THE BEST anti-war film in the 20th century!!!

Rating: Null/10 (13 December 1998)

There are about only three films from the 1950's that cling to me like a fly to sugar - "The Searchers" (1956), "Some Like it Hot" (1959) and this film. It is by far THE BEST anti-war film ever made...other people will say "Apocalypse Now" (1979) or "Platoon" (1986). They are GREAT films about the horrors of Vietnam, and war in general. But, no film in the 20th century has described the horrors of war (in terms of the torture, brutality, or the insanity of war) better than this film. You feel the "heat" of that oven when they place Nicholson (Alec Guinness) in it. You feel his pain. You cheer his release along with his comrades. When I first saw this movie, I thought William Holden was the hero. Now, that I have seen this movie several times, it is hard to single out any hero of the film because all of them were heroes in their own right...and it was the total idea of "war" in general that made their lives a living hell.