Original subtitles

RADIO: Bravo Three Six, this is Bravo Six.

Request situation in your AO Over.

Bravo Three Two, we're about three zero zero,

Mike to Sierra of Lima Zulu. Over.

[WHISPERING IN VIETNAMESE]

[GUNFIRE, SCREAMING]

One o'clock!

Bravo Three Two, Bravo Three Two. Over.

I'm taking heavy fire on my left flank.

They're pulling out.

We've got them on the run. Over.

All right, which way are they headed? Over.

West, towards you.

All right, hasty ambush.

Get it with a 60. Come on, now!

All right, they're coming through right over here.

Right over here.

Move out, move out, move out! Come on!

Right over here. Let's move it.

Sergeant, put your helmet on.

Come on, do it!

All right.

Hold your fire, now.

Hold your fire.

All right, hold you fire.

Wait till you see them.

Wait till you see them.

Fire!

No, no! Hold your fire! Hold your fire!

Cease firing! Stop shooting! It's a VC.

Hold your fire! You idiots! You idiots!

You idiots! You dumb...

You almost killed us, man.

Who's got the 60?

Who has the damn machine gun?

Madre...

Who has the 60? Who has the 60?

Hey, man...

I didn't know. It was an accident.

Listen, man,

they were right in front of us

and they just disappeared!

[♪♪♪]

Down! Down! Down!

[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]

Careful there. Watch his head.

Hold on.

They had to.

Yeah, well, if they--

Sir?

I hear the bad guys pulled a disappearing act.

Yeah. We almost wasted Second Squad.

Saw them running west. They had to go by you.

Yeah, but they didn't.

Nobody came by us

and nobody radioed

that your squad was coming through.

Hey.

You'll be okay in 48 hours, buddy.

Lots of rec time, and pretty nurses. Let's go home!

Find them for me, will you?

Find them and fix them.

I don't get how they seem to be able to know

exactly where we're going to be.

They hit us and then bam, they're gone.

They disappear like smoke.

Don't ask me. I don't have the answers.

There's a village

about a klick south of here,

I bet you that's where they went.

It might be worth a look-see.

Yeah, well, do a little reconnaissance with fives

is what we ought to do.

Lob about a dozen 105s

down their throats.

Hey, that's not the way

we do things in my outfit,

sergeant.

Yeah.

[CHICKENS CLUCKING]

Jones, get in that first hooch

and check those baskets out.

Baker, get down by that pigpen.

Haley, you check that second hooch out.

Keep your eyes peeled for snipers.

Don't bunch up.

It looks like nobody's home.

Yeah, well, I won't bet my life on it.

They're around.

The fire's still smoldering.

They're probably watching us right now.

It's sexually attracted to you, Baker.

Get out of here, man. Shoo.

Get out of here!

Shoo. Go on.

[MACHINE GUN FIRE]

Dammit.

What the hell are you doing?

Hold your fire!

That's the way it's done, man.

I'm not risking my tail for nobody.

Yeah, well, you scared the crap out of the rest of the squad!

Now, you yell, "friendly fire"

when you shoot.

Yeah? You didn't yell "friendly fire"

before you shot at that Second Squad,

Lieutenant.

You've got a big mouth, Taylor,

you know that?

You've got a real big mouth.

Yeah, well, at least this soldier

knows what he's doing, sir.

Taylor! Anderson!

Taylor, walk away. Anderson...

Let it slide, Lieutenant.

It ain't about nothing.

No. I will not have these men

talk to me that way.

You know, rank is something you wear.

Respect is something you're gonna have to earn.

Oh, yeah, I saw that movie too.

Completely empty, sir. Not a soul. Over.

Well, stay there.

Don't leave the village.

I'll get back to you. Out.

Well, you heard the man.

Hey, man,

don't waste that on the pig.

Why? I don't eat meat.

I guess he doesn't either.

Of course he don't. That's ham.

Ham is pig

and he ain't no cannibal.

Give that to me.

So how come you don't eat meat?

I'm a vegetarian.

A what? A vegetarian. I only...

I just eat vegetables.

That's all you eat? Vegetables?

Just vegetables...

except for a little supplement sometimes.

Super Power Growth Formula.

Check it out.

This stuff has lecithin, beta carotene, yeast, egg yolks.

Yeah? What does it taste like?

Ugh!

It's good for you, though.

It builds muscle fiber,

aerobic energy, and endurance.

I've got 10 pounds of this stuff

back at the base.

Yeah, sort of like fertilizer,

only for humans, right?

Yeah, kind of like that.

I figure just because we're in Vietnam,

why let our bodies go to waste, right?

I'm gonna eat right

and I'm gonna get the right kind of exercise.

You get all of the exercise you need dodging bullets.

Anyway, what I'm really worried about

is my upper body,

but I've set up this whole program.

I've got it all figured out.

Chin-ups, sit-ups, push-ups.

Simple things like that just to keep in shape.

Hey, look!

Hey, hey, hey!

Hey, hey, pig!

Get back here with that!

Come on, Baker! Get him!

Hey, come here!

Run, piggy! Run, piggy!

Run! Run!

Hey, give that back!

Come on, Baker!

God dang!

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

Move your bacon, white boy!

Ha! Got him!

Hey, man, this stuff's expensive.

[GUNSHOT]

Hey, look at the pig.

He's been shot! Sniper!

Sniper!

[GUNSHOTS]

Sounds like there's a couple.

Do you see gun smoke?

Yeah, look through the trees,

right over there.

Aah!

Medic!

Medic!

Hold on! I'm coming!

Hold on, buddy!

Can you see them?

No, I don't see them.

Maybe they pulled out.

Cease fire!

We either got them or they're long gone.

At any rate, we're wasting ammo.

[SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]

Lieutenant, sergeant! We need you over here, quick!

What have you got, Doc?

Taylor was hit.

He was calling for me

and when I got over here,

he was gone.

Well, did you check in the hooch?

Yes sir.

I checked the hooch. Nothing.

All right. Horn, check that hooch.

Come on, Baker. We're taking the bush.

It's crazy.

It's like he just vanished into thin air.

Yeah, just like the bunch who hit Second Squad,

just like the people who live in this village.

Taylor!

Taylor! Taylor!

Taylor!

Taylor?

Taylor, man.

Taylor!

Taylor!

Taylor!

Come on, let's go!

This is weird, man.

How could he just disappear like that?

I don't know, man. Beats the hell out of me.

All right guys, knock off.

Let's take 10.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

All of my good friends are gone, man.

Searle, Mickey, now my main man.

Uh-uh. We'll find him.

Don't you worry about that, Johnson.

We will find him.

You know what I want to do?

What?

Barbecue Baker's pig.

I'm gonna cook it up real good

and I ain't gonna give him none of it.

Huh.

Vegetable-arian.

I've never heard such a bunch of bull, man.

It makes me want to puke.

You know, I think it was me

that got that sniper.

Put another notch on my 60.

Yeah...

I walk in the valley of death.

I fear no evil.

I am the baddest madre that ever...

Aah!

What's wrong?

What's wrong with you? What's wrong?

Get it out! Get it out, Horn!

Get it out!

Oh, God! Oh, God!

Are you okay? Are you okay?

Why me, man? It hurts. Why me?

Medic! Medic!

Medic!

Hey, Clyde, look, man.

A hole here.

You better go get the lieutenant.

Well, well, well, well. Looky here.

I was wondering if it was gonna come to this.

[SHOUTING IN VIETNAMESE]

What the hell does that mean?

I'm telling him to get up out of that hole

or I'm gonna kill him.

[SHOUTING IN VIETNAMESE]

Stand back. I'll show you a little trick.

Clear.

Fire in the hole!

Yeah, well, that settles that.

No, all that does is tell them we're on our way.

We're gonna need a couple of flashlights

and a lot of patience.

Does anybody want to volunteer to go down in there after them?

Wait, you've gotta be kidding.

You're not gonna send somebody down in there?

As soon as possible.

That's the only way to rout them out of there.

I'll go. It was my buddies they wasted and I want some payback.

Have you ever done tunnels before?

Yeah, down in Hobo Woods.

Here. Take this.

All right, now, they're gonna be waiting for you

at every junction.

They know you're coming and that's their advantage.

I hear you.

Ruiz, you go with him.

You stay at least five yards behind him.

That way,

a grenade won't take both of you out.

Yeah, right.

Give me a hand. Your mama.

RUIZ: It smells like the Bronx sewer

down here.

Shh. Be quiet.

This way, man. This way.

Shh. I hear something.

Psst, psst, psst.

All right, baby.

Here we come.

Be careful, man.

Ungh!

Clyde, what's wrong?

Aah!

Clyde! Clyde!

Clyde! Clyde!

Clyde! God!

Oh, God. Clyde!

[CLYDE SCREAMING]

RUIZ: Oh, God, it's awful.

It's awful, man. It's awful.

It's awful.

I can't get him out.

I can't get him out.

He's got a spear running all the way through him, Zeke.

I can't get him out. I can't, man.

I can't get him out.

He's got a spear running all the way through him.

God, it's awful.

Oh, man.

SOLDIER: Ruiz, what happened, man?

What happened?

Take him up easy, Baker. Come on.

Be careful.

I ain't going down there again, man.

I'm a machine gunner.

I ain't no kind

of damn hole-crawling weasel or nothing.

I'll go.

Not by yourself, you won't.

I was in tunnels in Three Corps. I know what to expect.

It's a two-man job.

I'll holler if I need help.

No. I said you're not going down there by yourself.

Yeah, well, don't look at me.

All right. Volunteers?

Come on, you guys. Taylor's probably down there.

Lieutenant.

I might have a solution for your problem.

Gas. CS.

We'll gas them out.

Well, this ought to save us

some wear and tear.

Don't hold your breath.

Hey!

[SHOUTING IN VIETNAMESE]

[COUGHING]

How many GI?

I don't know. I'm just a Private.

How many?

I'm just a Private. I don't know!

How many?

I'm just a Private!

[SPEAKING IN VIETNAMESE]

[MOANS SOFTLY]

I'm a doctor.

I'll take care of you.

Long, if the weapon was clean,

then the weapon wouldn't have jammed,

but it did jam, didn't it?

Lieutenant. Lieutenant.

Go clean it.

Listen, Lieutenant,

wouldn't you be better off

waiting up here with the men?

Look, I think the captain

can take care of the men,

and the squad leaders know their jobs, so--

The tunnels are dangerous, you know?

Well, no kidding.

Look, sergeant,

I'm not going to order these men

to do something I wouldn't do myself,

understand?

All right, but you've got to let me take the lead.

I've been in the tunnels before.

I know what to expect.

All right, fine. You take the lead, but I give the orders.

What is it with you, anyway?

What are you trying to say, sergeant?

Is your problem with me or what?

Because if it is, I want to know right now.

Otherwise, we've got us a long war in front of us.

You've got a real lax attitude about the chain of command here.

I'm sorry it seems that way, but as a matter of fact,

I have had a lot more experience than you have--

I appreciate your advice, but that's all it is.

It is just advice.

You work for me. I don't work for you.

Ruiz, give me that.

Happy hunting.

[COUGHING]

I can still feel the gas.

Yeah, well, just keep your eyes peeled

for tripwires.

They've got these things

booby-trapped like you wouldn't believe.

[COUGHING]

Are you all right?

I'm fine.

That's reassuring.

ANDERSON: Go slow. Go slow.

LT: Shh. Your voice carries down here.

[COUGHS]

Try to keep your light trained

right at ground level,

so you can pick up anything there.

Yeah, just like that.

Listen.

What? Shh.

What is it? Shh.

I thought I heard something.

I thought I heard something.

Don't move.

What?

Freeze. Don't move. What?

Do not move.

What?

Up to your left.

God! Oh, man! Did it bite you?

No, no, no! Did it bite you?

No, no, no, no.

It struck at me, though.

You're lucky. It was a two-step.

A what? A two-step.

That's the name of the snake.

If it bites you, you go two steps, then you die.

It's still out there.

Yeah, I see it.

Where?

Oh, man.

You want to go back?

No, just give me a second.

Well, I can get it.

No.

Just give me a second.

I'll kill it.

I'll get it.

No. Give me that.

Now point the light at it.

I got it. That's it. Right there.

Right there. There it is.

I'm so afraid of snakes. Ever since I was a kid.

You'd be nuts if you weren't,

but the important thing is, you've got control of it,

and that's about as close to being brave as I ever got.

Let's get out of here.

What are you doing?

Calm down, calm down.

[SPEAKING IN VIETNAMESE]

Please excuse them.

They have never seen a black man before,

not this close.

I have read about your people.

Let me show you.

Do you know this man?

We ain't personal friends, but I've seen that book.

He's a very interesting man.

Lately,

I've been trying to learn about your people.

You're oppressed in your country,

but I'm curious.

Why do you fight for the system that holds you down?

Because they drafted my sorry behind.

Drafted?

Sort of like legal slavery.

Yes, exactly,

and that is an irony of this war

that I will never understand.

How a proletariat,

descendant of the slaves,

can be induced to give up their lives

to protect the capital of the ruling class.

Are you some kind of communist or something?

Yes, since 1952.

Damn.

I don't think I ever talked to a real communist before.

Nor have I ever spoken to a black American.

Really?

We have much to learn from each other.

[OFFICER SHOUTING IN VIETNAMESE]

He wants me again, huh?

[SHOUTING CONTINUES]

Look, I'm just a private,

I don't know nothing to tell him.

Be sick. What?

Close your eyes.

Be sick.

[SPEAKING IN VIETNAMESE]

[SPEAKING IN VIETNAMESE]

I told him you're near death

and cannot be questioned now.

Thanks, Doc.

War makes men like him.

He has suffered so much pain himself

that now he enjoys giving it to others,

but now you must tell me

about your people.

It's like a maze in here.

Yeah, all these corners and curves

act as buffers for the explosions.

That's why you can't

blast the suckers out of here.

All right.

No. This way down here.

All right, go.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Okay.

Now, this is

where things get a little bit hairy.

That's a trap door,

probably to a horizontal tunnel.

Once we stick our heads up in that opening,

there's a million different ways

they can nail us.

What do we do?

Well, I was kind of thinking

about sticking the guns up there,

shooting like hell,

and hoping to hit something.

Unless you've got a better idea.

Nope.

Let's go.

Ready?

One, two...

Grenade!

I'm the nightmare your mama warned you about!

[SHOUTING IN VIETNAMESE]

What's that?

Just something about their mamas.

Wait, wait, wait!

Tripwire, tripwire.

Where? Where?

Right there.

Thanks.

Yeah, yeah. Go.

All right.

Reload.

[SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]

[SHOUTING IN VIETNAMESE]

Go, go, go!

Go! Now.

It's like a damn city in here.

Tripwire.

Step over it.

We'll get it on the way out.

All right. Are you ready? Yeah.

Go!

Look at this stuff.

This is American stuff.

They've got more stuff than we do.

Ready.

All right. Go.

Go!

That's ammo! Get out of here!

[COUGHING]

[SPITS]

Are you all right?

Anderson?

Anderson!

Anderson!

Are you all right?

Oh, God, please.

[COUGHING]

Are you all right?

Spit it out, man.

[GIGGLES]

[LAUGHING]

Hey, look. Elves. Three elves.

Excuse me, son,

but did you say something?

Uh, no, I don't think so.

I could have sworn I heard the word "elves."

Well, uh...

Perhaps it was a disparaging comment

on the physical stature

of myself or my men.

No, no.

It's just,

when you guys were walking in a straight line like that...

Well what?

I got it. You kind of reminded me

of those seven guys,

the ones that follow Snow White.

Those guys who follow Snow White.

The dwarfs. The dwarfs.

The seven dwarfs.

Let me assure you, son,

we're not dwarfs and we're not elves.

What we are is tunnel combat specialists.

Tunnel rats to you.

You see, we've been specifically selected

because our size,

well, it enabled us to squeeze into tiny, little places

where your ordinary big, dumb, jackass

don't fit.

For instance...

Come a little closer, son.

Closer still.

See, there's a small, narrow opening

that never sees the light of the moon.

The moon?

Mm-hmm.

My best man Bob's gonna show you what I mean.

How would you like a mouth where your nose used to be?

I don't think so, sir.

Now, listen up, Blondie. I'm only going to say this once.

Don't you ever, ever make fun of short people again.

Yes, sir.

Now, boys,

where would this tunnel be?

Right this way, sir.

Right over here, sir.

This is it, sir.

Bless your heart.

[COUGHING]

Hey, are you all right?

Yeah, I'll be all right in a minute.

Are you sure?

So this is your third tour, huh?

Yeah.

What the hell did you sign up for again?

I don't know.

I didn't have anything to go home to

after the first tour,

because my wife had left.

She took the little girl and, uh, she had a new daddy,

and I didn't want to... You know?

Yeah.

And the second tour,

I had a couple of my buddies got wasted,

and...

I just figured the way to keep the others from getting it

was to stick around.

So you stuck around?

Yeah, and guess what. They got it anyway.

Come on. Let's dig.

Hey. Hey! What do you got?

We're getting close!

We're getting real close!

Hey, I got air!

All right! Air! Air!

Don't hog it, boy. Don't hog it.

Why, that's the best bad air

I ever smelled in my life.

Lieutenant!

Hey!

Anybody there?

Hey, over here!

Hey! Over here!

Yeah!

Anderson! Lieutenant Goldman!

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Over here! Be careful.

They've got wires strung everywhere

over there.

Yeah, we see it.

Just relax for 30 seconds while we disarm this detonator--

God.

Oh, God!

GI.

Doc.

Your comrades were defeated.

They were buried in a cave-in.

I don't believe that, Doc.

As you wish.

We have seldom lost a battle in the tunnels.

Maybe your people are a little mixed up.

What,

do you think you're gophers or something?

Yes, that is us.

The tunnels are one of the means by which we will win this war.

Your generals

have not yet even begun to understand their importance.

Tell me something.

Why do you want to fight America, anyway?

For the same reason we fought the Japanese

when they occupied during the Second World War,

and the French when they occupied later.

Vietnam is our country,

our land.

Our business is our business,

and you are a foreign power

who have no business in our affairs.

But enough of that.

You were telling me about...

I was telling you about the black death.

Put your hand up here. It's real simple.

It only gets complicated

when white folks try to do it.

Hey, Doc.

Taylor.

Come on, come on, come on.

Who's going to get them?

Get him out... Get him out of here.

Right away. Yes, sir.

Ah, the hell with it. I'd say we got them all.

I know a couple of guys

that might disagree with you, like Taylor.

Zeke, we were lucky

to get you and Goldman out.

We're through here.

If the colonel doesn't believe me,

he can crawl down there and check for himself.

Come on, let's get the hell out of here.

SOLDIER: What about Taylor, man? Let's go!

[SHOUTING IN VIETNAMESE]

[CHEERING]

[SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]

What's he saying, Doc?

The Americans are leaving.

This is a great victory.

Man, they're leaving me?

What else is he saying?

We will not let the aggressor

go unpunished.

We will destroy them in the same way

we destroyed the last group.

We will use the tunnel to get ahead of them

and ambush them as they leave.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

I told you. We will prevail.

[SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]

[SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]

What did he say?

You must come with me.

Hold it.

We go see the sun.

What's happening, Doc?

Come.

I miss the sun.

Hold it.

That dude told you to kill me, right?

He has no choice.

Okay, he maybe didn't have a choice,

but you've got a choice right now.

Don't move.

Let me live.

Please.

You can let me go right now, Doc.

You ain't got to do this.

He'll never know.

I could just take right off.

[GUNSHOT]

[GUNSHOT]

You didn't kill me, Doc.

I'm a doctor.

My job is to save human lives.

Doc, listen.

They said

that they're gonna ambush my friends.

I've got to go help them, okay?

Go.

I understand.

As soon as I get there,

I promise you, I'll send a medic back.

Just as soon as I get there, okay?

No.

My prognosis is bad.

No, you're gonna be all right, Doc.

Just hang in there, okay?

Taylor...

Yeah?

Live well.

You'll be all right, Doc.

Don't worry, okay?

Ambush, ambush!

Over there! Take cover!

Take cover!

Yeah!

Yeah, yeah!

Chow time.

Oh, man! Boy, this is the life!

It sure is.

All vegetables.

We've got

about 500 pounds of explosives.

That ought to be enough to take care of them.

Do you really think that's going to do it, sir?

Sure as hell.

Well, I'll tell you what, sir. Don't hold your breath.

Lieutenant Goldman.

Oy.

All right, men! Let's saddle up!

Thanks, my man. Where's Taylor?

Over here.

Friend of yours?

A gook.

He was a doctor.

He was all right, man.

For a bad guy.

He didn't want to kill me, Sarge.

Well, that's more than I can say

for a couple of the other fellas

back in the outfit.

How's the neck?

I think I'm gonna need a medevac.

Yeah, right. I bet you do.

About four days' bed rest

back in the rear too, huh?

Wouldn't it be nice.

I'm telling you.

Are you getting the short?

Four months.

Don't worry about it, Taylor.

You're gonna live.

You've got my personal guarantee.

Come on.

Let's get out of here.

[♪♪♪]