The horror of war, the boredom of peace

Rating: 5/10 (31 January 2004)

Pretty good war flic, but the producers could have lost the first dull 45 minutes. They always have to show the huggy body/kissy face family crap before the bloodletting. To me, "Platoon" was a more realistic Viet Nam film, but I must say the carnage was more graphic in WWS. Elliot was tough and amusing as the grizzled top kick, but Gibson came off as a tad wimpy for a gung-ho combat officer. His tears just after the big battle were a trifle trumped up looking. I liked the unbloodied Air Corp guys as they jumped over the parapets yelling "Air Corp!" only to be blown away. Amazing what you can get people to do in the name of democracy and the flag. This was a real gorefest, but let's face it: it's been done and done to death. One never sees the spraying multi-jets of blood coming out a human's back on the History Channel.