#1. The symbolism for the Russian Roulette sequences

Rating: 9/10 (11 December 2012)

While this is a war movie, there are very few bullets fired, and even fewer are fired at others. Much of the film is spent playing Russian roulette, and while the American POWs weren't really forced to do this in Vietnam, it does stand as a terrific metaphor for the chances taken in wartime. During the draft, citizens were forced into the army, like the gun was forced to the characters' heads, and the longer you played the game, the less likely you were to live. You did have the option of refusing, which would get you sent to prison (symbolized here by "the pit"), where you would eventually die anyway (spiritually, since taking that path would be giving up many privileges as an American once you got out). The last option, the one Mike and co. took, was to say no and flee before you could even put that gun to your head. To some, this may be a disgusting discrepancy to the real experiences of the war, but I find it easily forgivable; the metaphor is wholly justified, and it still gives a well-performed (if completely fabricated) account of the grim brutality of war.