“The U.S. has broken the second rule of war. That is, don’t go fighting with your land army on the mainland of Asia. Rule One is don’t march on Moscow. I developed these two rules myself.”

Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery (Viscount Alamein) in 1962 (spoken of the US approach to the Vietnam War) Quoted in Chalfont’s Montgomery of Alamein.

I couldn't make it through the recap. Neon text on black = instant headache.

I love the Mutant Reviewers from Hell, but this has always been my major complaint with their site. They've got some wonderfully snarky reviews and articles that I've been forced to do a cut-and-paste with so I can read it on a white background.

It had never occurred to me that it was anything other than Vietnam.

Me, too.

Huh, I always assumed Russia, too.

Don't forget that, as the writer of that recap points out, Goldman first wrote TPB in 1973, so I guessed the Vietnam connection was primary in his mind. It does apply nicely to just about every invasion of Asia as well, though.

So, we're all correct. And yeah, considering when the book was written and who directed the movie, I now think it was referencing both.

I thought that was kind of a truism - that a land war in Asia never goes well, not for U.S., France, Russia, etc. So yes, Vietnam, but more like the history of Western intervention in Asia since 1700 or something.

This was my thinking.

Side note: Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade is one of my favorite books ever. Among many things, he gave me the phrase 'that was a movie moment' to describe inconceivable (see what I did there?) coincidences.

Is that the one with the rant about how people in movies never look in their wallet before pulling out money to pay taxis? And all of his examples of how that would go down in real life are about Mel Gibson? "This is a dollar, you Australian asshole!"

who directed the movie

What's Rob Reiner's Vietnam connection?

Both Rob & his mom Estelle were active in protests against that war, IIRC.

I still like my Risk theory the best.