Very entertaining and disturbing

Rating: 7/10 (25 November 2002)

It's hard to say what I didn't like about this movie. The acting was great. The effects were great. The dialogue was great. The tempo was non-stop. Maybe that was it ... I rented this and found I had to take a break to get my breath back! Should a movie really engage you so closely in the dirty realities of battle? Watching ET ride a bicycle across the sky is so much easier on the brain. Do I really want to watch guys getting their bodies shot apart?
Still, I'd highly recommend the movie to anyone who hasn't seen it. I did find Mel Gibson to be a bit of an awkward fit for Colonel Moore. His pretty boy face was a bit short of real for the gutsy role, even with all the dirt and blood smeared on it. But being the actor he is, he pulls it off. A young Scott Glenn would have been a best cast for the part.
What I did really like about the movie is that it did not overly glamorize or deify war. Both the Americans and the Vietnamese suffered greatly, and the movie effectively showed suffering on both sides.
Haven't seen this yet? Go rent it now. This is not the type of movie you'll want to watch several times .. once is enough, but still, you'll enjoy it.