Did anybody else buy the book?

Rating: 10/10 (11 August 2010)

This was a movie that was so good, I wanted to read the book. And, I fully intend to. My dad read it and, he a vet of Vietnam, said it was very good. Now to the movie. Good movement, good emotion, good storyline. You really get to turn Mel Gibson and Sam Elliot, and even Kinnear into real heroes. That's what war movies used to do. People idolized John Wayne and others in war movies. They were made to look invincible, intelligent, and ballsy. Gibson's character was smart, effective, and sure of himself. Main characters in movies today are unsure of themselves, not smart, and goofy, when goofy shouldn't be there. Chris Klein's character was appropriate, as the scared, yet brave, soldier. For his character, it's appropriate to be unsure of yourself, and that worked. I didn't think, at first, that I'd like the flashes back to the states with the wives on the base, but their role was very emotional, and it added to the movie, didn't remove anything. During the drafted wars, plenty of wives/girlfriends/daughters were back home feeling exactly like these ladies. Scared shitless. Any Vietnam vet would like this movie, but they might not care about the Vietnamese-sided view of the movie. But that was justified later when Gibson was guessing their attack plans, and was accurate about it. Gibson was a hero in this movie, and it's refreshing to see that again.