Redux......It smells like.........victory

Rating: 9/10 (6 September 2003)

Most of the superlatives mentioned by other correspondents are justified. More than just another gung-ho American war movie - a journey into surreality,hypocrisy,hallucigenics,insanity,the dark side of human nature etc.
I thought that the additions within redux were a success - the French plantation scenes provided an extra level of historical perspective; the playboy bunnies attempted to parallel the fact that they were being exploited just like the male troops but this part wasn't totally convincing; the additions to Brandos dialogue particularly were apt, eg. the part about how young soldiers were allowed to kill but not write "f***k" on their planes because it was obscene.
A masterful movie, one of the best of any genre.