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- ❝ Three clueless guys, one determined sniper, and a whole lot of hilarious chaos.❞
- ―The tagline of the film.
Snipers and Slackers is a 1972 American war adventure musical comedy film written by Brian McPherson and directed by Paul Wendkos, and starring Lloyd Bridges, Donald Sutherland, Tony Randall, Mai Linh Nguyen, Cao Ky Vu, James Hong and Mako. The film was produced by Douglas Trumbull and Michael Gruskoff, and was screened at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 1972, before being released by 20th Century-Fox in the United States on May 25.
In 1991, a sequel entitled Snipers and Slackers 2: Karaoke in Saigon, premiered at the Fox Theater on Christmas Day.
Plot[]
In 1969, as the Vietnam War rages on, three American friends—Edward "Eddie" Jones, a smooth-talking wannabe ladies' man; Jerome "Jerry" Murphy, an overly cautious hypochondriac; and Anthony "Tony" Maguire, an optimistic but dim-witted aspiring musician—find themselves accidentally enlisted in a USO tour to "boost morale" for the troops. With zero military experience and only a vague idea of what the war is about, they’re sent to South Vietnam, much to the dismay and confusion of their military chaperones.
Mai Linh, a fiercely talented yet hilariously unlucky Vietnamese sniper, is part of the Viet Cong, and her latest assignment is to take out the American trio, who have unwittingly been mistaken for high-ranking officers due to a bureaucratic mix-up. Her determination to complete the mission is only matched by the trio’s bizarre ability to evade danger—completely by accident.
The trio lands in a small South Vietnamese town and unwittingly stumbles into a local karaoke bar. Eddie tries to charm a local woman who turns out to be Mai Linh in disguise. Her cover is almost blown when she accidentally joins them on stage for a chaotic rendition of "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies. In the ensuing commotion, her sniper rifle gets tangled in a curtain, allowing the trio to escape yet again.
Jerry convinces the group to take a "shortcut" through the jungle to avoid the front lines. Mai Linh sets up an elaborate ambush but is thwarted when Tony, mistaking a tripwire for a guitar string, starts strumming it and triggers a series of traps that send coconuts, mud, and fireworks flying everywhere. The chaos scares off Mai Linh's team, leaving her covered in mud and fuming.
The trio accidentally commandeers a helicopter during a USO performance, believing it’s part of the act. Mai Linh sneaks aboard, trying to carry out her mission mid-air. However, their wild piloting skills turn her assassination attempt into a slapstick disaster involving falling luggage, a rogue chicken, and an emergency parachute that deploys at the worst moment.
After a series of misunderstandings, Mai Linh realizes the trio is not only harmless but incredibly oblivious to their own peril. When both the Viet Cong and the United States Army mistakenly identify her as a rogue agent, she reluctantly teams up with the trio to clear her name and escape the escalating madness.
The film culminates in a grand musical number as the trio performs an impromptu concert to distract both sides during a tense standoff. Mai Linh seizes the opportunity to sabotage the enemy’s plans, becoming an unlikely hero. The trio, still clueless about the war, is hailed as accidental peacekeepers, while Mai Linh decides to retire from her sniper career and opens a karaoke bar instead.
In a post-credit scene, Eddie, Jerry, and Tony accidentally end up on a USO tour in Europe, where they encounter a new set of misadventures—this time involving a French resistance fighter with questionable motives.
Cast[]
- Lloyd Bridges as Edward "Eddie" Jones, a smooth-talking, slightly overconfident American drifter who ends up in South Vietnam on a USO morale tour.
- Donald Sutherland as Jerome "Jerry" Murphy, a neurotic, accident-prone American traveler who becomes unwittingly entangled in Mai Linh’s pursuit.
- Tony Randall as Anthony "Tony" Maguire, a music-obsessed American who tries to defuse every tense moment with song — often making things worse.
- Mai Linh Nguyen as Mai Linh, a determined Viet Cong sniper whose elaborate assassination attempts are constantly foiled by sheer dumb luck.
- Cao Ky Vu as Vu, a veteran Viet Cong marksman and occasional comic foil, often frustrated by Mai Linh’s string of failed missions.
- James Hong as Tran Bao, a savvy Saigon street hustler who “helps” the Americans — for the right price.
- Mako as Colonel Dinh, a no-nonsense South Vietnamese Army officer who’s constantly exasperated by everyone involved.
- Vũ Bảo Thái, Nguyễn Quang Thuận, Nguyễn Quang Đông and Nguyễn Hòa Bình as Mai Linh's Team
- Brian McPherson, Jacob Snyder, Warren Hadley, Wayne Hardy, Chris Zepeda, Brian Vallejo and Luis Vázquez as the US Army Soldiers