Surprised at the fairly uniform positive reviews.

Rating: Null/10 (6 April 2002)

Some of the performances are strong. I had major problems with the movie's credibility, though. For instance, certain characters were not believable. The one sadistic drill sergeant was completely out of control, laughably so--kind of a cardboard version of the mean prison guard in The Shawshank Redemption, a much better film. The caricatured drill sergeant in Tigerland contrasts sharply with the drill sergeant in Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket." The DI in that movie was the opposite of out-of-control. In Tigerland, Sergeant Sadist's captain was a caricature as well. These guys seem to serve merely as devices to establish the conflict that's supposed to drive the movie. The idea of the insubordinate draftee who overthrows authority in boot camp is pretty hackneyed by now. Lastly, I can't imagine someone like Bozz would have been able get away with this stuff and to leverage control over the unit as he does, through repeated insubordination. But what do I know? I was never in the Army. Still, I just don't buy it. I liked Schumacher's movie "Falling Down" much better.