Outstanding Job

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 1998)

I am an Officer of Marines and have been waiting for a war to depict war in its entirety. With this movie, the wait is now over. All that is needed is the smell of burning flesh and hair, and one would have a realistic experience of the effects of war. This movie is as real as it gets.
I have always wondered why my father (who was a Marine during the Korean War) never mentioned the crazy things that happened to him during his two tours of Korea. He kept these things hidden within him and they only surfaced around loud noises or when the mentioning of his old comrades was brought up in certain circles. You could see the pain and suffering that hit him. The movie's ending followed this as if my dad had written his own autobiography. Watching help myself answer these unknown questions and prepared me more for what my job entitles as a leader of Marines.
The best part of watching this movie was doing it near a military base. Opening night the theatre was completely crowded with Marines and their significant others. The Marines enter cocky as usual; proud, confident and ready to see another action war movie. As I watched them leave with a sobbing friend, I could see a new light in their eyes in the understandings of the effects of war. They were able to see the consequences of some of their actions in future situations.