See for yourself

Rating: 8/10 (5 July 2000)

I happened to see this movie 1 month before I went into basic training so needless to say when the time did come I was a little scared. After serving in the military for over 10 years now I can still watch this movie with a little sense of KNOWING how people in their situation felt going through the military. When R. Lee Ermey paces back and forth letting the recruits know their new position in life, I can't help but sit back and laugh and remember how my drill instructors did the same to us without the physical violence. I also could correlate the similarities to the people who just couldn't hack the mental abuse and tried to get out by offing themselves or A.W.O.L.

When the movie moved to Vietnam, the hell that they endured during basic training still stayed with them. However the story didn't seem to keep it's same intensity as it kept going. It didn't lose it so much that it made the movie bad it just was not as gripping to watch.

This is a movie for anyone who has ever been in or plans on going into the military. For all others who have never been in or never plan on going in the military a new sense of respect for the first group.