84 Charlie Mopic offers the Vietnam experience as seen through the eyes of a combat photographer (Mopic is slang for the Army Motion Picture Unit). Byron Thames plays a combat cameraman who has already been on two tours of duty; he goes on a third because he is intrigued by a reel of film found on the body of a dead photographer. Thames must answer to green lieutenant
Jonathan Emerson and experienced sergeant
Richard Brooks. In straight-on, non-judgemental fashion, we are shown the day-to-day struggle to stay alive, meeting the main characters in the natural course of action. As the mission winds down, Thames is compelled to abandon his camera to rescue a fellow soldier; as a result, yet another roll of film returns to headquarters without the photographer. 84 Charlie Mopic isn't about politics or collective guilt; it's about survival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide