The Hanoi Hilton is a 1987 Vietnam War film written and directed by Lionel Chetwynd, with music by Jimmy Webb. It follows a group of American POWs and their experiences in
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in the 1960s and early 1970s. The prisoners maintain military rank in the face of their brutal treatment and rely on each other for strength.
The Hanoi Hilton contains examples of:
- Don't Make Me Take My Belt Off!: Gregory (David Anthony Smith) screams when rats crawl on him. The guards punish him for making noise by beating him with a belt.
- Electric Torture: In one scene, Gregory is electrocuted with wires attached to his nipples. The same thing happens to the other prisoners offscreen.
- Revenge by Proxy: The captors attempt to break Colonel Cathcart (Lawrence Pressman) by torturing his men.
- Rock–Paper–Scissors: In one scene, two prisoners play the game to kill time. In the first round, they both draw finger guns, and laugh.
- Room 101: Room 18, where prisoners suffer Cold-Blooded Torture in order to break them. It works - all the prisoners eventually break and renounce America over the prison's loudspeaker.
- Special Thanks: The end credits have a list of the former POWs, including John McCain, who helped make the movie more realistic. Later on there's a longer list of people and organizations.
- Tears of Joy: After a year in isolation, Williamson (Michael Moriarty) cries when he's allowed to be with other prisoners.
- Title In: Used every so often to show the year and the season.
- Unwilling Suspension: While being tortured, prisoners are suspended from the ceiling with ropes by their arms and wrists, leaving them with gruesome rope burns.
