The best War movie since I don't know when

Rating: 10/10 (3 March 2002)

Mel Gibson out does John Wayne. Will now admit Mel Gibson is better than most as he pulls off making you believe his character. Sam Elliot is great also as I can name at least two Sergeant-Majors like him in personality if not in physical stature. The scenes from Ft. Benning made it personal to me cause I know those streets, this movie has to be used in various Army training courses in the future along with "Black Hawk Down".
This movie brings the realness of battle and a ill-prepared war to life. During the movie Gibson tries to explain what war is, and he comes close, but it's simply the struggle of one gang/nation/clan/group of people/tyrant or whoever you want to say struggling with a like force or party for the purpose of imposing one's will on a population or territory, whether for the good or for the bad and what's good to you may be bad to the other and vice-versa.
The North Vietnamese are portrayed honorably as Wallace did the Japanese in "Pearl Harbor". To me the battle scenes are graphic though not as bad as "Saving Private Ryan" or "BHD". The story does show the horror of Willie Pete, and if the do-gooders of the world want something really bad banned from existence like land mines and napalm, then this is what should be banned as it's a terrible and disfiguring substance.
The movie pays homage to those who took part in the Vietnam struggle and it's cause, it's too bad the leadership of that day did not understand how to do the business of war as was evident by Gibson's character being requested to go battle then taking men he had been training away from his unit and then when in the heat of battle requesting him to give a briefing back at the rear somewhere. Some men's name's should be spoken with shame and disgust. MacArthur, Patton, Marshall, Roosevelt, etc. surely rolled in their graves over how this war was conducted. Of course the same kind of leadership was present when "BHD" occurred too.
Worth seeing just on the historical insight it provides.