Gardens of Stone

The language was very vulgar, I guess that's to be expected from a military film.

With all the Vietnam movies that have been made to date, you don't see too many that show the view from soldiers that didn't fight in that war. This movie is about those soldiers in the Army's Old Guard that had to bury all the dead soldiers (in Arlington Cemetery) who died in the Vietnam war.The story unfolds in 1967 with Specialist Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney) coming to the Old Guard as part of his Army tour of duty. Willow has big plans of becoming an officer and serving in Vietnam because he belives that he can make a difference. His Platoon Sergeant, Clell Hazard (James Caan), is a highly decorated Korean and Vietnam war veteran that is also fighting his own demons about whether he should go back to Vietnam to help lead unexperienced soldiers that are dying at an atrocious rate.Sergeant Major Goody Nelson (James Earl Jones)is a fellow veteran of Korea and Vietnam and very close to Sergeant Hazard. Both, try as they may, want to dissuade Specialist Willow from going to fight in a war that is virtually unwinnable and wreaking havoc on the American hearts and minds.Sergeant Hazard begins a tenuous relationship with an anti-war correspondant (Angelica Huston) who has her own ambiguous feelings about the war and the toll it is taking on all around her. Sergeant Hazard must balance his relationship, the Army, the daily burial of large numbers of dead soldiers, and his own troubled feelings on everthing unfolding around him.Specialist Willow, by chance, encounters his old girlfriend (Mary Stuart Masterson) who he had planned to marry at one time but has not seen in years due to them going their own ways over differences they had. Rekindling their lost love, they end up getting married and Willow continually pursues his goal of becoming an officer.As the year 1968 unfolds, we find that Willow has become an officer and is sent to Vietnam. In the end, we see the death of a beloved friend and soldier and the impact it has taken on his new wife, his friends, and the fellow soldiers in his life.Some reviewers have said that the movie moves too slowly and is not exciting enough and is boring. A small news flash for everyone - this in NOT an action movie but a drama and a very good one at that. The plot develops nicely throughout and doesn't stray from the subjects at hand. Eventually it leads up to a somewhat predictable climax but it is quite poignant and sad at the same time.The acting in the movie was very well done with an exellent cast of fine actors. James Caan, James Earl Jones, D.B. Sweeney, Lawrence Fisburne, Mary Stuart Masterson, Angelica Huston, and Dean Stockwell. All provide very real and touching scenes that lend credence to an exceptional Vietnam movie. The DVD itself leaves a little to be desired. There were 3 trailers offered but none of them was for the featured movie. There are no featurettes or other extras one may expect. The upside is that the movie has been digitally mastered in audio and anamorphic video and has a superb picture with very good sound even if it is Dolby 2 channel surround.For those looking to see a Vietnam war movie from a different perspective without having to be in the direct center of it (Platoon, Hamburger Hill, etc.), you will probably find this movie very watchable and enjoyable. It is well worth the price and exceedingly well done.

I ordered many of this item to share with Family and mailed some to Ore., N.D. and kept some for Va family only to find no one could play it. A warning would show on the screen saying we could not play it as it is only meant for certain regions-what did that mean??? Called Amazon who said to call or email England where they got the DVD's.Most Americans don't even know what I was talking about (actually, no one that I talked to knew of this type of DVD.) I was told that I should've read the warnings-would have to click on it-never had to do that before on anything I've ordered. The reason this DVD is so special to me is that my husband has a bit part in it-he was on the "review stand" as the soldiers went by playing songs, he was the Secretary of State. The people in England were "gracious" enough to offer refund if I send all 5-6 of them back to them. Okay so I have to have my family send me the DVD's from all over the U.S. so then I can pay to send them all back to England so they can reimburse me and I am betting that the refund will not be as much as what I spent on purchasing and mailing them and them mail back to me so I can send them back to England at my expense for a meager refund. I will be reporting Amazon and The English Company to BBB, not that it will do much but I think that is all I can do. (By the way, the English people were very nice to me, just not helpful.) Also if you are wondering why I did not order more used ones-at the time there was only one available. I guess my hope was that Amazon would kind of monitor what people order and that it's not something that can't be played in U.S.-Guess I learned the hard way.This is a delayed eval as the first one above was at least a month ago and as I gave up on any help from Amazon I've slowly started to reorder as this is a family heirloom so to speak.I am not ordering any of these DVD's from England.I like the DVD in American format but hated the experience.

Love this movie. I was stationed in the Army at Fort Belvoir near Washington DC during the Vietnam War and this movie captures what it was like in the late 1960’s. A very sad movie but it was was a sad time. The language of the soldiers is spot on and really takes me back to my days in the Army Best transfer I have seen and I have seen VHS and DVD.

As an Army officer with 27 years of service and son of a Vietnam Veteran, I consider this my favorite war movie. There is no action, it takes place at Fort Myer in Washington, D.C. during the Vietnam War. That is the home of the soldiers who, among many other duties, guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington and also conduct military funerals in that cemetery. Every character in this movie comes across as authentic. If you have been in the Army a long time, you will have known someone like every major character in this movie. The idealistic promising young officer whose ideals eventually are tarnished by the hard realities of war. The veteran platoon sergeant whose love of the Army is in conflict with how disaffected he is by what he regards as intransigent leadersip at higher levels. A Sergeant Major who is exposed to all of the same things as the platoon sergeant but is able to keep his head above the turmoil and continue to ensure the best interests of his enterprise; the battalion he helps to lead. The interpersonal conflict issues as pertaining to different perceptions of why we serve are all critical in dialogues about motivation. That is why I use this film as a professional development tool to inspire conversation on these issues with officers and NCOs I lead. Apart from the human and leadership dynamics another great piece is how one reconciles one's own sense of duty in a conflict one may not support. That is as variable as anything can be, no two people see that the same, and people need to think and talk about it. My favorite war movie!

To feel my PATRIOTISM with LOVE for my COUNTRY AND IT’S “Constitutional Freedom's!”

Very good cynical view of how death can be taken as a routine job with the attitude of common soldiers of the ceremonial guards phrase 'Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust, let's bury this guy and get back on the bus'. Might seem irreverent but with so many burials due to war casualties it could be the way of blocking the sheer horror of the conflict which still haunts Americans to this day.

Love this movie James Caan imperious as usual. follows a young niave soldier clashing with the salty old sgt. great support from james Earl Jones, Anjelica Houston et al. One of my all times faves and directed by Mr Coppolla himself could not get much better.

I thought this was a war film, its about the funerals of the armied forces

INTERESTING STORY

OK