Boring, historically inaccurate and FAR too long

Rating: 1/10 (2 September 2010)

Story about three buddies (played by Robert DeNiro, John Savage and Christopher Walken) going off to Vietnam. They're all gung ho about going and aren't prepared for what they experience. They all return home--one mentally affected, one physically handicapped and one dead.
This came out in 1978 and was immediately hailed as a masterpiece. It was one of the few movies that dealt with Vietnam realistically (somewhat). It also really hit a lot of Vietnam vets and young guys hard. A friend of mine went to see it and after it was over he was in the mens room and saw 4 guys in their 20s crying nonstop. I saw it around that time. I was in high school and was bored silly. I figured at the time I was too young to appreciate it. I saw it years later and was STILL bored.
For starters--it's too long--3 hours. The wedding sequence at the beginning goes on and on and ON. You learn nothing more about the characters than you could have in about 10 minutes. Even after they return home it moves slowly. The Russian roulette sequences (which were VERY hotly debated) never happened in reality. There's no proof at all that it ever happened. Also one character makes a living out of playing Russian roulette???? Come on! The Vietnamese are portrayed as victims or monsters--very black and white. No shadings of character. With the sole exceptions of DeNiro, Savage and Meryl Strepp the acting sucks. Seriously--HOW did Walken get an Oscar for this? DeNiro should have gotten it. And the irony at the end (when they're all singing "God Bless America") was SO heavy-handed it was almost comic. Wildly overpraised and overrated. This does not belong in the top 250 on IMDb. A 1 all the way.