Odd film, long film, meaningful and yet moronic.

Rating: 6/10 (23 December 2018)

Having read that this was one of the earliest films to deal with the complex issues that face soldiers after the war, I was quite interested in watching it. Knowing the period, I knew it would be quite long and drawn out.
The movie starts of well. It goes through the initial moments clearly and sets up a good story.
The middle is at times dull, and yet cheerful to me, as the viewer.
The end had numerous annoyances, and did not appeal to me. The need to have a happy ending for such a serious topic seems to be where pre-vietnam movies lacked.
The few topics addressed include: being treated badly, being misused, family/relationship troubles.
These all exist today, and are serious issues.
With the love of violence and mass murder of the culture, it makes sense that such a movie was/could have been very popular. The ease of transition for some of them does make the film quite disappointing on further thought. All in all, the times were different, though the problems are still primary when we think about returning soldiers/terrorists from these countries.
Worth a watch, especially for those that like strong performances. The acting is superb. The story is the letdown, not the amazing work of the actors.