Gardens of Stone

"The story of the war at home, and the people who lived through it."

1987 1h 51m EN

😐

6.2

MID

🥫

41%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.3

IMDB

★6.2TMDB · 130🥫41%Rotten Tomatoes●54Metacritic★6.3IMDB · 6,716

WarDramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

At Arlington National Cemetery during the Vietnam era, veteran sergeant Clell Hazard trains young soldiers while mourning those lost in combat. Unable to return to war himself, he mentors Jackie Willow—the idealistic son of a fallen comrade—hoping to prepare him for the realities of Vietnam and the cost of duty.

“The story of the war at home, and the people who lived through it.”

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Cast

James Caan
Sgt. Clell Hazard
Anjelica Huston
Samantha Davis
James Earl Jones
Sgt. Maj.'Goody' Nelson
D. B. Sweeney
Jackie Willow
Dean Stockwell
Capt. Homer Thomas
Mary Stuart Masterson
Rachel Feld
Dick Anthony Williams
Slasher Williams
Lonette McKee
Betty Rae

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: Ronald Bass
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 39% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, shot by Jordan Cronenweth. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carmine Coppola. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Barry Malkin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

James Caan and Anjelica Huston and James Earl Jones carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The story of the war at home, and the people who lived through it.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0093073 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Francis Ford Coppola directs. Jordan Cronenweth behind the camera. Carmine Coppola scores. Barry Malkin cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 39% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
239 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, shot by Jordan Cronenweth. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Carmine Coppola. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Barry Malkin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6James Caan and Anjelica Huston and James Earl Jones carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The story of the war at home, and the people who lived through it.".
8IMDB entry: tt0093073 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jordan Cronenweth
Original score: Carmine Coppola
Editing: Barry Malkin
Production design: Dean Tavoularis
Costume design: Judianna Makovsky
Makeup / hair: Monty Westmore
Sound: Richard Beggs
Stunt coordinator: Buddy Joe Hooker
Runtime: 111 min · 1h 51m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $13,500,000
Box office: $5,262,047
Return: 39% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Gardens of Stone (1987)
Rotten Tomatoes: 41% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 54/100
IMDB rating: 6.3/10 · 6,716 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

2 nominations total

Also by

Francis Ford Coppola

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2022-05-21
★ 7/10
Coppola’s obscure gem about the war at home during the Vietnam conflict In the late 60s, a cynical Korean vet (James Caan) would rather be training soldiers for Vietnam in Georgia, but instead he’s stuck at Arlington National Cemetery playing what he calls “toy soldier” with his colleagues (James Earl Jones, etc.). When an old buddy’s gung-ho son shows up (D.B. Sweeney), he settles for trying to keep him from becoming another statistic in The ’Nam. Anjelica Huston plays his potential girlfriend and Mary Stuart Masterson the greenhorn’s girl. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola based on the 1983 novel, "Gardens of Stone" (1987) is a worthy companion piece to all those Vietnam War flicks of the 70s-90s as it chronicles what was happening on the home front. It’s a war drama, but not a war action film, yet not a dull, lifeless drama (more on this in a moment). Caan and Jones have good chemistry as old Army buds and Sweeney works well as the “new kid” (he looks like a young Ben Affleck when he broke out ten years later). Meanwhile Mary Stuart Masterson was never more beautiful. In ways the movie’s reminiscent of Eastwood's "Heartbreak Ridge" (1986) with its spunkiness and a smidgen of comedy (which I wasn’t anticipating), although don’t expect the cartoonish character of Cpl. Stitch Jones (Mario Van Peebles). In other words, the proceedings aren’t all dour. Yet there are heavy, moving parts given the topic. Coppola contrasts the beginning scene and ending scene. They’re the same sequence, but it holds more weight the second time around for reasons you’ll discover. I was entertained, amused and moved. It’s a necessary piece of the puzzle in understanding the era of the Vietnam War. While it’s not on the level of greatness of Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” (1979) or “Forrest Gump” (1994), it’s still a solid Coppola movie with a little sloppiness here and there. For instance, the war games episode could’ve been done more coherently and entertainingly, as was done in “The Dirty Dozen” (1967). But time means money in cinema and they had a deadline. I've heard people complain about how this or that wasn't technically accurate or realistic, but filmmakers aren't interested in being 100% true-to-life. If they were, no one would go see their flicks. Let me put it this way, movies are real-life with the boring parts taken out, as well as exaggerations thrown in. Take "Platoon" (1986), for example. Do ya really think everything that took place in that movie happened to ONE platoon in real life? Of course not. Oliver Stone simply took many different highlights of the 'Nam experience and condensed them into one 2-hour tale of a single platoon. The notable cast also includes the likes of Dean Stockwell, Sam Bottoms, Larry Fishburne, Dick Anthony Williams and Elias Koteas. Bottoms and Fishburne of course worked previously with Coppola on “Apocalypse Now.” Before shooting commenced, Francis’ 23 year-old son, Gian-Carlo Coppola, was tragically killed in a speedboat accident in May, 1986. The reckless driver of the boat was Griffin O'Neal (Ryan’s son), who was slated to play the role given to Elias Koteas. The film runs 1 hour, 51 minutes, and was shot at Fort Myer & Arlington National Cemetery and nearby Washington DC. GRADE: B

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