Felt like I was back in boot

Rating: 7/10 (2 May 2005)

I found the first half of this film to be a very realistic portrayal of bootcamp. I was in the Corps from '77-'81 and this is the real deal folks. This is how it was (still is?)- like it or not. One thing that was different in my time though- the physical abuse was pretty well hidden- due to some recent scandals, I think. So I never got punched or saw anybody else get whacked but the verbal abuse was awesome. As some guy once wrote, "it was the worst of times, it was the best of times.". I'm 46 years old and I still have nightmares that I'm back in bootcamp! Anyway, I found the 2nd half of the film to be pretty much a snooze- maybe I'll try watching it again someday. It really is two separate movies. Show this to your son who wants to be a Marine and then see what he says! :-) Hell, show it to your daughter- they have it none too easy either... (I was stationed at Parris Island for most of my enlistment.) Oh yeah- we had our own "Gomer Pyle" (actually a couple of them now that I think of it). Ours was "Dawson". Man, did they give that guy hell. And then there was "DeWolf" an overweight, 30ish guy who had NO BUSINESS being in Marine bootcamp. I remember him doing the barb wire crawl down the middle of the squadbay during the night. Right before they kicked him out. We started with about 80 guys in the platoon and ended up with maybe 50-55 I think.
Watch this movie and see how the other half lives. This is scarier than any made up crap like "House on the Haunted Hill" or "Natural Born Killers".