Da 5 Bloods is an American war drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Spike Lee. The film, available on Netflix, is named as one of the streaming platform’s best war films by entertainment news website Collider, and boasts an impressive rating of 92% on review website Rotten Tomatoes.
The film follows a group of black US Army veterans who fought during the Vietnam War and dubbed themselves the “Bloods”. They reunite in Vietnam years after in hopes of finding the remains of their squad leader and a buried fortune that he had helped the group hide while they were serving.
“You may not look at it as a ‘war story’ per se, but this is war-adjacent and shows enough of the struggle and trauma that wars bring to people, even if it’s years later. While the journey of these old war vets reconnecting with their past is very emotional, the performances are the real delight,” reports Collider.
Over on Rotten Tomatoes the two hour 35 minute film has gained 314 reviewes and a high rating. One reviewer said: “Great film. Don’t know how you couldn’t like this. Action, drama, history, adventure, comedy. Implemented seemlessly.”
Another wrote: “Spike Lee manages to bring on the Vietnam War with a new clandestine style! Five former soldiers-in-arms return to Vietnam to find the body of their deceased captain and a treasure in gold, only to be pursued by greedy mercenaries. Intense, emotional and empowered, this is a hard look at the remains of war and how we are constantly trying to come to terms with the past!”
While the film was praised by many watchers, there were also people who were not completely fond of the film – expressing their dissappointment considering who is behind the film.
“Great topic and concept and actors were elite. Characters development were lacking, and the plot and dialogues were subpar to abysmal. I’m a fan of Spike Lee but this is one of his worst works,” a viewer wrote.
Another shared that they “do not believe the hype”.
However, while the film did not earn a 100% rating, many people still recognised the importance of the context of the film.
One reviewer said, “Is this an important movie, and does this movie’s story need to be told? 100%. Was this movie for me? No, not really. I enjoyed parts of it, and the sum of the parts worked, but some of those parts felt like they took away from the flow of the movie to preach to you instead of letting the story do the preaching.
“I think Spike Lee is a fantastic director and Delroy Lindo gave a masterful performance, but the first half of the movie dragged a bit and the preaching took away from the flow, and so it felt longer, but that last hour or so was fantastic.”