Go Tell the Spartans (1978) – Nostalgia Central

Set in 1964, in the early days of America’s involvement in Vietnam before massive combat troops were introduced, Major Asa Barker (Burt Lancaster) commands a poorly staffed advisory outpost in South Vietnam.

His out-of-touch superiors order the crusty career soldier to occupy and defend Muc Wa, a deserted hamlet which had been the site of a tragic massacre of French soldiers a decade earlier.

Barker realises the assignment is futile but complies, sending a team led by the eager, inexperienced Lieutenant Hamilton (Joe Unger) and comprising a few specialised American soldiers and a ragtag squad of South Vietnamese popular forces (“Populars”) led by a brutal, merciless mercenary sergeant nicknamed Cowboy (Evan C. Kim).

The squad sets up a triangular defence perimeter at Muc Wa and discovers a graveyard containing the bodies of 302 French soldiers. A prominent sign hanging over the gate reads in French: “Stranger, tell the Spartans that we remain here in obedience to their orders.”

Cpl. Stephen Courcey (Craig Wasson) spots a one-eyed man scouting the outpost and realises he is a Viet Cong (VC) scout but displays compassion to a wandering group of displaced Vietnamese civilians who arrive at the camp.

Cowboy warns that these civilians are likely Viet Cong sympathisers smuggling information and weapons, but Courcey insists on letting them stay.

The outpost is quickly targeted by probing attacks and sniper fire from a growing force of Viet Cong guerrillas. During one of the initial skirmishes, the overly enthusiastic Lieutenant Hamilton (Joe Unger) is shot and killed, forcing the shell-shocked Sergeant Oleonowski (Jonathan Goldsmith) – a deeply cynical veteran of previous wars – to temporarily take charge before his psychological state unravels completely.

Sensing disaster, Major Barker requests reinforcements and logistical aid from headquarters, but the top brass is more interested in running numbers and utilising computer models rather than acknowledging the reality of the ground war.

Realising his men are being left to die, Barker personally flies out to Muc Wa to assume command during a heavy night attack by the VC.

Barker’s superiors finally realise the outpost is compromised, but instead of fighting to hold it, they abruptly order a full helicopter evacuation. The choppers arrive with strict instructions: evacuate the American advisors only, leaving the South Vietnamese Populars and the civilians behind to face the wrath of the advancing Viet Cong.

Courcey refuses to abandon the native soldiers he befriended. Major Barker, showing intense loyalty to his men, decides to stay on the ground with Courcey and the Popular forces to cover their retreat, ordering the remaining American officers onto the choppers.

As they try to break out into the jungle under cover of darkness, the group is ambushed. Cowboy’s suspicions are proven tragically correct when the “civilian” refugees they harboured turn on them, pulling hidden weapons and slaughtering members of the squad.

Major Barker is shot and killed while trying to secure an escape route. Cowboy and the rest of the partisan soldiers are wiped out.

The film ends at dawn. Corporal Courcey, severely wounded and unconscious, wakes up surrounded by the dead bodies of his entire unit.

He discovers that the Viet Cong have moved on, leaving him behind as a lone survivor.

Dragging himself away from the carnage, Courcey passes the French graveyard once more.

He finds a new, crudely written sign beneath the original French epitaph: “Welcome to Muc Wa”.

The film – shot on a modest budget in California with Vietnamese migrants portraying the Viet Cong and released by Avco Embassy Pictures – was a commercial failure, largely ignored by audiences for whom the Vietnam War were still a fresh and deeply painful memory, and pulled quickly from US cinemas.

Maj. Asa Barker
Burt Lancaster
Cpl. Stephen Courcey
Craig Wasson
Sgt. Oleonowski
Jonathan Goldsmith
Capt. Al Olivetti
Marc Singer
Lt. Raymond Hamilton
Joe Unger
Cpl. Abraham Lincoln
Dennis Howard
Lt. Finley Wattsberg
David Clennon
Sgt. ‘Cowboy’ Nguyen 
Evan C. Kim
Cpl. Ackley
John Megna
Signalman Toffee
Hilly Hicks
Gen. Harnitz
Dolph Sweet
Col. Minh
Clyde Kusatsu
The Old Man
James Hong
Butterfly
Denice Kumagai
One-eyed man
Tad Horino
Minh’s Interpreter
Phong Diep
Col. Minh’s ADC
Ralph Brannen
Capt. Schlitz
Mark Carlton
Helicopter pilot
Dabney Coleman

Director
Ted Post