Masterpiece microcosm of the Vietnam War.

Rating: 10/10 (12 January 1999)

What most commentators and critics overlook about this film is that it has encapsulized in one film the entire political scandal that we have come to know this war as. It is a microcosm of the tragic scandal the U.S. was involved in S.E. Asia for almost a decade. Martin Sheen (a military intelligence officer) is hired (by a general and an ominous looking civilian) to kill a "hero" officer single-handedly responsible for multiple victories in a region considered a "no man's land" by other general officers. During Sheen's journey he encounters "druggie" enlisted men, "cowboy" helicopter warriors, a government sponsored "girlie show" where drugs are trafficked by a quartermaster. Sheen is escorted by a boat crew that includes a fellow with the initials "L.B.J.(!)" who is responsible for every bad incident that is encountered. This character, L.B. JOHNSON (get it?) even remarks "This is like DisneyLand!" and of course he remains unscathed to the end. Sheen, upon completion of his mission, has killed a prolific American officer, destroyed his military escorts, crushed his own allegiance to the U.S. and has his host's village "bombed back into the stone-age"... A fairly good microcosm of the war. Oh, and by the way, the character "LBJ" is the only person other than Sheen who survives the film. Look for a brief cameo of a young Harrison Ford in the first 15 minutes of the film.