Overrated, overhyped, nonsense

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2001)

I don't actually hate this movie--there are a few parts that are watchable. The problem I have with it is that it's just not very funny--as a black comedy or otherwise. While the place is littered with good actors, they aren't really given a chance to create much in the way of characters. The parts are very sparsely drawn and in fact there are too many of them. I had to watch the movie several times just to keep them all straight--but even then, most seem to never really transcend the level of basic childishness.

I tend to think of this as Animal House in Korea, except not very funny. At least the former was hilarious and without pretense of being about something socially significant. The movie lacks a plot, not that everyone needs one, but it needs to replace it with something worth watching. In fact a number of reviewers have mentioned the football game near the end, I can only believe they threw it in not because of any real plot necessity but because they ran out of things to have happen.
I also have a hard time with this as a war movie, or even an anti war movie. Mostly because there's no war in it. These guys seem to be having one big party--they have access to women, booze, cars (jeeps), and even get a pick up football game together complete with cheerleaders. This is war? Yeah, they have to go into surgery once in a while and it's bloody--isn't that what surgery is all about though? And compare that to the guys several miles in front of them, where they're sleeping in trenches and mud, having bombs go off around them and people shooting at them. Hard for me to have a lot of sympathy for some overgrown children with martinis and nurses.

War may indeed be hell, but in this movie its more like a frat party.