a great war film that encapsulates the time period

Rating: 8/10 (17 January 2015)

I am a big fan of a clockwork Orange so I was looking forward to this film and I must say it is great. This film sees a soldier becoming dehumanized by war and sees others in the same situation. Now Mathew modine plays the soldier joker and he is the one who we are meant to root for. Now he does a good job as the soldier that everybody else is but he doesn't do anything to make him really stand out. There is one scene towards the end of the film that helps but it isn't really enough to make his character that interesting. The supporting cast also does a good job as soldiers in the Vietnam war and Adam Baldwin is good in the role as the crazy soldier. But there was a fantastic performance in the role and that is the drill sergeant, this guy was super scary and intimidating and everything he says is gold and he is the best performance in the role. The story is a mixed bag as it is kind of split into half, I loved the first half in the army training camp and I kind of wish the whole film could have been in the boot camp. The Vietnam part of the film had enjoyable action but really lacked something and had allot of downtime. Also the end was a bit disappointing that could have been improved. The script is great in the film with all the army dialogue working and feeling natural for the film. Also even though most of the drill sergeants dialogue is not scripted it is great and deserves credit. The style was great and Kubricks cinematography made this film feel like a great war epic and makes you feel like you are in with the marines on their mission. Overall this film is great and I definitely think you should see it.