The Ugly American [DVD]

I'm reviewing here the Mill Creek Ent. blu-ray release from August 13, 2019. For a blu-ray, the transfer has really poor resolution, to the point of being very annoying when watched on a 65" screen. Essentially, a DVD disguised as blu-ray. Otherwise, colors are fine and there are no bothering dirt specks or other artifacts. The DVD-like grain is significant - not a nice, fine film grain. Overall, if this were a DVD, the image quality would be reasonable, particularly on smaller screens. As a blu-ray, this is barely watchable.It's a pity to issue a blu-ray like this, because any movie with Brando is worth watching, and he is excellent here. For the money (under ten), is not exactly a rip-off, but it's not worth buying it if you already have the DVD.4 and 1/2 stars for the movie, 2 for the transfer.

The "message" of this movie was "overtaken by events" when Saigon fell in 1975--or was it? Gen. Schwarzkopf may have believed that the first 'Gulf War,' Desert Storm, got America 'over' Viet Nam, but I would disagree. IMO there is no more of a "national consensus" with regard to the Near/Middle East today than there was regarding Viet Nam in the Johnson and Nixon Administrations. Part of the beauty of The Ugly American--i.e., the movie--is that that confusion comes through, right down to the anticlimactic closing scene. I found the dialogues between the Brando character and his nationalist friend, and between Brando and the cynical prime minister of the Viet Nam surrogate country of Sarkan to be very well written--informative, and yet made to sound like real (and heated) exchanges of opinion that manage not to sound like canned lectures.This is, again IMO, a rare instance of a movie being a vast improvement over the book. The book by Lederer and Burdick was a series of short sketches portraying professional diplomats as a gaggle of clueless idiots and concluding that we should just turn some real down-home Americans loose on the Third World. They would teach the benighted folks there how to grow better chickens, and everybody would love Uncle Sam. Joseph Buttinger, a leading back-in-the-day scholar of Viet Nam, answered these 'cheap shots' in a short essay, which is today rather hard to find, but worth it--"Fact and Fiction of Foreign Aid," 51 pp. Try Bookfinder.com; I think that's where I got my copy.In fairness, Senator John F. Kennedy thought the book was great, but when he became President John F. Kennedy, I do believe that he began to see some complications. Anyway, bottom line is that I think this movie is worth watching for the story and message, and as an artistic effort, as a film, I think that considering its age it holds up much better than a lot of films of comparable age.

Read the Book!!! The book is such a rich allegory of the political events and missteps of the west that preceded the Vietnam War. It correctly predicted what would happen politically if the U.S. and the other western powers did not stop their top down approach to helping Sarkhan (Vietnam)and instead focus on the bottom up approach taken by the Ugly American - the good guy in the story and it references his physical appearance, not his actions nor his intent.The movie, although well acted and directed, loses the richness and subtlety of the book. The movie does tell a good story and does encompass the spirit and some of the storyline of the book but it loses a lot of it once it gets to the screen. The film was shot in Thailand and the events and storyline would lead the viewer to believe the allegory is supposed to illustrate the domestic political situation in Thailand which is not the case.The movie is still worthwhile to watch but if you have not read the book do yourself a favor and get it immediately.

This 1963 MARLON BRANDO film ' The UGLY AMERICAN ' is an all too often overlooked effort from such a truly talented actor as was Mr. Brando. Relevant upon release 53 years ago, it is relevant today. The AIRPORT ARRIVAL scenes as Ambassador MacWhite speeds off in his 1957 Cadillac Fleetwood limousine are a CINEMATIC TRIUMPH alone !!!!!

case was crushed- not cosmetic the disk looked good but at 36 minutes it locked never to play further-junk

I remember seeing this movie when it first came out. When it was over I commented, geeee I didn't see any "ugly" american's in the movie. 40+ years later I much better understand the movie and it sure helps bring into focus how times have not changed all that much.

na

Great movie. Thanks.

A very disappointing film. Both heavy handed and clumsy and though Marlon did his best, his character was badly drawn leaving him little to work with. Not one of Brando's notable films. Don't go out of your way to view this one.

Surprisingly sophisticated critique of American foreign policy. Although the movie at times feels static and dated, Brando's enormous charisma keeps us engaged with a naive, arrogant and limited man. A very unusual film and definitely worth a watch.

This movie was made in 1963 right before the start of the Vietnam War. The plot, inspired by the political situation in Vietnam (called Sarkhan for the sake of the movie), turns around the difficult relationship between the US ambassador (Marlon Brando), and the political factions in the country, as communists from the North try to overrun the government installed and supported by the Americans. The plot is very predictable and the dialogue verbose plot with stereotyped characters. With hindsight, it is easy to dig deeper than the good intentions expressed the dialogue and find the seeds of the future American disaster in Vietnam. This is not the best performance of Marlon Brando who seems completely out of place in the role of the American ambassador. He would later redeem himself and show his full talent in Apocalypse now, the epic movie about the Vietnam War.

Très satisfait

Fue un regalo para mi padre que la buscaba hacía tiempo. Muy contento él y yo muy satisfecha con la compra.