Well, yes.....

Rating: 10/10 (14 November 2005)

Alright, I have never been in an armed service and never plan to be. I thought I should say that before I started.
To the people who thought that this movie had no plot or conclusion I say to you: NO, REALLY? This movie struck me as essentially a first person documentary, and a truly good documentary should simply present "How it is" and not make any value statements. That is this movie to a "t" in my mind. It simply presented everything that the writer (a marine) felt or experienced (or heard about one would guess from the sheer scope of it all). Essentially, the viewer is overloaded with everything; Swofford seems to try to dump this part of his life into you brain, and I think did an excellent job. When I left the theatre I essentially felt, OK yes... The meaning of this film is what you make it.
As to the accuracy of the events and portrayal, i cannot say. However I found it interesting that there seem to be many marines who have responded and seem to be evenly split as to the accuracy (what does this imply). I would, however, like to say for what it is worth that the characters in the movie are simply portrayed as human. They all have failings, weaknesses, and simply fly off the handle occasionally. If this in some way besmirches the "infallible hero" image of a marine GOOD. I am sorry if that remark cause offense, but sad to say that you are still human. Marines may have a tough job, i'll certainly grant them that, but if that is to imply that everyone is to ignore the fact that they are just as human as the next person, I believe that to be a worse disfavour.
Well, overall, this was an excellent movie. Odd as it may sound, it was a war movie that achieved greatness through understatement (one may not believe it to be possible).
As to others comments: I found it funny the people essentially whining about the language and sex. Umm, you send people out to die and you think they are going to worry about profanity? There was so little war, others complained.... that was desert storm, what did you expect about a movie about Desert Storm? And the worse ones: Oh no, your questioning the impeccable facade of the armed services... your Un-American. Folks, we buried Mcarthy along time ago, true his legacy has never died, but really: America = freedom = allowed to say anything you want. Especially, allowed to THINK anything you want.
Go see the movie, thats all i can really say, as it seems to be one that is a very individual experience.