Texas Tech University

84 Charlie MoPic

Moving Image Item Number: 3316VI4124
Media Type
Moving Image
Physical Location
Stacks D26.5D
Number of Media
1
Language(s)
English
Format
DVD
Time - Hr:Min:Sec
01:30:45
Digitized in HD?
No
Dates
Creation: 1989
General Note
84 Charlie MoPic is a 1989 American independent found-footage war drama film written and directed by Patrick Sheane Duncan. The film is a mock-documentary of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) mission during the Vietnam War. The point of view is from a cameraman following a LRRP team on a five-day patrol deep in "Indian Country" (territory controlled by the North Vietnamese). The cameraman is nicknamed "MoPic" by the team, because of his alphanumeric military occupational specialty: 84C20, Motion Picture Specialist. The supposedly routine mission, however, goes wrong and eventually turns into a struggle for survival. At first the squad seems in control. Their leader, Sergeant OD, detects booby traps, and the squad lays some booby traps of their own. They evade detection by an NVA patrol, and press deep behind enemy lines. One night, over the radio, they hear a whole army company being overrun by an NVA unit. They catch an NVA regiment in the open, and order an artillery strike, taking out much of the enemy.

Now that the NVA knows there are Americans nearby, they avoid any gunfire and make their escape in the bush as silently as possible. OD catches a 6 man NVA patrol on their tail, only 50 meters away. The squad takes them out, and carry a wounded NVA soldier with them. Their position is exposed by the noise, and a sniper takes out Pretty Boy. The sniper repeatedly shoots him in the limbs, torturing him, in an attempt to lure other squad members out into the open. Unable to rescue him, OD mercy kills him. He then demands the LT kill the NVA soldier with a knife to avoid any more noise. He sadistically makes the LT look at pictures of the NVA soldier’s family before LT kills the soldier. The squad continues their escape, but encounter VC troops which wound OD, and kill Cracker. With OD barely able to walk, Hammer, a less experienced squad member, takes point. He triggers a booby trap almost immediately killing him. With half the squad killed, the survivors make their way to their evacuation point. After a final firefight, MoPic is killed. OD, LT, and Easy escape in the chopper as the film ends.

Cast:
Jonathan Emerson as LT
Nicholas Cascone as Easy
Jason Tomlins as Pretty Boy
Christopher Burgard as Hammer
Glenn Morshower as Cracker
Richard Brooks as OD
Byron Thames as MoPic

The film includes Korean subtitles.

Perma Link
https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive/items.php?item=3316VI4124

Citation
84 Charlie MoPic, 3316VI4124. No Date, Richard J. Walker Collection, Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University, https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive/items.php?item=3316VI4124, Accessed 05 Aug 2026.

Pub Credit Line
3316VI4124, Richard J. Walker Collection, Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University

Added: 08 Jul 2022 [Updated: 20 Jan 2026]