Highly Overrated But Still Good

Don't Believe the Hype

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

If you are not American you should give this film a miss. It has nothing to say to anyone who has not got Vietnam in his country's historyIt is a flash back film of a court martial and the events which precipitated it. Caine Mutiny it isn't and even that had its defects. A French Nun is trotted out as an end of film dea ex machina to give an true account of what really happenedBad behaviour and scape goating is the name of the game and anyone who is not American will gape with disbelief at the indiscipline of conscripts in the seventies. A viewer will ask "they didn't do that, did they?" and then wonder why it is portrayed in fictionThe main character's soliloquy at the end is said to make up or sum up the ethos of the film - but to foreign ears it just sounds like an apology for war crimes, on the level of 'oops my finger slipped so that's OK'Any European should give this film a miss

Before I saw the movie I had read several comments that Don Johnson does a superb job here as the main character, Benjamin Tyson, a former Army Lt who now is a well-off oil business man in Dallas. In fact Johnson does deliver a very fine, convincing performance. But that came as no surprise to me, having seen his excellent performance in "The Hot Spot" in a totally different type of role.Here he has a pretty good life, a loving wife, a teen son, a high-paying job, and an upper class home. But something hits the news that comes back to haunt him, and as it develops might send him to prison. A former medic in his squad, John Heard as medical Dr. Steven Brandt, has a terminal illness and decides to tell all about an incident where many died and a hospital was burned down. In it he implicates Tyson, claiming it was he who ordered that everyone be shot and killed.Jeanne Tripplehorn is good as Maj. Karen Harper of the Judge Advocate office, and ends up being the one to prosecute the case.Sharon Lawrence is fine as Tyson's wife, Marcy McClure Tyson. The young Tyson in Viet Nam is played by Don Johnson's real-life son, Jesse Johnson. And Arliss Howard is very effective as J.D. Runnells, the attorney defending Tyson.SPOILERS: The movie's title is actually the central theme. The whole group of survivors has given their word to each other, what happened in Viet Nam was never to be discussed. Tyson planned to stick to that word of honor, even though what was being said was not true. In a flashback we learn that Tyson did not order everyone killed, in fact it was one of his men who stared shooting everyone, and to stop him Tyson killed that man, one of his own men. But Brandt had misbehaved in Viet Nam, and had actually raped a 12-year-old girl. That Tyson way back then had called him on it, Brandt was making these false accusations to get back at Tyson. The Army used a never-before invoked rule that allowed Tyson to be re-activated, since he was getting disability medical pay. So they were able to have a court marshal. In the end he was found guilty of murdering his own man, but his punishment was being discharged from the Army. No jail time.

The film as well as the book by Nelson De-Mile really causes frustration and un-easiness.We have here a civilian with a successful career and an unblemished record as a combat officer , faulty accused by a 'rightuous civilian ' of being a war criminal. I'm an israeli , and we also experience here motions provoked by 'snow white'civilians from all sorts of 'human rights' organizations to put soldiers and commanding officers to trial, describing any military action taken by those accused to be a criminal act, while on the other hand outrageously ignore enemy's criminal activities like bombing buses , civic centers , schools etc.FOOD FOR THINKING!!!! let's condemn these organizations !!! Betzelem, Shalom achshav, women in black, machsom watch etc.

'Word of Honor' was a fabulous and very touching movie. It's a movie that really makes you think about the world and why things are done the way they are. Don Johnson's outstanding performance as Lieutenant Benjamin Tyson, a Vietnam Vet who has carried the horrible secret of a brutal massacre committed 30 years earlier, was superb! The passion was real...the love was real...the intensity was real...the tears were real. This movie really shows how the media can take one person's life and completely tear it apart and turn it upside down...and how one man's struggle to save his family, his marriage, and his life, goes through the ultimate test of all. Can he protect his family, his men and himself? Was Lt. Tyson made an example of by the Army, for events that happened years before? Now, I'm a huge fan of Don Johnson, but even if you're not a fan of Don Johnson, this is a movie that's definitely worth watching...you won't be disappointed! Word of Honor is one of THE BEST tv movies of 2003!