''The Walking Dead'' is a 1995

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

written and directed by

Preston A. Whitmore II Preston Alexander Whitmore II (born June 26, 1962) is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his 2007 comedy-drama '' This Christmas'', garnered an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing ...

and starring

Allen Payne Allen Payne (born Allen Roberts on July 7, 1968) is an American actor best known for his role as Jason Alexander in the 1994 drama film ''Jason's Lyric'', as well as his portrayal of C.J. Payne on the family sitcom '' Tyler Perry's House of Payn ...

Joe Morton Joseph Thomas Morton Jr. (born October 18, 1947) is an American stage, television and film actor. He has worked with film director John Sayles in ''The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), '' City of Hope'' (1991) and '' Lone Star'' (1996). Oth ...

and Eddie Griffin. The film depicts the lives of five Marines who are all assigned to rescue a group of POW during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

in 1972. It opened to poor reviews and low box office receipts. Previews billed it as "the black experience in Vietnam". The box-office gross was over $6,000,000.00.

Plot

In 1972

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

, short-timer Marines are dispatched by helicopter to conduct their last mission: to evacuate the survivors from a POW camp abandoned by the

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

. The landing zone - which they expect to be cold - is actually hot (under fire) and after a short fight, only four members of the rescue mission survive. SSgt. Barkley and Hoover have a brief fight after Hoover wants to radio for an evacuation and Barkley insists they finish the mission. During their fight a mortar lands nearby, knocking them both into a swamp. Barkley saves Branche from drowning. They are joined shortly by Brooks and Evans. The soldiers defer to the ranking Marine, Sgt. Barkley, who insists that they press on to a nearby cathedral. They reach the building and kill several NVA soldiers. At morning, they are planning their next move when they are ambushed by more NVA soldiers including tree snipers. After a firefight they manage to kill the soldiers with the help of Cpl. Pippins, who appears from the brush and also begins attacking them. After subduing Pippins they look for the rest of his platoon and discover them murdered and their radio missing. They decide to tie Pippins up and bring him along as they march toward the POW camp. The group then recollect about each of their individual reasons for joining the Marines. Sgt Barkley was a preacher at a church until he came home to his bedroom seeing his wife in bed having sex with another man, Barkley shoots and kills the man and catches the train out of town. Hoover works for a meat packing place until he got fired for stealing meat. Cole tries to rent an apartment, but he is turned down by the real estate agent, because of his race. Brooks tells his girlfriend that he's joining the Marine Corps to be like his grandfather, Pippins was working for Ray until he is killed by gangsters and chased into the military enlistment line without getting caught. While Cole and Barkley go ahead to survey the area, Hoover and Brooks smoke cannabis and talk about Brooks' girlfriend, who just dumped him via the mail. During their break, Pippins escapes and takes Brooks' pistol. The four men regroup and head out without Pippins. When they reach the camp, they discover a deranged Pippins holding a Vietnamese woman hostage. After killing the woman in front of them, Pippis turns on them with a gun and is killed by Sgt. Barkley. After seeing the camp is empty, the men realize they are expendable decoys. They radio in and are informed that the Marines cleared the POW camp four hours earlier, and that they have 20 minutes to reach their pickup point before the entire area is bombed. As the men go to leave bombs begin dropping on them. They escape the bombardment and head through the jungle to the landing zone, but are ambushed by more NVA soldiers. Brooks is killed, and Cole and Barkley wounded. Hoover goes back and rescues Barkley and the three men are evacuated by helicopter. During an epilogue, we are told that Cole became a career Marine who retired after 20 years of service, Sgt. Barkley took a job counseling troubled teens in Georgia, and Hoover went back home, married his girlfriend and opened up his own business.

Cast

as Cole Evans * Eddie Griffin as Pvt. Hoover Brache *

as SSgt. Barkley * Vonte Sweet as PFC. Joe Brooks * Roger Floyd as Cpl. Pippins *

Bernie Mac Bernard Jeffrey McCullough (October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008), better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American comedian and actor. Born and raised on Chicago's South Side, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined fell ...

as Ray *

Ion Overman Ion Overman (born November 9, 1976) is an American actress, known for her roles on television, such as Gabriella Garza in ''Port Charles'' (2000–2002), Candace Jewell in ''The L Word'' (2004–2005), Detective Sam Blair in ''Ghost Whisperer'' ( ...

as Shirley Evans * Kyley Jackman as Sandra Evans *

Jean-Claude La Marre Jean-Claude La Marre is a Haitian-American actor, writer, and director. His acting credits include the films ''Malcolm X'' and ''Dead Presidents''. On television, he has guest-starred on ''New York Undercover'', ''Law & Order'', and ''NYPD Blue ...

as Pvt. Earl Anderson (as Jean LaMarre) *

Lena Sang Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...

as Barbra Jean * Wendy Raquel Robinson as Celeste *

Dana Point Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via State Route 1, it is a po ...

as Edna * Doil Williams as Harold *

Damon Jones Damon Darron Jones (born August 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who was an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A combo guard, he played college baske ...

as 2nd Lt. Duffy *Kevin Jackson as Deuce

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album for the film was released on March 7, 1995, by

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

. It consists mostly of Motown hits from the 1960s and 1980s but also includes three newly recorded hip-hop songs exclusive to the soundtrack. The soundtrack failed to make it to the ''Billboard'' charts but Scarface's "

Among the Walking Dead "Among the Walking Dead" is a single by Scarface from Motown Records' ''Walking Dead'' soundtrack. Produced by N.O. Joe, "Among the Walking Dead" featured an uncredited guest appearance by Scarface's group, Facemob Facemob was an American ...

" was a minor hit on the R&B and rap charts.

Track listing

#"How I Wish"- 4:49 (

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

) #"

Smiling Faces Sometimes "Smiling Faces Sometimes" is a soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label. It was originally recorded by the Temptations in 1971. Producer Norman Whitfield had the song re-recorded by the Undisputed Truth the sa ...

"- 3:13 ( The Undisputed Truth) #" What's Going On"- 3:52 (

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

) #"

Ooo Baby Baby "Ooo Baby Baby" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore. It is a classic 1965 hit single by The Miracles for the Tamla (Motown) label. The song has inspired numerous other cover versions by other artists over the years, including c ...

"- 2:43 (

The Miracles The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential group ...

) #" The Tracks of My Tears"- 3:01 (The Miracles) #" Cloud Nine"- 3:36 (

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

) #" Get Ready"- 2:47 ( Rare Earth) #"

I Heard It Through the Grapevine "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a ...

"- 5:53 (Marvin Gaye) #"

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

"- 3:26 (

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. Starr was famous for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one ...

) #"

"- 3:39 ( Scarface) #"Conflict"- 4:33 (

Whitehead Bros. The Whitehead Bros. was an American R&B duo from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, made up of two brothers, Kenny Whitehead and the late John Whitehead Jr., who contributed hits such as "Your Love is a 187" from their 1994 Motown release, ''Serious''. ...

ft.

and

Big Rube Ruben Bailey (born September 27, 1969, Atlanta, Georgia), professionally known by his stage name Big Rube, is an American spoken word artist, rapper and hip hop producer. He is a first-generation member of the Dungeon Family and of Society of ...

)

References

External links

* *
''The Walking Dead'' Plot Synopsis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walking Dead, The 1995 films 1990s war drama films 1990s English-language films Vietnam War films Films about the United States Marine Corps Savoy Pictures films American war drama films Films scored by Gary Chang 1995 directorial debut films 1995 drama films 1990s American films