The Real Pilots...The Real Story!The Real Pilots...The Real Story!The Real Pilots...The Real Story!
- Star
Photos
Richard Lynch
- Narrator
- (voice)
Storyline
Featured review
Awesome choppah footage! Narrated by Richard Lynch
CHOPPER WARS (1988)
Well... I see I'm the first to enter a comment for this video. Hmmm. I've gotta say that I won this on ebay (yeah!) a couple of months ago and I watch it quite often. I mean... c'mon, it's the archetype of war documentaries from the 1980s! Richard Lynch, a mainstay of action flicks (usually a gruff and sizzled Army guy) of the decade, narrates... and does he ever! Forget the cerebral and polished A&E and Discovery channel documentaries of the 1990s and today, where they have some British guy with a Camdridge University accent describing attack helicopters, "The Huey Coa'bra can carry rockets and Hell-faah miss-ILES..." as if that gives the documentary an extra air of sophistication.
Richard Lynch totally goes to town on the Vietnam War and the introduction of the "choppah" (chopper). He's got the best voice for it too. I mean... check out some of his sound bytes!
1) "...from the moment it appeared over the skies of Vietnam, the chopper's rock-and-roll firepower /PAUSE/ struck fear in the hearts of the enemy..."
2) "The Americans had become strangers /PAUSE, GUITAR SQUEAL/ in a strange land /WHAMMY BAR SHRIEK/."
3) "For the survivors, there was always moah woo-ah.... call in a gunship to soak the area in fire... the choppah is the great equalizer; all it burns is gas and bullets."
4) "At any moment, you could stop a bullet, addressed 'to whom it may concern'."
5) "Vietnam will always be remembered as the first 'Choppah Woaah'; God willing, it will be the last."
With synthesizers, angelic chants, snazzy guitar solos, staccato drum beats inserted into the narration, the cool factor and emotional impact is heightened. Lynch's tough Brooklyn accent (war = "waah") totally fits the subject matter, and he comes across as in tune and very knowledgeable in his descriptions of tactics, equipment, and history. He employs effective first-person POV 'you-are-there' departures from the main narration, truly hit home. Lynch's narration is user-friendly, authentic, and doesn't stray into political territory. I commend the writers for making references to the admittedly futile war in Vietnam, and several mentions are made of the virtual stalemate and hopeless predicament the United States found itself in. And most important is the respect Lynch bestows to the capabilities of the North Vietnamese Army.
The visuals are stock footage with fake audio insertions, but then again, in most vintage documentaries of WW 1, WW 2, Korea, and Vietnam, this is a common practice. Some repetition does occur, as some footage is used more than once, but this occurs only a few times, and was probably unavoidable for production purposes. Nevertheless, there are plenty of heroic attack sequences that are fun to watch. Even though there are only so many ways to see a Huey firing rockets, it doesn't matter cuz it looks absurdly cool.
I was curious to notice that while CHOPPER WARS gives an overview of the wide-scale use of the helicopter in Vietnam, there are some curious omissions. Not one mention is made of the AH-1 Huey Cobra, the first dedicated attack helicopter. Nearly all of the footage is of UH-1 Hueys and CH-46 Sea Knights. Also, Lynch does not make note of important dates, especially when narrating specific battles. I would have liked to have seen some more attention put to timeframe factors.
Either way, CHOPPER WARS is severely awesome. Richard Lynch's narration is hard-core, dead-pan, and considerably accurate. It is pro-soldier without being pro-war. There are plenty of memorable scenes and sound bytes to keep you hooked. The footage is grainy, raw, and hey, watching 40 minutes of Vietnam choppiz and woaah is a great way to pass the time.
Well... I see I'm the first to enter a comment for this video. Hmmm. I've gotta say that I won this on ebay (yeah!) a couple of months ago and I watch it quite often. I mean... c'mon, it's the archetype of war documentaries from the 1980s! Richard Lynch, a mainstay of action flicks (usually a gruff and sizzled Army guy) of the decade, narrates... and does he ever! Forget the cerebral and polished A&E and Discovery channel documentaries of the 1990s and today, where they have some British guy with a Camdridge University accent describing attack helicopters, "The Huey Coa'bra can carry rockets and Hell-faah miss-ILES..." as if that gives the documentary an extra air of sophistication.
Richard Lynch totally goes to town on the Vietnam War and the introduction of the "choppah" (chopper). He's got the best voice for it too. I mean... check out some of his sound bytes!
1) "...from the moment it appeared over the skies of Vietnam, the chopper's rock-and-roll firepower /PAUSE/ struck fear in the hearts of the enemy..."
2) "The Americans had become strangers /PAUSE, GUITAR SQUEAL/ in a strange land /WHAMMY BAR SHRIEK/."
3) "For the survivors, there was always moah woo-ah.... call in a gunship to soak the area in fire... the choppah is the great equalizer; all it burns is gas and bullets."
4) "At any moment, you could stop a bullet, addressed 'to whom it may concern'."
5) "Vietnam will always be remembered as the first 'Choppah Woaah'; God willing, it will be the last."
With synthesizers, angelic chants, snazzy guitar solos, staccato drum beats inserted into the narration, the cool factor and emotional impact is heightened. Lynch's tough Brooklyn accent (war = "waah") totally fits the subject matter, and he comes across as in tune and very knowledgeable in his descriptions of tactics, equipment, and history. He employs effective first-person POV 'you-are-there' departures from the main narration, truly hit home. Lynch's narration is user-friendly, authentic, and doesn't stray into political territory. I commend the writers for making references to the admittedly futile war in Vietnam, and several mentions are made of the virtual stalemate and hopeless predicament the United States found itself in. And most important is the respect Lynch bestows to the capabilities of the North Vietnamese Army.
The visuals are stock footage with fake audio insertions, but then again, in most vintage documentaries of WW 1, WW 2, Korea, and Vietnam, this is a common practice. Some repetition does occur, as some footage is used more than once, but this occurs only a few times, and was probably unavoidable for production purposes. Nevertheless, there are plenty of heroic attack sequences that are fun to watch. Even though there are only so many ways to see a Huey firing rockets, it doesn't matter cuz it looks absurdly cool.
I was curious to notice that while CHOPPER WARS gives an overview of the wide-scale use of the helicopter in Vietnam, there are some curious omissions. Not one mention is made of the AH-1 Huey Cobra, the first dedicated attack helicopter. Nearly all of the footage is of UH-1 Hueys and CH-46 Sea Knights. Also, Lynch does not make note of important dates, especially when narrating specific battles. I would have liked to have seen some more attention put to timeframe factors.
Either way, CHOPPER WARS is severely awesome. Richard Lynch's narration is hard-core, dead-pan, and considerably accurate. It is pro-soldier without being pro-war. There are plenty of memorable scenes and sound bytes to keep you hooked. The footage is grainy, raw, and hey, watching 40 minutes of Vietnam choppiz and woaah is a great way to pass the time.
helpful•20
- Artdoag2
- Jan 21, 2005
Details
- Country of origin
- Language
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Color
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content