videorama-759-859391 Profanity runs very high in this engrossing army thriller of unrealistic, over the top violence (not frequent though) impressive, out there dialogue, and partial sleaze thrown in, of course that discredits it a little. It also has good acting from our leads, and everyone else too. The much missed and loved Hines, proves here, he was much an underrated acting talent. Scott Glenn who makes a guest appearance is short and sweetly effective as a kinky and suicidal colonel. We have a whack job, who's doing prostitutes who have had babies, all fathered by army servicemen. The killer points towards a high ranking army official, that I didn't pick, though I know a few people who have, like the answer was staring them, straight in the face. Though I was eighteen, when I saw it, and I was less smarter, probably today I'd be much quicker off the bad. The photography is fantastic, truly capturing the period, you really believe it's 1968, this film released twenty years later. We even have old radio excerpts as well. But the problem with Saigon, is it does give too much away, in it's intelligent but self conscious script. We have great action, well shot, some of it quite thrilling, and scary. Fred Ward is totally unlike Fred Ward here, as a colonel who has his own demons. It's the best stuff I've ever seen from this guy. Explosions and violence, run amok, in Saigon, this city of madness, where several people, witnesses, who can finger this guy are eliminated, while attempts are made on the relentless duo, Dafoe and Hines, who won't stop until they get their man. Model, Pays is great as a sympathetic nun, who proves she can do other things, besides the latter. The opening for me, is one of a few cool openings in movies, it had a dangerous and riveting aura, right from the start. I still recommend this flick to people, especially being a Dafoe fan, like me.

merklekranz Willem Dafoe and Gregory Hines play C.I.D. police (Criminal Investigation Detachment) of the U.S. Army. The scene is Saigon, 1968. They are investigating the murders of Vietnamese prostitutes, and the trail leads to several American Officers as suspects. "Off Limits" is surprisingly good, and works on different levels. The acting is very believable, aided by a fine supporting cast which includes, Fred Ward and Scott Glenn. There is a consistently lively soundtrack, and some welcome humor. What you get is a serial killer drama and a buddy cop movie, filmed in a very exotic location. If you are a Willem Dafoe fan, this is a must see. - MERK

Theo Robertson It`s obvious that by 1988 the Vietnam war film had nothing more to say . From the pondering self pity of THE DEER HUNTER to the cruel humour of FULL METAL JACKET the sub genre had burnt itself out in a similar manner as napalm had burnt out the jungles of South East Asia . SAIGON ( As it`s known in Britain ) doesn`t make any pretence at bringing anything new to Hollywood`s love affair to the `Nam and tells us nothing we didn`t already know:War is hell - Check The South Vietnamese regime wasn`t worth the life of one GI - CheckAll US colonels are crazy - Check SAIGON doesn`t really feel more than a gimmick film, the gimmick being that it`s a murder mystery set during the war in Vietnam . I should also point that the murder plot is very unconvincing , especially so in the last ten minutes where the murderer is revealed and it becomes a race against time to save his victim . If you want to see either Willam Defoe or Scott Glenn in a movie masterpiece rent PLATOON or APOCALYPSE NOW instead

johnpollydccsre Gregory Hines and Willem Dafoe make an excellent team in this unusual murder mystery set in Vietnam.Actual filming overseas add to the realism.Anyone ever serving in the Pacific can attest to that.The soundtrack was great, using music not usually heard in most of the Vietnam movies.Supporting actors performances were also very good ( Fred ward, Amanda Pays ).I have collected all the Vietnam movies and rate this one of the best.