Tunnel Rats (sometimes called 1968 Tunnel Rats) is a German-Canadian Vietnam War movie directed by Uwe Boll starring Michael Pare, Wilson Bethel, and Nate Parker.
Tunnel Rats follows Lieutenant Hollowborn (Paré) and his men, a group of American soldiers deep in enemy territory. They are sent to go through a Viet Cong tunnel, only to find it well-defended.. Soon, the Americans are scattered, both above and below, the ground, while their base cap comes under attack and they try desperately to make it out alive.
The script of the film encouraged the actors to Ad-lib their lines, and most of the dialogue is improvised.
Oddly enough, there exists a video game tie-in a year later, usually the reverse in the case of Uwe Boll (who makes movies based on games, and not vice versa). Said game was mostly In Name Only starring a whole new character, a GI named Brook absent in the film.
Tropes:
- Black-and-White Morality: Defied by Heaney, who says the key to surviving is realizing that it’s all gray.
- Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: Inverted with Lt. Hollowborn and Sgt. Heaney. Hollowborn is the gruff demanding one and Heney is more soft-spoken and comforting.
- Card Sharp: Lidford wins money form the others betting on card tricks.
- Commonality Connection: Verano comes for the same part of the comity as Heaney’s in-laws.
- Communications Officer: Harris is the groups radioman, but the one time he tries to call for help the radio is broken.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: When Harris protests the execution Hollowbron has him fightingt a boxing match to settle it and easily beats him.
- Deadpan Snarker: Green who is introduced showing in new men and quipping not to feed Garratty because he bites.
- Doomed Hurt Guy:
- Johnson finds Garraty stabbed in the stomach and gets him back to the surface but he dies soon afterwards]].
- Lidford is badly wounded before retreating into the tunnels and is encountered and stabbed to death by Vo Min shortly afterwards.
- Down the Drain: Porterson spends a while swimming through an area in the tunnels (either a source of water or a toilet for the VC’) and finds himself facing several he has to fight, including their commander, after emerging.
- Downer Ending: All of the Americans are clearly killed by the end except for Harris, Porterson and Miller, with the American airstrike Hollowborn called in trapping Harris and a sympathetic VC character inside the tunnels they probably won’t be able to escape before air runs out, and also destroying the base camp, which will likely delay or mess up any rescuers finding Porterson and Miller, assuming they weren’t caught in the blast.
- Do Not Go Gentle: A dying Hollowborn calls in an air strike and pull the pin to a grenade he’s carrying.
- Drugs Are Bad: Hollowborn makes it clear that he has no patience for dope smokers in a war zone.
- Dwindling Party: Members of the group go are killed frequently and quickly and the survivors get scattered.
- Fatal Family Photo: Dying VC soldier Tran has a picture of a girl in his hand. Miller and Verano also talk a lot about their families. Miller survives, Verano doesn’t.
- Hollywood Atheist: Graybridge scoffs at Harris's bible and notion of God saving the faithful but keeps muttering “I believe, I believe” while fleeing from the VC.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Johnson is impaled though the ‘’neck’’ with a bamboo stake, taking several seconds to kill him.
- It Will Never Catch On: Graybridge wants to run a burger joint for the upcoming franchises once he gets home, but his fellows are skeptical about his claims that they represent the future.
- Home Sweet Home: Green wants to live in a houseboat in Wisconsin once he gets home.
- Improbable Infant Survival: Vo Mai sends the childrenn in the VC group out the tunnel while confronting Harris allowing them to avoid the bombing.
- Just Following Orders: Heaney argues against killing the VC prisoner but when Hollowborn remains firm, executes the man himself, reluctantly.
- Made of Iron: Holloworb takes several injuries and keeps fighting for a while.
- Manly Tears: Heaney breaks down crying after killing the VC prisoner.
- Meaningful Name: The bases nickname is Little Big Horn.
- Momma's Boy: Miller doesn’t mind talking about what a good cook his mother is.
- Motor Mouth: Porterson feels that Miller talks too much.
- New Meat: Miller is a nervous, but eager to please young man who has only just arrived at the beginning of the film. The other soldiers are skeptical about his chances of survival. Porterson and Verona also seem new to the war and unfamiliar with tunnels.
- My Girl Back Home: Graybridge and his girl write to each other.
- No Man Left Behind Verano is gunned down while trying to drag a dying Heaney to safety despite Green’s warnings.
- Not Afraid to Die: The VC troops.
- Porn Stache: Sgt. Heaney has a thin mustache.
- Religious Bruiser: Hollowborn justifies killing an enemy and a Salt the Earth viewpoint with a quote from the bible. Interestingly, his rival Harris also has a bible which Lidford knows a sermon from.
- Run or Die: After the first few deaths the soldiers are presented with this. Miller and Graybridge flee overland, with many VC in pursuit, while the others go down into the tunnels.
- Sanity Slippage: Green goes crazy while lost alone in the tunnels and starts stabbing a dead body.
- Scenery Porn: The jungle and plains of Vietnam are captured in great detail.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The film opens with shots of the scary angle as a somewhat upbeat rock song plays.
- Stargazing Scene: Not actually shown, but described by Verano as something he'd do with his sister all the time.
- Sympathetic P.O.V.: Viet Cong tunnel rats Chien Nguyen, Hy Tran and Vo Mai are portrayed as caring for each other and just trying to force out invaders.
- Tempting Fate: The film opens with a man declaring a tunnel is clear right before a VC in a tunnel beneath that one stabs him through the floor.
- Took a Level in Badass: Miller, the new guy proves to be decent at watching the others back and fighting when cornered.
- Trapped Behind Enemy Lines: A lot of the film follows Porterson, Green and Harris forced to flee down the Viet Cong tunnels and trying to find a way out.
- Tunnel King: Truth in Television. The Viet Cong have made some deep, complete, trap laden tunnels. The American soldiers are the ones sent to explore them and flush the VC out.
- Uncertain Doom: Harris and Vo Mai, who are buried in the tunnel at the end of the movie, and trying to dig their way out, but don’t seem optimistic about their chances.
- Villain's Dying Grace: Tran who Porterson has mortally wounded and stared over sadly points him to the way out.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: VO Min gets seen throwing up after killing Johnson.
- War Is Hell: The brutality and senseless of the conflict get shown pretty well.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Harris mentions that he dislikes tunnels, as he had an uncle who died in one.
- The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Johnson is the most experienced tunnel rat and makes this clear to the others and does get in and out of it when he does get some prominence and competence at the beginning of the mission he doesn’t last long.
