Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Claudio Carvalho In Saigon, during the war, Buck McGriff (Willem Dafoe) and Albaby Perkins (Gregory Hines) are U.S. Military Policemen trying to do law enforcement in a chaotic city. When a prostitute is executed on bed, they investigate and they find a witness – the G.I. Maurice (Keith David) that is scared since the killer is an American officer. However Maurice is murdered and soon they find that there are six other prostitutes that have been murdered but their cases have vanished from the files. They meet the former investigator that gives a copy of his findings and they have five colonels as prime suspects that might be the serial- killer, but their friend Sergeant Dix (Fred Ward) warns that only three of them were in Saigon in the night of the last murder. McGriff finds that Sister Nicole (Amanda Pays) has a witness hidden in the jungle with the Vietcong and he tries to convince her to let them meet her to find who the serial-killer is."Off Limits" is a good movie with great cast and a storyline similar to "The Night of the Generals", i.e., a high ranking officer is killing prostitutes during the war. However, the movies are absolutely different and also in common the manhunt of the serial-killer in time of war. This movie is also a great chance to see the lovely Amanda Pays that has disappeared from the screens. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Saigon - Império da Violência" ("Saigon – Empire of Violence")

lord woodburry The Army has always wondered what side army CID is on so said Colonel Smokin' Joe Woodward to me many years ago. This film may answer good Colonel's question. In Vietnam the USACIDC worked for the VC.Following string of prostitute murders, Buck McGriff (Willem Dafoe) and his partner Albaby Perkins (Gregory Hines) are on the case. The suspects are all high ranking officers. Everyone including the ARVN (Army of The Republic of South Vietnam) QC (South Vietnamese Military Police) stand in their way. Only a French nun Sister Nicole (Amanda Pays) is of grudging assistance.Along the trail, they're kidnapped by troops fiercely loyal to their Colonel, witness US war crimes called playing helicopters, and finally take a taxi to VC headquarters to consort with Charlie himself.Yet despite their many adventures the answer has always been staring them in the face.Much of the film has been borrowed from WWII movies: In Vietnam with rotation and change over troops weren't quite as loyal to each other, their commanders or their units as had been the case in previous wars. The sidestory of the love affair with the French nun comes straight from HEAVEN KNOWS MR ALLISON; in the 1960s catholic nuns regularly left the convent to marry.Gregory Hines' character was about a decade before his time. The Army was late in placing Afro-Americans in the Military Police or in Criminal Investigation Command.Yet despite these shortcomings the film is well played and highly recommended.

Coventry Never heard about "Off Limits" before when it aired on late Friday night television here in my country, but everything about it instantly appealed to me big time. There's the obscurity status for starters (I'm particularly intrigued by films I never heard about before), the prominent cast (Willem Dafoe, Gregory Hines, Fred Ward, Keith David, Scott Glenn), the period of release (late 80's) and - most of all - the concept in its entirety. As you can derive from the alternate title "Saigon", the film is set in Vietnam during the infamous war, but it's definitely not just another epic illustrating the horrible battles in the jungle or the traumatizing impact on its soldiers. "Off Limits" is first and foremost a genuine cop thriller, set in a hellish environment torn apart through warfare, and an effectively disturbing portrait of the horrible issues caused by American soldiers outside of the battlefields. McGriff and Perkins have the worst jobs in the world, since they're employed as army police officers in Saigon and responsible to investigate the crimes committed by American soldiers. One day they're assigned to investigate the murder of a Vietnamese prostitute who had a child with an American soldier. They quickly discover this isn't the first gruesome crime of its kind, as no less than seven similar cases were reported during the past year and they're clearly the work of a serial killer with a strict modus operandi. The devoted and headstrong duo also discovers that the previous officer prematurely quit his investigation even though he came fairly close to capturing the killer, undoubtedly because several high ranked officers got involved and his own life became endangered. McGriff and Perkins, however, are determined to stop to sadist killer, especially when they receive help from a beautiful and street-wise young novice. "Off Limits" is a fast-paced, suspense and frequently very violent thriller with a screenplay that is full of misleading twists, false leads and red herrings, like a legitimate and compelling whodunit thriller ought to be. Some sequences are even downright fantastic, for instance the helicopter-interrogation (Scott Glenn is sublime) or the nail-biting scene where the copper duo is surrounded by a mob of furious and vengeful Vietnamese people. Christopher Crowe's direction is tight and consequently surefooted – which is quite remarkable for a debut feature – and his own script is *almost* completely devoid of dreadful clichés and irritating stereotypes. I do emphasize the word 'almost' because a Vietnam movie without mad-raving American officers and/or foul-mouthed Vietnamese prostitutes is practically unthinkable. Dafoe and Hines provide some terrific on screen chemistry, but they certainly aren't your typical witty interracial buddies like Eddie Murphy & Nick Nolte in "48 Hours" or Mel Gibson & Danny Glover in "Lethal Weapon". They tease and provoke each other all the time, but the atmosphere of the film and the nature of the events are simply to austere to mix with comedy. The film is beautifully shot and has a marvelous soundtrack filled with timeless contemporary songs from James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Arthur Resnick. "Off Limits" is a terrific and incomprehensibly overlooked film. If you have the opportunity to watch it, please do so without hesitation.

Theo Robertson It`s obvious that by 1988 the Vietnam war film had nothing more to say . From the pondering self pity of THE DEER HUNTER to the cruel humour of FULL METAL JACKET the sub genre had burnt itself out in a similar manner as napalm had burnt out the jungles of South East Asia . SAIGON ( As it`s known in Britain ) doesn`t make any pretence at bringing anything new to Hollywood`s love affair to the `Nam and tells us nothing we didn`t already know:War is hell - Check The South Vietnamese regime wasn`t worth the life of one GI - CheckAll US colonels are crazy - Check SAIGON doesn`t really feel more than a gimmick film, the gimmick being that it`s a murder mystery set during the war in Vietnam . I should also point that the murder plot is very unconvincing , especially so in the last ten minutes where the murderer is revealed and it becomes a race against time to save his victim . If you want to see either Willam Defoe or Scott Glenn in a movie masterpiece rent PLATOON or APOCALYPSE NOW instead