No Vietnam movie compares

Rating: 9/10 (28 November 2016)

I just watched this film for the first time in probably 2 decades I think. I remember watching it as a young teen in the early 80's. Today, as I think of the fact that it was made within 3-4 years after the fall of Saigon I have a deeper,enhanced appreciation for it. Considering the onslaught of Vietnam movies that came out afterwards...not a single one can be held in comparison. It is a classic in its own right. To me it is simply a brush stroke of what millions of Americans experienced and were experiencing at the time of the movie...an impartial snapshot of America during its Vietnam tribulation. I tried to find the "hidden" undercurrent of pro- or anti-war bias but it just wasn't there. Sure, the depictions are all extreme or stereotypical (drinking, abuse, war atrocities, PTSD, etc) but they are all also very real. What I see, what I feel, what I surmise from this movie is simply this: Here we were, there we went, some came home, others not. Life for us, our friends, our family has changed and now we must adjust. I also believe it was sort of a message in a bottle, if you will, except this message was saying to American families: "You're not alone!"