10 out of 10

Rating: 10/10 (25 October 2009)

I have given this movie a 10 out of 10, not so much for it's entrainment value but because it says something very important about what it means to serve your country in the military. I'm the child of a career marine who served two tours of duty in Viet Nam. As someone who grew up living on bases I can tell you it says something very important. It seems that too many war movies display just the horror of war but fail to understand the human toll, on the servicemen and their families. My own father was very much like the character that Mel Gibson played in the movie. He saw himself as more than just a professional but as someone who was honorably serving his country. My own experience was going to a high school where almost all the student's fathers were serving overseas in Vietnam. On average once a week the principal would come down and ask the teacher to step out. This was followed by the teacher asking one of my classmates to accompany the principal down to the office to be met by their mother to find out that dad had been killed in action. There was always a feeling of the the heart stopping when the principal came to the door. I can appreciate the scene in the movie where the cab driver comes to the door to deliver the sad news. Excuse me for digressing, but the point that I'm trying to make is this movie really does come close to what it's really like to be a serviceman and what the families of servicemen have to endure. With the death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan over 5000, this movie is a real reminder of what the word sacrifice means.