The first real war movie

Rating: Null/10 (9 March 2002)

This was the first true war movie ( don't give me that nonsense about birth of a nation). It presented war as a bad thing, not the propaganda commercials and pictures that governments feed the people, showing how soldiers live an easy life and become heroes. The beginning of the film shows the propaganda in progress, by way of a school teacher, who brainwashes his students into thinking that its an honor to fight for your country and an obligation.
This film presented many social issues, however it was also a great war battlefield movie. The scenes are realistic and powerful, showing how there are no action heroes in war. You can be alive and well one second, and lying motionless on the floor, the next. The young boys realize after about 2 days what a horrible mistake they made, and how full of crap their teacher was. The best scene was when one the soldiers came back to the school, and saw the teacher dishing out the same propaganda to a new wave of young kids. The reason that this is one of my favorite war movies is because it teaches lessons, its not just a movie with great explosions and good battle scenes (though it contains both). Overall I would give it an 8