I was actually shocked that such a great film had gone under my radar for so long. What gives? Most likely, it was just criminally under- distributed and marketed, causing it to almost fade into utter oblivion had it not been for the internet and plenty of fan word-of-mouth spreading news of this one around the war movie boards.This Australian / Filipino war movie set during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam stands as a bit of an anomaly. They were working with a quite low budget and cast mostly unknowns and locals aside from the two leads Hauser and Ermey, but the budget cuts in no way affect the quality and quantity of sheer action to be viewed.As a total bonus to the action, we're treated to an honest-to-god great script as well, with plenty of very memorable quotes and one-liners. I haven't seen a Vietnam War movie that was this delightfully cruel, mean- spirited, and possibly even darkly satirical since PLATOON, which may be a little artier and have a better cast, but otherwise is matched by this hard-hitting war outing.More on the action - there's at least 3 major battle scenes and as many minor ones spread all throughout the film. It definitely doesn't leave the war junky viewer feeling cheated in the slightest bit. There's plenty of explosions, decapitations, evisceration, waves of humans being mowed down by 50 caliber machine guns, ZULU style, and Huey's firing rockets into palm trees galore! Excitement and tension holds throughout with dramatic panache at every turn. Even the sound design is top- notch, quite realistic, and services the action nicely.My only complaints are with a few iffy performances and dated death scenes later in the film along with places where the musical score sounds a little like it came out of a Nintendo game, but comparing this to any of the other Filipino war movies made during the same period, it's GONE WITH THE WIND.Fans of Filipino C-movies will have a field day spotting the likes of Don Wilson, Nick Nicholson, and Kristine Erlandson in possibly their classiest supporting roles which really stretched their acting chops as never before. Unfortunately for them, very few people saw this film and it didn't lead to bigger and better things for most aside from director Trenchard-Smith (who broke into Hollywood soon after) and editor Andrew Prowse (who rightfully became a B-action filmmaker not too long afterward).

It's the first time I have ever reviewed a film here on IMDb, or anywhere else, for that matter... I don't consider myself a critic, or expert or anything; just like cinema in general and war movies in particular.But this movie made me write here for the first time, out of indignation. I'm writing this as the end credits roll.I'll be concise:Bad acting, worse directing, pathetic soundtrack, clichéd, repetitive and utterly unrealistic.As other reviewer has said here before, this is probably the worst war film ever. I would go further and say is probably the worst FILM ever.Do yourself a favor and just watch any other film.

Coming towards the back-end of the 80s, where Vietnam war films populate from the well-produced Hollywood productions to the low-grade, but gung-ho b-films; "The Siege at Firebase Gloria (1989)" turned out to be quite a powerful, little low-budget enterprise which balanced it's raw brutality with a humane side. I didn't even know of it until recently and it's well worth its praise. A real attention-grabber is that it's directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith ("The Man from Hong Kong" and "Dead-End Drive In") and R. Lee Emery and Wings Hauser would star. A rock solid Emery is very good (barking orders, organising his men), but it's a combative Hauser who's astounding. Their rapport carries the material; "This rotten war was getting to us". The plot follows Sgt Hatner (Emery) and Cpl Di Nardo (Hauser), as they lead their platoon to a remote US marine Corp firebase Gloria, where they hold up against the advancing Viet Cong with very little support than to dig in.Tactically straight-forward (going up against the odds), but well delivered and completely compelling. Both sides feature prominently in the story, especially in their calculative planning. Never does it preach nor over-complicate its messages, where the script keeps it pretty simple. The character dramas are there, but see little daylight and therefore never distracting from the harrowing ordeal. Although Hauser's character attachment with an orphan Vietnamese child serves a little more light on his misunderstood character. It takes its time at first, but when it erupts it never lets up (ala "Zulu"). Director Trenchard-Smith authentically lays out the action with raw, muggy atmospherics and thrillingly brutal fire-fights and explosions. Wave after wave, as the suspense builds and the ballsy violence is venomously staged. Smith manages to chuck you right in to this hellish combat zone. Also starring is Albert Popwell and Gary Hershburger with some interchangeable performances.

I have seen this movie many times. There's a first rate presentation of a formula war movie: the stupid officer who in the updated version is so burnt out on drugs he forgets to get dressed, the tough sergeant and his pal, the female medical officer who in the updated version has been promoted from nurse to doctor, the crafty enlisted men and the barbaric enemy.Yet the movie does explain a little bit of the enemy point of view and the snatching of the orphaned Vietnamese child held within the American cantonment expresses poetically the cause slipping away.One could compare this to the French film Diên Biên Phu, sometimes shown as Jump into Hell(1955). Indeed didn't President De Gaulle say "Americans learn nothing from our {French} mistakes!"