Starring Willem Dafoe and Gregory Hines, with supporting roles by Amanda Pays, Fred Ward, and Scott Glenn.
Set in the "seedy underworld" of Saigon, two U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) agents, Buck McGriff (Willem Dafoe) and Albaby Perkins (Gregory Hines), are tasked with solving a series of "Ripper-style" murders of local Vietnamese prostitutes. Their investigation leads them into a web of military corruption and cover-ups. Saigon 1988
Unlike many Vietnam War films of the era that focused on combat (e.g., Platoon or Hamburger Hill ), Saigon explores the moral decay and chaos within the occupied city. It utilizes the wartime setting as a "modern film noir," highlighting racial tension and the struggle to maintain order in a "world gone crazy". Production & Reception: Starring Willem Dafoe and Gregory Hines, with supporting
While the film is set in 1968, the year 1988 was historically significant for the real Saigon (renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976) and Vietnam: Their investigation leads them into a web of
Due to political restrictions at the time, the movie was filmed in the red-light districts of Bangkok, Thailand , which stood in for 1960s Saigon.