Infuriating and moving

Rating: 8/10 (19 December 2007)

While not connected in any actual way, "Born on the Fourth of July" is Oliver Stone's follow up to his fantastic 1986 film about the Vietnam war, "Platoon". This time Stone confronts us with the shocking affect the war had on its veterans, by telling us the true story of Ron Kovic, a young man who joined the marines in order to get an opportunity to serve his country in the war, and stop the "insipid communist" regime.
Oliver Stone, who again won best director at the Academy Awards for this film, delivers yet another powerful and emotional drama about the atrocities of Vietnam, atrocities that even followed the young men back to the United States. Once again the production is technically impressive and very convincing, and John Williams provides a truly haunting score, which is both disturbing and uplifting in its own right. The fabulous acting performances are probably the films strongest point, with Raymond J. Barry, Frank Whalley, Jerry Levine and both Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger (also in "Platoon") lending fine back up to Tom Cruise, whose honest and passionate portrayal of the shattered Kovic is magnificent, the role of a lifetime for this previously unproven actor.
Stone's movie of Ron Kovic's novel is only fractionally less effective than "Platoon", perhaps due to its marginal over length and the fact that it is not as brilliantly focused as its predecessor, as it covers a much broader range of topics that related to the war. Yet still this is a film that will surely infuriate you, and move you.
Wednesday, January 26, 1994 - Video
Oliver Stone's obsession with the Vietnam war continues in "Born on the Fourth of July" as he shifts his focus from what Vietnam did to the soldiers to what the United States did to its veterans.
Ron Kovic's touching autobiographical novel is the subject matter on which Stone bases his harrowing, disturbing screen play (co-written by Stone and Kovic) about young Kovic's blind pro-war patriotism which turns into a strong anti-war passion after he returns from Vietnam paralysed and disillusioned.
The film's strongest point is its performances from an impressive cast including Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava, Jerry Levine, Kyra Sedgwick, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger and an outstanding Tom Cruise who gives us a powerhouse showing, first as the gung-ho young marine ready to take on the world, then as the confused and angry vet questioning the very ideals on which he was brought up.
The splendid production values that were evident in "Platoon" return again, with Robert Richardson back behind the camera to deliver some splendid 'Nam pics, Bruno Rubeo again in charge of Art Direction, while new editor David Brenner does a creditable job and John Williams scores an emotionally rousing piece of music.
Again Stone proves himself a confronting controversialist, and one who was obviously deeply disturbed himself by the upheaval that so devastated the American people and the entire world in the turbulent 60's. As an accompaniment to 1986's best picture "Platoon", "Born on the Fourth of July" is a worthy piece of cinema, and though not as brilliantly or deliberately focused as its powerful predecessor, it is a haunting reminder of one of the greatest tragedies of our too often fallible kind, war!
Thursday, October 6, 1994 - Video