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Born on the Fourth of July - Special Edition

Born on the Fourth of July - Special Edition

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Extremely Powerful Motion Picture Experience.
Review: Oliver Stone is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, this can be seen in his masterpieces like "JFK," "Nixon," and "Natural Born Killers," but it's also extremely seen in this gem of a movie. "Born On The Fourth Of July" is powerful, moving, well-filmed and extremely well-acted. This is the document of one man's voyage through hell and beyond. The chronicle of Ron Kovic's amazing struggle after being wounded in Vietnam. This is also a study of how the heroism of war seen in other movies or advertised at times by the military itself, can be blinding. Like in "Platoon," Stone captures the horror of war here, and the impact it can leave in one's mind. This movie is realistic, moving, and powerful. I was nearly moved to tears. Ron Kovic is one of the best written screen characters of all time. Oliver Stone is a genius of cinema who understands the emotional, dramatic as well as visual qualities of this film. The Oscar he won as Best Director for this film is rightly deserved. "Born On The Fourth Of July" is a triumph! One of the decade's most powerful movies. I highly recommend it. It understands and respects it's subject.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Typical Oliver Stone fantasy and propaganda
Review: While Tom Cruise does an excellent job, given such a poor script, Oliver Stone's liberal fantasies ruin this movie. The facts are historically inaccurate, rearranged to fit Mr. Stone's version of reality.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Flawed
Review: No matter how good a movie may be as a production, it must be evaluated on its historical accuarcy in cases like this. Stone purports to be making a true story. The violent confrontation at the Republican Convention depicted in this flick did NOT occur. It occurred at the Democratic Convention. Oliver Stone is a member of the Hollywood clique that is attempting to rewrite history. All of Stone's propaganda cannnot change the facts that the Democrat Party started the Vietnam War (under Truman) and that the Democrat Party was responsible for the major opposition to Civil Rights legislation in the 60's. Sorry, Stone. You are a Stalinist. This movie is just pure commie-prop. Had Stone promoted this movie as fiction then it would be good entertainment. His attempt to call it 'historical' reduces it to mere propaganda. Stone is the Josef Goebbels of Hollywood.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE SECOND BEST FILM OF THE DECADE
Review: "Born on the Fourth of July" is the second installment in director Oliver Stone's Vietnam War trilogy, and is by far the most powerful of the three. Tom Cruise gives one of the greatest performances in recent memory as Ron Kovic, a gung-ho Vietnam veteran who returns home after being paralyzed from the chest down. The film is extremely graphic in its depiction of violence, and the language is incessantly rough. Stone's terrific screenplay and brilliant, Oscar-winning direction keep the film moving at a tense pace, and the supporting cast, which includes Frank Whaley, Kyra Sedgwick, and an unforgettable Willem Dafoe, add to the sheer brilliance of this film. Second only to "Raging Bull" in the 1980s, and Cruise's performance is only second to De Niro in "Bull."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This movie has it all.
Review: I am convinced this is one of the greatest movies of all time. Tom Cruise was robbed of an Oscar after his unforgetable portrayal of Ron Kovic, a disabled Vietnam Vet. We're talking...soundtack, acting, cinematography, writing, the whole anchilada. This is one for the shelf so as to whip out every few months.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: it knocks the wind from your sails
Review: Haunting, frightening, shameful account not only of a war that never should have been fought, but of the treatment of those who did their duty -- before, during and after the incursion. Parts made me proud to be an American. Most made me sick with regret and shame. What sort of expectations did we set? What sort of recognition did we give those who fought for our freedom?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the greatest anti-war epics ever....
Review: BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY is about Ron Kovic (played so beautifully by Tom Cruise - wow! What a performance), a nice Long Island, NY boy who is a dedicated Catholic, High School athlete, and a good patriotic American. Ron joins the Marines in the early 1960's, wanting to join in fear that Vietnam would end before he got there. Well, he catches the "train" to 'Nam....and is a model Marine, making Sergeant quickly. After doing two regretful things in Vietnam, his Catholic-raised conscience eats away at him....but he doesn't have to live for it for too long, because he gets shot in a fierce firefight and paralyzed from the chest down. He comes home expecting to be a hero, just like his WWII Veteran father, and all the vets of previous wars. The hero-worship is short-lived, as he discovers that the America he once knew is gone and dead. No one is patriotic, no one cares about the veterans, and everyone is burning flags. This sends him into a downward spiral of alchoholism....and self-realization. He realizes that the war is really wrong, and joins the anti-war movement.

This film is so sad, so great, and just plain amazing. The patriotic music, as well as John Williams' score, is used wonderfully. The all-American parade song in the beginning (in the way that it is used) is really haunting. Again, the acting, especially Cruise's, is just wonderful. While I sensed some anti-American themes in there that Oliver Stone seemed to purposely throw in (maybe displaying his views? Well, it bothered me because I disagree with those views), BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY really changes your life after you see it...you can't stop thinking about it. Some scenes make you cry, some are very nostalgic of that naive childhood attitude we all had at one point. This film will bring a tear to your eye, make you cringe, and make you smile. All in all, it is very powerful. Highly reccomended (as well as the great book).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: we can do
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the greatest films around......
Review: From the opening scene of a Fourth of July parade all the way to the end, it really shows what happened before and after the war. One of the rare Vietnam war films that is really worth watching. Although my father was not actually in combat, but in another part of the army, his friends were. From all his stories to this film in particular, I can see how these veterns came back to a country that ultimatly turned against them and their struggles to just keep going.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: POWERFUL!!!
Review: This movie is extremely powerful and inspiring, as well as educational. It changes my view toward wars and Vietnam War veterans, and it somehow makes me promise to myself that I will not waste my life. Playing this role is obviously a risk for Tom Cruise, but his performance is not only good; it's stunning! The only thing imperfect about the movie is it is a bit too heavy-handed and elaborated, I think. END


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