Stimulating, for a 1st grader

Rating: 1/10 (13 June 2003)

This has to be one of the worst movies about war ever made. Pure sentimental claptrap. However, there are so many bad things about this movie, I feel I will forget something. Let us begin with Mel Gibson and his accent. What part of the country he is supposed to be from, I am not sure. Then there is the geography of Vietnam, which looks a lot like Central Texas. I swear I saw numerous Texas Live Oaks. I don't want to be too picky here, but Vietnam (any tropical country) does not resemble this terrain at all. Then you have the NVA troops that all like to run right up to our American boys without firing their weapons. Our boys shoot them as they run with their AK 47's in hand. Now that is just bad training. If the NVA had only known how to actually fire a weapon, they might have won this war. Hey, wait a minute, they did win this war. Other acting performance were shallow and undeveloped.
Look, it is no shock why this film is accepted. It is told on about a 2nd grade level and is crammed full of patriotic and military pride. It is an easy recipe for success with the masses, but hardly great.