The story of three people caught up in the turmoil of the Vietnam War. When C.J. Parker (John Martin), steps on a landmine known as a "bouncing betty" that will only explode when he steps off, his only hope of rescue is a Eurasian prostitute Martha (Helen Dinand) and Special Forces Green Beret Sarge (Brandon Ambrose) whose team is walking into a Viet Cong ambush. Click is written and directed by Steven Kahler. The pacing is at first pretty slow and there are three parallel storylines, one isn´t mentioned on DVD cover and that the story of a MACV SOG operative on a covert operation deep behind enemy lines. For the most part it´s very nicely shot, you get the atmosphere of tension, fear and claustrophobia in a hostile jungle where there are booby traps and hostile forces. It is one of the best things with Click and in these scenes it feels very realistic and can measure up to the classic Platoon directed by Oliver Stone. Some scenes doesn´t work, and I´m thinking about the scenes with John Martin and Helen Dinand and then especially their first scenes together (she flashes him and he runs after her like a f*cking idiot). The acting is decent, special praise to Brandon Ambrose who looks and acts like a professional soldier. It´s very nicely shot, the soundtrack is good except for in a few scenes where they change it to some really crappy and misplaced one....Good editing. The action sequences are a bit uneven but several of them are good and quite realistic (especially thinking about the scene where the american patrol is ambushed). But I´ll be honest and admit that it is somewhat of a downer to see them use plastic toyguns (in some scenes) and see them shake them to simulate automatic fire (sound and muzzle fashes added later). The wardrobe and equipment looks very good. There is gore in the shape of squibs. There is T & A in the form of female topless nudity.
This review is based upon the region 1 DVD release from Scene Seventeen Pictures.
Rating: 3½ out of 7. Pretty bad in some parts but very good in others. I must say Click is a way better Vietnam war movie than the atrocious Hell on the Battleground in which they, despite having a much larger budget, can´t find the proper wardrobe, weapons or even oriental looking actors. If you like Vietnam War movies you should check it out!
/JL
I read your review and wanted to thank you for the kind words you said about my movie Click.
ReplyDeleteTo have my movie breathed in the same sentence with Oliver Stone and Platoon is outstanding. Thank you for that.
As a technical advisor and as someone who is knowledgeable about firearms there were some technical points in the review that I felt needed to be addressed as IMHO they are way off the mark.
I never used a single squib in Click. There are other ways to make bullet hits that don't require explosives so I used that instead to realistic effect.
Also, never used "plastic guns." No plastic gun, which is what toys are made of, can handle the rigors of making a Vietnam War movie. Not possible.
No one "shook" the guns in the scenes where someone is firing a gun. Yeah, they moved the gun against the shoulder to simulate firing but it wasn't cheesy. A lot of moviemakers do this to good effect and is SOP in the industry.
Again, thank you for your kind review.
Regards,
Steven Kahler
Executive Producer/Director
Click and Woodstock and Paco.
Scene 17 Pictures.
Thanks for mentioning Hell on the Battleground. Although HOTB did have a great rocket launcher scene towards the end of the film, otherwise sounds about right, lol.
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