Born On The Fourth Of July (Special Edition)

 

 

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this was tom cruise proving what a brilliant actor he was/is - for me, he became ray,
this film is one of the most incredible, moving, powerful, emotional ever made, on the strength of the story.
the whole story just takes you along and you feel every emotion that is experienced by the main characters,
the pride, the emotion, the humility, the sorrow, disappointment, disillusionment.........
every time i watch it, i go through the same feelings, feeling gutted,
the scene that totally cuts me up is the high school dance, where he rushes to meet kyra, & they dance to "moon river" - it cuts me to bits, knowing what is to follow.......... the guy is so proud & feels like her hero, he's going off to be a soldier, to fight for his country & you can sense his anticipation, his dreams of when he returns to her..........
& his total loss of self & pride, following his hospitalisation from his injuries, his anger becomes your anger, your disgust with those authorities,
the whole film leaves you with this ucomfortable feeling in your seat, of what was sacrificed by these men, what was lost...... for what?.......
i do feel that while this film was using this experience to convey a message, it did not seem to reach it's destination...?
as in the song, "none of them received a hero's welcome"..........?

In 1989 Oliver Stone came out with "Born on the Fourth of July", the true story of Ron Kovic, a gung-ho Marine who is paralyzed in combat in Vietnam. The film is realistic and compelling. Stone is a master and Tom Cruise as Kovic gives one of his best-ever performances, proving him to be a bona fide acting talent. The film depicts the heartbreaking American experience in Vietnam, and the character arc of Kovic is as complete as any ever captured. He returns home, desperate to believe that his sacrifice was in a noble cause, but this is chipped away by the well-known elements of '60s radicalism. The "generation gap" between longhaired youths and crew cut, religious parents is profound. Kovic sinks into the depravity of drugs and alcohol, but battles back to become a "hero" of the anti-war Left. He wheels into the 1972 Republican National Convention, where he tries to tell the clean-cut, well-heeled patriots that they are wrong and he is right. The idea is that they are all warmongers who have not fought, while he is a pacifist because he has. While there is truth to the premise, in choosing to tell this story, Stone establishes Hollywood as the home of solidly liberal ideas. In 1972, Nixon won 49 states over the ant-war McGovern. The idea that all those Americans, subject daily to reports from Peter Arnett and Dan Rather, the bias of Walter Cronkite, and the hate of the New York Times and the Washington Post, chose Nixon because they were bloodthirsty imperialists is just malarkey. Furthermore, Nixon had made 18-year olds eligible to vote. The concept that all of American youth protested in the streets is a myth. The anti-war movement was propped by TV that made pockets of outrage look like a widespread movement. The Silent Majority spoke out in '72. Big time.
Stone's depiction is fair in and of itself, but he takes advantage of the power of his medium in creating a mindset that such horrors as Kovic experienced are just part of the "Vietnam experience." Kovic's life mirrors soldiers going back to the Roman Legion and beyond. The Left has taken Vietnam as one of those core issues and stuck to it, just as they found themselves wedded to Alger Hiss, Bill Clinton and now the losing side of the War on Terrorism. McCarthy was going after genuine Communists, and genuine Communists were trying to enslave South Vietnam. It took some fighting to stop them. Nixon and Kissinger had the best plan available to them at the time, and the public recognized it. Watergate killed them and the Democrats used it to abandon our allies. Millions died because of them. Democrats will have you believe that we "created" the "killing fields." They have to say things like that, to cling to this nebulous theory, somehow unable to blame the rabid haters and murderers of Communist history, apparently because they are wedded to McCarthyism. Their movies are their best tool in perpetuating their lies. Not on my watch.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM

As other reviewers have said, this movie does have a liberal bias. However, that bias is pretty much irrelevant to the plot, which I think was very well done.
This move details the life of Ron Kovic, a patriotic young man who enlists in the marines, and goes to Vietnam. He is wounded, and ends up paralyzed from the waist down. As he struggles with his new handicap, he slowly comes to realize the folly of his patriotism.
As a libertarian, I see this as a story of learning to distrust the government. At the end of this story, I think Ron still loves his country, but he learns to understand the difference between country and government. I recommend this movie to anyone interested in the war, specifically from the veterans point of view.
A few notes: others have mentioned the Mexico scenes as being in bad taste. I think they are a crucial part of the movie. Take, for example, the scene with the prostitute. It looks raunchy until you realize that it's FAKE. He can't be having sex because he's paralyzed. And furthermore, he knows this and starts crying! In my opinion, the worst scences in this movie are in the VA hospital, which are unfortunately realistic.

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4.0 out of 5 stars An Intese Look at the After-Affects of Warfare
As other reviewers have said, this movie does have a liberal bias. However, that bias is pretty much irrelevant to the plot, which I think was very well done. Read more

Published on April 30 2004 by Scott Burley

5.0 out of 5 stars Rent it...and you'll want to buy it
Im not big on directors or actors; i love a movie with a great story, and an important message. But... Read more

Published on April 5 2004 by A. Lacasse

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow
To sum it all up....I cant believe Cruise didnt win the Academy Award for this one. Just an incredible performance.

Published on April 3 2004 by Joe Clay

1.0 out of 5 stars Physically Well- Crafted, but Agenda Driven
I was once a fan of this film, back in high school and when I was ignorant of history. Call me biased, but here are the facts of this film:

In the opening, we are treated to... Read more

Published on Mar 26 2004 by Mr. Tickle Snort

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite sure about this one.
I finally watched this after hearing my mom hype it for years. I have always understood it to be a war movie - but it isn't, not in the traditional sense of the word. Read more

Published on Oct 31 2003 by Delamaine

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and distrubing, but ultimately redemptive
I avoided this when it came out in 1989 having seen Coming Home (1978) and not wanting to revisit the theme of paraplegic sexual dysfunction and frustration. Read more

Published on Oct 23 2003 by Dennis Littrell

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dark Side of War
This is a movie from Oliver Stone based on The brutality of Vietnam, and how the soldiers who fought paid the most dearly. Read more

Published on Sep 14 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Stone at his best
With his last great movie 'Nixon' in 1995 people have pretty much forgotten about one of the greatest directors of all time. Read more

Published on Sep 3 2003 by C. Chow

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 STARS TO THIS GOOD AND CONTROVERSIAL MOVIE.
In "Born On The Fourth Of July", we follow the life of Ron Kovic (played by Tom Cruise), divided in episodes. Read more

Published on July 8 2003 by Alejandro Cortes

5.0 out of 5 stars Ron Kovic is a hero
Ron Kovic in my mind is not so much a hero for his views, his book or his movie. Ron Kovic is a hero because instead of living a life long pity party, Ron takes action, and it is... Read more

Published on May 23 2003 by Katie

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