--- title: "Netflix’s new war movie ‘Da 5 Bloods’ looks like ‘Three Kings’ set during the Vietnam War" description: "Director Spike Lee plans on dropping viewers into the shit when his new war drama, Da 5 Bloods, premieres on Netflix next month" date: "2020-05-19" modified: "2020-05-19" authors: - name: "James Clark" job_title: "Editor-in-Chief" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/james-clark/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/netflix-da-5-bloods-trailer/" categories: - "Culture" - "Entertainment" - "History" - "Past Conflicts" - "Vietnam War" --- # Netflix’s new war movie ‘Da 5 Bloods’ looks like ‘Three Kings’ set during the Vietnam War ![]() Director Spike Lee plans on dropping viewers into the shit when his new war drama, *Da 5 Bloods,* premieres next month on Netflix. *Da 5 Bloods* follows a group of four black veterans (and one of their sons) who return to Vietnam years after the war's end. Their mission: To recover the remains of their squad leader and close friend Norman (played by Chadwick Boseman) *and* to dig up a crate of gold that they buried downrange decades earlier. In a way, *Da 5 Bloods* feels a bit like the Gulf War heist flick, *Three Kings*, except that it's set in the jungles of Vietnam and shifts between the present and the late 1960s — with plenty of action, and likely a fair amount of dark humor, playing out in both timelines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5RDTPfsLAI But *Da 5 Bloods* will also examine the social and political strife of the 1960s, as scenes of civil rights marches and anti-war protests appear in brief snippets throughout the trailer. Indeed, the trailer begins with "Hanoi Hannah" (Van Veronica Ngo) talking over the radio as *Time Has Come Today* by The Chambers Brothers plays in the background: "Black GI, is it fair to serve more than the white Americans that send you here. Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die, without the faintest idea of what's going on. I dedicate this next record to the soul brothers of the first infantry division. Be safe." In terms of structure, *Da 5 Bloods* seems to be told through flashbacks as the characters grapple with the enduring legacy of that war and the indelible marks it left on them. In addition to Boseman, the *Da 5 Bloods* stars Delroy Lindo, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and Clarke Peters. The movie premieres on Netflix on June 12. ## Author James Clark is the editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose. He is a former Marine and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [LinkedIn]()