A very good movie and very underrated, it didn't have the level of fame that Platoon did. I recommend another film by Oliver Stone, the third and last of his Vietnam trilogy: Heaven & Earth (1993), which tells the side of the people of Vietnam and how they lived the war, something like Clint Eastwood did in Letters from Iwo Jima, which shows the Japanese side of the conflict and is also a work of art,
I think, for a lot of my generation, this was the first time Cruise was the sole lead in a film doing heavy dramatic lifting, and we were impressed by his then less known commitment to a tough role
Yeah considering it wasn’t originally supposed to be cruise it was supposed to be Al Pacino because the script was written originally in the 70s but got stuck in development hell once he left.
It is a heavy movie, but another movie that is also heavy is "In The Name Of The Father," which stars Daniel Day Lewis. He gives a great performance in that movie.
I saw Ron Kovac in the late 80's just after this movie came out. He spoke at my college. Tom Cruze plays Ron Kovac in the movie. "the flag represents the government of a nation, not its people" - is something Kovac said that will always stick with me. When you look at history - after nearly all civil wars or revolutions, the flag of that nation changes (for the government changes) - the people are the same before the war as after, yet the flag changed! - why? shouldn't the flag remain the same after any civil war? since the people remained the same. Kovac was right, the flag represents a nation's government, not its people.
Such an excellent film. A rare perfect movie. I also read Ron Kovic’s book this film is based on. My favorite part of the film, is after coming home drunk and arguing with his mom, his dad carries him to bed and he asks, “who’s gonna love me dad?” It’s heartbreaking.
This is the movie where I started warming to Tom Cruise as an actor. This is a devastating movie and he was great in it. I remember when he got the part of Lestat in Interview with the Vampire and we Anne Rice fans, as well as Anne Rice herself, were outraged by that choice. We all had to eat our words when it came out because he was great. The Last Samurai is also an exceptional movie, as well as Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia, Oblivion, and Edge of Tomorrow. Wow, I didn't know I liked so many of his movies. LOL Oh yeah, Collateral is also a really good one. Good choice. I like your reactions. ✌🏽
So I remember hearing that Neil Jordan, director of Interview With The Vampire cast Tom Cruise as Lestat specifically because of his performance in this film, Born on the Fourth of July.
He really is incredible. Collateral is for sure my fave but vanilla sky he is very underrated. That movie in general. The ending is incredible. Also the mission impossible movies are some of the best action movies ever made
Platoon was based on Stone's own experiences. This film is based on the real-life Ron Kovic. Oliver Stone tends to re-use actors he likes. Carryovers from Platoon: Besides Dafoe, you have Berenger, McGinley, Dale Dye, Mark Moses, Chris Pedersen, David Neidorf... Caroline Kava as Kovic's mom did a great job of face acting when Ron lost that high school wrestling match. A few seconds of disgust on her face belied all her previous claims that it's not about winning, just about doing your best.
Hi Shandor, another amazing biopic movie to watch is Spike Lee's 'Malcolm X' (1992) with Denzel Washington. In my opinion one of the best movies of the last century. Oliver's Stone's 'The Doors' and 'JFK' are amazing, also 👍
That’s so awesome that you reacted to this film! I wish more movie reaction channels pick up on this classic! It is indeed a powerful film. And so masterfully directed. Oliver Stone won an Oscar for best director for this film. And Tom Cruise was nominated for an Oscar for best actor. Unfortunately he didn’t win, though he absolutely should have. I wish more reaction channels would learn to appreciate the genius of Oliver Stone and his extraordinary films. Stone has also gotten some of the best scores out of John Williams. Refreshing to hear this other side of John Williams music. The more personal and emotional side of his music in contrast to the epic sweeping scores he’s mostly known for from his work with Spielberg and Lucas. I have an Oliver Stone box set on DVD with all his greatest films. One of my favorite and most cherished movie box sets I own. One of the most worthwhile aspects of having all his films on DVD like that, is the Oliver Stone commentaries on them. Watching Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July with Stone’s commentary is so fascinating. I understand you saying you wouldn’t want to watch this film again, it is a tough one. The director’s commentary track though for this film (and Platoon) is worth it.
I agree, I love Oliver Stone's movies and they don't seem to get the recognition, at least from reactors, that they should. I'd like to see some reactions to Natural Born Killers, Wall Street, and U Turn to begin with.
@@angelagraves865 Man, Natural Born Killers would be a great movie for movie reactors to go in blind. Imagine them going into that movie knowing nothing about it. And then just the insanity that unfolds. A lot of these movie reaction channels are really dropping the ball by overlooking that film.
@@KrazyKat007 💯 I watched it again a couple months ago. It never gets old. Olive Stone really opened a door to new ways of shooting a movie with that one. So inventive. And you're right, going in blind is the way to go.
Maybe we shouldnt have been in Vietnam but dissing a vet like that is mad disrespectful and it wasnt only white people who fought in Vietnam they arent white or black, thier green
March of 68 was when the US sent the first combat troops of 3,500 Marines. There were already many times more military advisers already in the country.
They hated Oliver Stone for making this movie. Dow Chemical and Monsanto were still trying to get out of paying for the damage done to vets by their defoliant, Agent Orange. The government had no conscience about the undeclared war it had waged or the damage it had done to a generation of it's citizens. Two years later, Stone would release his film JFK, starring Kevin Costner. I highly recommend that film.
As harsh as this movie is, as a 70 year old, I can tell you it's not harsh enough!!! I thank Gos we ended the draft after that fucking war and lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
There are two HBO movies about Vietnam that are also enlightening: "A Bright Shining Lie" and "Path to War." The former takes place in the war, but the latter is about the conversations in the halls of government that led to American involvement.
The war was going since the Vietnamese rose up against their French colonizers in Hanoi on December 19, 1946. The U.S. aided the French. In the 60's, the American generals wanted to wage war in Vietnam. Kennedy resisted and was murdered. LBJ, after being sworn in as the new President, immediately reversed Kennedy's directives and the U.S war in Vietnam was on. 58,000 Americans, most of whom were too young to vote for representation (under 21 at that time) were drafted and killed. For what?
The were both very good, a little different. I was an au pair from Denmark in Westport Ct. 1967 and 68. I met and dated a few guys that had been to Vietnam, and in 68 some of my friends went to Vietnam, fortunately everyone I knew made it back home. One close friend of mine wrote me quite often, he described some of the same horror as featured in this movie. I remember the Chicago Democratic Convention and the Republican Miami Convension. This movie is very realistic, and Tom Cruise did a wonderful action job, and this was early in his career.
A very good movie and very underrated, it didn't have the level of fame that Platoon did. I recommend another film by Oliver Stone, the third and last of his Vietnam trilogy: Heaven & Earth (1993), which tells the side of the people of Vietnam and how they lived the war, something like Clint Eastwood did in Letters from Iwo Jima, which shows the Japanese side of the conflict and is also a work of art,
I was drafted in '72 they had a draft lottery and I won - the only time I ever won anything.
I think, for a lot of my generation, this was the first time Cruise was the sole lead in a film doing heavy dramatic lifting, and we were impressed by his then less known commitment to a tough role
Yeah considering it wasn’t originally supposed to be cruise it was supposed to be Al Pacino because the script was written originally in the 70s but got stuck in development hell once he left.
It is a heavy movie, but another movie that is also heavy is "In The Name Of The Father," which stars Daniel Day Lewis.
He gives a great performance in that movie.
I saw Ron Kovac in the late 80's just after this movie came out. He spoke at my college. Tom Cruze plays Ron Kovac in the movie.
"the flag represents the government of a nation, not its people" - is something Kovac said that will always stick with me.
When you look at history - after nearly all civil wars or revolutions, the flag of that nation changes (for the government changes) - the people are the same before the war as after, yet the flag changed! - why?
shouldn't the flag remain the same after any civil war? since the people remained the same.
Kovac was right, the flag represents a nation's government, not its people.
I'm flabbergasted. This was a spot on great review 💯 👍🏻
Such an excellent film. A rare perfect movie. I also read Ron Kovic’s book this film is based on.
My favorite part of the film, is after coming home drunk and arguing with his mom, his dad carries him to bed and he asks, “who’s gonna love me dad?”
It’s heartbreaking.
This is the movie where I started warming to Tom Cruise as an actor. This is a devastating movie and he was great in it. I remember when he got the part of Lestat in Interview with the Vampire and we Anne Rice fans, as well as Anne Rice herself, were outraged by that choice. We all had to eat our words when it came out because he was great. The Last Samurai is also an exceptional movie, as well as Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia, Oblivion, and Edge of Tomorrow. Wow, I didn't know I liked so many of his movies. LOL Oh yeah, Collateral is also a really good one.
Good choice. I like your reactions. ✌🏽
So I remember hearing that Neil Jordan, director of
Interview With The Vampire
cast Tom Cruise as Lestat specifically because of his performance in this film,
Born on the Fourth of July.
He really is incredible. Collateral is for sure my fave but vanilla sky he is very underrated. That movie in general. The ending is incredible. Also the mission impossible movies are some of the best action movies ever made
Platoon was based on Stone's own experiences. This film is based on the real-life Ron Kovic.
Oliver Stone tends to re-use actors he likes. Carryovers from Platoon: Besides Dafoe, you have Berenger, McGinley, Dale Dye, Mark Moses, Chris Pedersen, David Neidorf...
Caroline Kava as Kovic's mom did a great job of face acting when Ron lost that high school wrestling match. A few seconds of disgust on her face belied all her previous claims that it's not about winning, just about doing your best.
I still feel like this movie is Tom Cruises best performance. I was super surprised how good this movie was first time i saw it.
Hard to argue with that, he truly was amazing in this.
Hi Shandor, another amazing biopic movie to watch is Spike Lee's 'Malcolm X' (1992) with Denzel Washington. In my opinion one of the best movies of the last century. Oliver's Stone's 'The Doors' and 'JFK' are amazing, also 👍
That’s so awesome that you reacted to this film!
I wish more movie reaction channels pick up on this classic!
It is indeed a powerful film.
And so masterfully directed.
Oliver Stone won an Oscar for best director for this film.
And Tom Cruise was nominated for an Oscar for best actor.
Unfortunately he didn’t win, though he absolutely should have.
I wish more reaction channels would learn to appreciate the genius of Oliver Stone and his extraordinary films.
Stone has also gotten some of the best scores out of John Williams.
Refreshing to hear this other side of John Williams music. The more personal and emotional side of his music in contrast to the epic sweeping scores he’s mostly known for from his work with Spielberg and Lucas.
I have an Oliver Stone box set on DVD with all his greatest films. One of my favorite and most cherished movie box sets I own.
One of the most worthwhile aspects of having all his films on DVD like that, is the Oliver Stone commentaries on them.
Watching Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July with Stone’s commentary is so fascinating.
I understand you saying you wouldn’t want to watch this film again, it is a tough one. The director’s commentary track though for this film (and Platoon) is worth it.
I agree, I love Oliver Stone's movies and they don't seem to get the recognition, at least from reactors, that they should. I'd like to see some reactions to Natural Born Killers, Wall Street, and U Turn to begin with.
@@angelagraves865 Man, Natural Born Killers would be a great movie for movie reactors to go in blind.
Imagine them going into that movie knowing nothing about it.
And then just the insanity that unfolds.
A lot of these movie reaction channels are really dropping the ball by overlooking that film.
@@KrazyKat007 💯 I watched it again a couple months ago. It never gets old. Olive Stone really opened a door to new ways of shooting a movie with that one. So inventive. And you're right, going in blind is the way to go.
I wish they had ended with his speech. Kovic's speech at the 1976 convention was incredible.
Salvador by Oliver Stone is one of my favorite movies.
Maybe we shouldnt have been in Vietnam but dissing a vet like that is mad disrespectful and it wasnt only white people who fought in Vietnam they arent white or black, thier green
March of 68 was when the US sent the first combat troops of 3,500 Marines. There were already many times more military advisers already in the country.
They hated Oliver Stone for making this movie. Dow Chemical and Monsanto were still trying to get out of paying for the damage done to vets by their defoliant, Agent Orange. The government had no conscience about the undeclared war it had waged or the damage it had done to a generation of it's citizens.
Two years later, Stone would release his film JFK, starring Kevin Costner.
I highly recommend that film.
Thanks, I put it on my list!
As harsh as this movie is, as a 70 year old, I can tell you it's not harsh enough!!! I thank Gos we ended the draft after that fucking war and lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
There are two HBO movies about Vietnam that are also enlightening: "A Bright Shining Lie" and "Path to War." The former takes place in the war, but the latter is about the conversations in the halls of government that led to American involvement.
The war was going since the Vietnamese rose up against their French colonizers in Hanoi on December 19, 1946. The U.S. aided the French.
In the 60's, the American generals wanted to wage war in Vietnam.
Kennedy resisted and was murdered.
LBJ, after being sworn in as the new President, immediately reversed Kennedy's directives and the U.S war in Vietnam was on. 58,000 Americans, most of whom were too young to vote for representation (under 21 at that time) were drafted and killed.
For what?
Check out "The Dear Hunter" - the original "Born of the 4th July". Its all about post veteran experience.
The were both very good, a little different. I was an au pair from Denmark in Westport Ct. 1967 and 68. I met and dated a few guys that had been to Vietnam, and in 68 some of my friends went to Vietnam, fortunately everyone I knew made it back home. One close friend of mine wrote me quite often, he described some of the same horror as featured in this movie. I remember the Chicago Democratic Convention and the Republican Miami Convension. This movie is very realistic, and Tom Cruise did a wonderful action job, and this was early in his career.
Vanilla sky is a very similar movie since Tom cruise’s face gets fucked up. Both movies are about consequences and are both heart breaking.