Worked well until the final scene let it down!

Rating: 5/10 (24 February 2006)

The film looks good. Yes, it's relatively realistic. The only unrealistic scenes are :- The marines getting shot by the A-10's.
As memory serves me (and I was involved in Live Operations so I know what I'm talking about) only The British were shot at and killed by A-10's. Don't bother asking why this happened. About 100 people know and it's so classified it'll never be talked about.
How Swoff isn't shipped out on a section 8 after he tries to kill the guy in their tent, God alone knows.
Also the final scene where Swoff is bitching because he never fired his weapon and then they all started firing wildly into the sky. Even Jamie Foxx who is supposed to be in charge of discipline.
Only a few scenes before Swoff had spoken about what would happen if he shot someone. He'd get done for negligent discharge (known as ND's) and then spend time in the stockade. Well, if the US do the same as the British do, you get billed for every round. About £400 (GB £'s) a round circa 1996.
In that scene Jamie Foxx should be jumping on their skulls and telling them he'll shoot the next man to waste a round. If this was based on a real event I do hope the US military billed them all. This would have cost them thousands.
I can't see the point of letting soldiers about to go to war watch Apocalypse Now. And sending a man in combat a copy of The Deer Hunter. Quite funny when it turns out to be a revenge sex tape from his wife!
Swoff states his war lasted 4 days. Which Gulf war was he in then? The 1st Gulf War (and I was involved, so personally I think he's full of bull) lasted just over 2 weeks.
The ending is weak, no explanation of why his friend died or what Swoff goes on to do next.
Not a bad film but the ending needs work. Is the book any better?