Shattering and unforgettable

Rating: Null/10 (24 September 1999)

When does immorality cross the lines in a war? Naturally, civility and normality fly out the window....after all, war is about killing people. But are there rules to it? Ideals we should follow as we engage upon the enemy? This film answers that question, and the answer is yes.
I have a large interest in the Vietnam War, primarily because it is considered by many to be America's darkest hour. Watching a film like this forces me to agree. The story is about a platoon of five men, and how their "fearless" leader (an excellent Sean Penn) kidnapps a Vietmanese girl and taunts his men to beat her and rape her. Only one man stands in the way, who knows that what they are doing is wrong (Michael J. Fox, in probably his greatest role). The kidnapping eventually leads to the murder of the girl, and Fox is determined to bring the men to justice, even though Penn argues that "what happens on the field stays on the field."
This is director Brian De Palma's finest hour. Rarely has the Vietnam War been presented as so haunting, showing the effects war has one people.... The U.S. were arguably the good guys in the war, but even the greatest of men have their breaking points. And few films show those breaking points as well as this one. Indeed, this is one of the finest films to come out to ever represent Vietnam for what it was: controversial, tragic....and disturbing.
**** out of ****