Beautiful, moving, powerful

Rating: 10/10 (17 January 1999)

An excellent film, an emotional powerhouse! Not only is the story itself so moving, but it is greatly enhanced by the style: the way the camera moves during certain scenes, sounds that resurface from the past, the wonderful selection and timing of songs and the score, the use of color and light, etc. Tom Cruise slips effortlessly into his role; within moments you forget Tom Cruise the Actor, and see him only as Ron Kovik. I put off seeing this film until just recently because I thought it was mostly fighting and bloodshed; but it instead delves into many years of one man's life, and how just a few moments of war changes him forever.