Still from Hamburger Hill

The film featured a number of lesser known actors. (Image: Paramount Pictures)

An “underrated” movie about the Vietnam War has been praised as a forgotten masterpiece. Hamburger Hill (1987) depicts the battle of the same name, focusing on a May 1969 assault by the US Army’s 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 101st Airborne.

Hill 937, a ridge of the Dong Ap Bia mountain in central Vietnam, served as the epicenter of a vicious 10-day battle between American forces and allied Vietnamese troops against the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN).

The soundtrack was composed by legendary musician and film composer Philip Glass, renowned for his contributions to movies like The Truman Show and Errol Morris documentaries The Thin Blue Line and The Fog of War.

Still from the film

A fan called it one of the “most underrated films about Vietnam” (Image: Paramount Pictures)

Helmed by John Irvin, the movie starred Michael Boatman, Dylan McDermott, Courtney B. Vance, Steven Weber, Tim Quill, and featured an early on-screen role from future Hollywood superstar Don Cheadle.

One Audience Reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes commented: “A very incredible war film that is a bit underrated and has outstanding war elements to it.” Another declared the movie deserves recognition alongside some of the most acclaimed cinematic epics set during the devastating conflict.

“Loved it, fantastic, cant believe I’d never seen it before,” while adding that it surpasses, “Better than Platoon”, the 1986 masterpiece directed by Oliver Stone.

Still from Hamburger Hill (1987)

Still from Hamburger Hill (1987) (Image: Paramount Pictures)

A third reviewer described the film as “forgotten almost as a forgotten Vietnam War film because, when people talk about great Vietnam War films, they mention Apocalypse Now, Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, but they don’t mention this film”. One viewer commented: “One of the most underrated films about Vietnam and one of the best.”

An IMDb user noted that it’s “often overlooked amongst the more well known Vietnam films to be released in the late eighties”, such as Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, “probably because it didn’t have a well known director or famous actors” like those films.

“This is a shame as it is an excellent film and seemed the most realistic of the three films,” they added.