person perspective, combine to make this film feel new and refreshing. Granted "Blair Witch" had a similar feel, but this pre-dated that film by 10 years and pre-dated "The Last Broadcast" (from which the "Blair Witch" was nicked) by 9 years.

If you can find a copy of this film. Settle in, crank it up and immerse yourself in it. It isn't the same as "the real thing": it isn't even close, nothing is. But it does let you glimpse into the world, without the fake slo-mo sequences, mood enhancing soundtrack, and trappings that separate you from "real life", and you can actually almost believe this IS a documentary.