Gardens of Stone (1987)

May 5, 1987 (US) • War, Drama, History • 111m

Overview

At Arlington National Cemetery during the Vietnam era, veteran sergeant Clell Hazard trains young soldiers while mourning those lost in combat. Unable to return to war himself, he mentors Jackie Willow—the idealistic son of a fallen comrade—hoping to prepare him for the realities of Vietnam and the cost of duty.

Director

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers

Ronald Bass, Nicholas Proffitt

Top Billed

James Caan

Keywords

vietnam war vietnam veteran washington dc, usa cemetery soldier

Where to watch

Rent

Buy

Top Billed Cast

James Caan

Sgt. Clell Hazard

Anjelica Huston

Samantha Davis

James Earl Jones

Sgt. Maj.'Goody' Nelson

D. B. Sweeney

Jackie Willow

Dean Stockwell

Capt. Homer Thomas

Mary Stuart Masterson

Rachel Feld

Dick Anthony Williams

Slasher Williams

Lonette McKee

Betty Rae

Sam Bottoms

Lt. Webber

Elias Koteas

Pete Deveber

Laurence Fishburne

Sgt. Flanagan

Casey Siemaszko

Wildman

Mark Frazer

Soldier #1

Peter Masterson

Col. Feld

Carlin Glynn

Mrs. Feld

Erik Holland

Col. Godwin

Bill Graham

Don Brubaker

Crew

Francis Ford Coppola

Director

Ronald Bass

Screenplay

Nicholas Proffitt

Novel

Carmine Coppola

Original Music Composer

Barry Malkin

Editor

Jordan Cronenweth

Director of Photography

Stan Weston

Executive Producer

Gary Fettis

Set Decoration

Buddy Joe Hooker

Stunt Coordinator

George Fisher

Stunts

Jay Emmett

Executive Producer

Brad Bovee

Stunts

Judianna Makovsky

Costume Design

Jeff Dashnaw

Stunts

Michael I. Levy

Producer

Chad Randall

Stunts

Dean Tavoularis

Production Design

Alex Tavoularis

Art Direction

Willa Kim

Costume Design

David Burton

Stunts

Phil H. Fravel

Stunts

David Valdes

Co-Executive Producer

Francis Ford Coppola

Producer

Fred Roos

Executive Producer

David V. Lester

Unit Production Manager

David Valdes

First Assistant Director

Tena Psyche Yatroussis

Second Assistant Director

Janet Hirshenson

Casting

Jane Jenkins

Casting

Bonnie Timmermann

Casting

Teri Fettis-D'Ovidio

Production Coordinator

Daniel R. Suhart

Second Second Assistant Director

Bing Sokolsky

First Assistant Camera

Bobby Brown

First Assistant Camera

Jeff Cronenweth

Second Assistant Camera

Jürgen Vollmer

Still Photographer

John Gilroy

Assistant Editor

Debra Bard

First Assistant Editor

Richard Beggs

Sound Designer

Gloria S. Borders

Supervising Sound Editor

Ronald Jacobs

Dialogue Editor

Tom Bellfort

ADR Editor

Louise Rubacky

ADR Editor

Richard Hymns

Sound Effects Editor

Tim Holland

Sound Effects Editor

Jim Weidman

Music Editor

Robert Shoup

Foley Editor

Marian Wilde

Foley Editor

Dennie Thorpe

Foley Artist

Richard Beggs

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Randy Thom

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Thomas Causey

Sound Mixer

Joseph F. Brennan

Boom Operator

Gary H. Holt

Gaffer

Thomas A. Barone

Best Boy Electric

Billy Beaird

Key Grip

Sheldon Ehrlich

Best Boy Grip

Rodney Veto

Dolly Grip

John Frazier

Special Effects Supervisor

Marilyn Matthews

Costume Supervisor

John Napolitano

Costume Supervisor

Monty Westmore

Makeup Artist

Bernadette Mazur

Makeup Artist

Brad Wilder

Makeup Artist

Philip Leto

Hairstylist

Anthony Cortino

Hairstylist

Eric Young

Location Manager

Wilma Garscadden-Gahret

Script Supervisor

Dan Lerner

Camera Operator

Douglas E. Madison

Property Master

Reviews

Wuchak

⭐ 7/10

May 21, 2022

**_Coppola’s obscure gem about the war at home during the Vietnam conflict_**

In the late 60s, a cynical Korean vet (James Caan) would rather be training soldiers for Vietnam in Georgia, but instead he’s stuck at Arlington National Cemetery playing what he calls “toy soldier” with his colleagues (James Earl Jones, etc.). When an old buddy’s gung-ho son shows up (D.B. Sweeney), he settles for trying to keep him from becoming another statistic in The ’Nam. Anjelica Huston plays his potential girlfriend and Mary Stuart Masterson the greenhorn’s girl.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola based on the 1983 novel, "Gardens of Stone" (1987) is a worthy companion piece to all those Vietnam War flicks of the 70s-90s as it chronicles what was happening on the home front. It’s a war drama, but not a war action film, yet not a dull, lifeless drama (more on this in a moment).

Caan and Jones have good chemistry as old Army buds and Sweeney works well as the “new kid” (he looks like a young Ben Affleck when he broke out ten years later). Meanwhile Mary Stuart Masterson was never more beautiful.

In ways the movie’s reminiscent of Eastwood's "Heartbreak Ridge" (1986) with its spunkiness and a smidgen of comedy (which I wasn’t anticipating), although don’t expect the cartoonish character of Cpl. Stitch Jones (Mario Van Peebles). In other words, the proceedings aren’t all dour. Yet there are heavy, moving parts given the topic. Coppola contrasts the beginning scene and ending scene. They’re the same sequence, but it holds more weight the second time around for reasons you’ll discover.

I was entertained, amused and moved. It’s a necessary piece of the puzzle in understanding the era of the Vietnam War. While it’s not on the level of greatness of Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” (1979) or “Forrest Gump” (1994), it’s still a solid Coppola movie with a little sloppiness here and there. For instance, the war games episode could’ve been done more coherently and entertainingly, as was done in “The Dirty Dozen” (1967). But time means money in cinema and they had a deadline.

I've heard people complain about how this or that wasn't technically accurate or realistic, but filmmakers aren't interested in being 100% true-to-life. If they were, no one would go see their flicks. Let me put it this way, movies are real-life with the boring parts taken out, as well as exaggerations thrown in. Take "Platoon" (1986), for example. Do ya really think everything that took place in that movie happened to _ONE_ platoon in real life? Of course not. Oliver Stone simply took many different highlights of the 'Nam experience and condensed them into one 2-hour tale of a single platoon.

The notable cast also includes the likes of Dean Stockwell, Sam Bottoms, Larry Fishburne, Dick Anthony Williams and Elias Koteas. Bottoms and Fishburne of course worked previously with Coppola on “Apocalypse Now.”

Before shooting commenced, Francis’ 23 year-old son, Gian-Carlo Coppola, was tragically killed in a speedboat accident in May, 1986. The reckless driver of the boat was Griffin O'Neal (Ryan’s son), who was slated to play the role given to Elias Koteas.

The film runs 1 hour, 51 minutes, and was shot at Fort Myer & Arlington National Cemetery and nearby Washington DC.

GRADE: B

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Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

$13,500,000

Revenue

$5,262,047

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Gardens of Stone (1987)

Ronald Bass, Nicholas Proffitt

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

Wuchak

Recommended Movies

Forrest Gump

Obsessed

Apocalypse Now

Primitive War

Status

Original Language

Budget

Revenue

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