A brave de Niro is not anti war

Rating: 1/10 (7 May 2012)

War movies are in a dilemma. On the one hand, they need to show war as what it is: a hopeless and devastating human drama that many can't mentally survive if they were lucky enough to survive it physically. On the other hand, the watchers like action and bravery. These two things hardly match, because if you want to show the reality of war, there is not much space for superficial statements like "trust me, I know what I'm doing" or other showcases of bravery. And de Niro is shown just like that. He has a clear mind, does the right things, he has the plan how to shoot down the enemies that hold them captive (and what plan does he have? He wants to shoot down 5-10 Vietnamese that all watch him closely and are in the same room with ONE bullet hitting someone with a gun and then he can take the gun and finish the others off - yeah right, that certainly works out in most cases if it is real...). That is not war, that is Hollywood. End the enemies? The Vietnamese are shown as aggressive, simple-minded and perfidious people who love to play with the lives of men and who kill helpless women carrying children - while the US soldiers are like your neighbors or best friends. A little unbalanced? I think so. Definitely this movie is not going to help people get more tolerant towards different cultures (which I think is a necessity for reducing war).
On the positive side this movie does show how, in a subliminal way, war depresses the whole community at home. But I just can't forgive the unrealistic glory moments and the mean way the Vietnamese are displayed, because on the emotional side these things promote war, instead of unmasking it.