I was playing Battlefield Vietnam briefly the other day after I patched just to see what had changed. Then something occurred to me.
Whenever I play a game or watch a movie that has to do with the Vietnam Era/Conflict, the thing that really brings it home is the music. BF:V has an amazing soundtrack. Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, We Were Soldiers Once...music from the era really evokes the period amazingly well.
The thing I was wondering is "What started that trend?" Who was the first director who said "I'm going to put people there by playing music of the period?" Or was it that everywhere you went in Vietnam during the conflict, US soldiers took their music with them? Or what?
I found it equally curious that this doesn't happen for Korean War movies, or even WWII movies. At least not for me. That music doesn't resonate with me.
But play "Nowhere to Run" by Martha and the Vandellas or "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen or "War" by Edwin Starr and I'm immediately thinking of Vietnam. No idea why that is.
Quentin Tarantino says that he writes movies and chooses the music as he's writing. I believe that, given how well his soundtracks work.