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Da 5 Bloods tells the story of four older black menVietnam veterans and friendswho return to Vietnam to find the body of their fallen friend and squad leader (the fifth of the five bloods the title refers to; played by Chadwick Boseman in flashbacks) and the gold bars they had uncovered just before his passing. The movie is a war epic, yes, but it's also an adventure, a treasure hunt, and, since it's Spike Lee directing, a social commentary as well.
The Vietnam war occurred simultaneously with the Civil Rights movement of the '60s back home in the United States, which inspired one of the movie's most stunning scenes: the guys learning of Martin Luther King Jr's assassination over the radio in the Vietnamese jungle. It's a soul-defeating moment, and one that even further shows the disparity put on display by a war that disproportionately drew African Americans into service, and unjustly spit them out afterwards.
We as blacks, ever since the civil war, have always run to Americas defense, and then when we get back, were second-class citizens, Larry Doggette, a Black Vietnam vet who lives in Hampton, Virginia, told The Guardian. We still are today.
Back in 2017, The New York Times broke down some of the numbers surrounding Black soldiers in the Vietnam war. While Black Americans made up 11% of the civilian population, they made up 16.3% of those drafted into service and 23% of Vietnam combat troops.
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And for taking up such a disproportionally large portion of the forces in Vietnam, war movies have failed to depict Black mentheir presence is absent in films like Full Metal Jacket, Born on the Fourth of July, and We Were Soldiers. For what it's worth, just by having Samuel L. Jacksonone of Lee's close friends, coincidentallyas a U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, Kong: Skull Island does a better job of representing the Black forces than basically any other notable Vietnam war film depiction.
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So, even though Lee's movie isn't directly retelling a true story, it's important that it exists to honor the soldiers whose history has been silenced, welcomed back not by a hero's welcome or an eternal depiction in film, but with a lack of recognition in the history books and a de facto rejection by society.
Around Christmas time of last year, when Lee had finished the movie and before the quarantine lockdown had begun, he held four separate screenings for veterans of color in New York City. After the screenings, according to The Hollywood Reporter , Lee would talk to some of the veterans in attendance, and essentially hear the same refrain over and over again: It's about time. " Everyone was sharing their stories," Lee said. "Their nightmares they've had, all these cats, all these beautiful Black and brown brothers were boys when they went to war, when they shipped halfway around the world. After the film, they said, 'Thanks, Spike. What took you so goddamn long? We were waiting on you to do this film.' They were not going to lie. If this wasn't up to snuff, these guys are going to tell me, like, 'We love you, Spike, but that's some bullshit.' They would tell me."
Luckily for them, Lee changed Da 5 Bloods from what it was initially going to bea movie about four white men returning to Vietnam. The script, as written in 2013, was called The Last Tour, and it was going to follow four Vietnam buddies returning to the war zone to find the remains of their squad leader, and the treasure he was buried; Oliver Stone was set to direct.
For undisclosed reasons, Stone exited the project in 2016, and in 2017, Lee's producing partner Lloyd Levin (who was already attached to the script) brought the project to him. Levin knew that Lee's favorite moviea 1948 John Huston treasure hunt film called The Treasure of Sierra Madre contained similar story elements. We wanted to do it, but we wanted to make changes, Lee told Vanity Fair . We wanted to make the story about African American Vietnam vets.