You should see it, but view it with a grain of salt.

Rating: 3/10 (21 May 2018)

As a vet and from a family where every male is a vet, I have to say this movie is one of the reasons why there is still a vastly skewed view of the Vietnam War in popular culture. I do believe the film has it's good points, but its damage to the common view of Vietnam vets is undeniable.
I realize Oliver Stone was a vet, but the view is obviously one-sided. Charlie Sheen's character is based on him and therefore every character is seen through him. Everyone who smokes dope and hangs out in the psychedelic bunker are certainly the good guys and are of course the heroic, top-grade soldiers. Their "leader" is Willem Dafoe's Elias. Meanwhile the other side, led by Tom Berenger's Barnes, are just a bunch of dumb rednecks. They sleep in a bunkhouse with Confederate battle flags on the wall, drink beer and whiskey, and listen to Merle Haggard. In the field they are either incompetent cowards or crazed murderers who kill unarmed innocent women and children for fun.
If you want a more realistic portrayal of the ground war in Vietnam, We Were Soldiers is your best bet, followed closely by The Green Berets (at least the first two-thirds, before the "commando" mission) and the Vietnam part of Forrest Gump.