Male bonding in the highest form

Rating: 10/10 (4 April 2020)

The star of this movie is the drill instructor (D.I.) for the boot camp attended by the group of men that signed up for the United States Marine Corps. He is always verbally and occasionally physically savage to the men as he pulls apart their feelings and turns them into automatons that are at one with their rifles. It is interesting that Lee Erney, the man that played the D.I., was in fact a drill instructor during the Vietnam War and much of his dialog was ad lib. When the men are in boot camp, there are times when you empathize with them.
The war action is just as gritty, the last section of the movie is set in the Vietnamese city of Hue during the Tet Offensive when it was overrun by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. The set is so real that once I was done watching the movie, I went to a search engine to find out where the scenes were shot. I have watched actual footage of the battle for Hue and the reality is uncanny.
The story follows a group of young men that join the Marines and proceed through boot camp before being sent to Vietnam to fill various roles. After some time in country, a few of them are reunited in the battle for Hue. Despite their now brutal personalities, they show tenderness towards each other as only fellow soldiers in battle can.
This is a great movie that shows war at the lowest levels and male camaraderie in its' highest form.