Born On The Fourth Of July DVD

 tom crusie old style
This is a good movie but it is very deppressing.But this is 1 of tom's best movies
Submitted by a reviewer (''Wallingford,CT,USA'')
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 A MOVIE OF ALL TIME
I like this movie because it depicts the plight of our heroes that were not given much attention in the society. There's an excellent portrayal by the main actor (Tom Cruise) in the movie. I think this is the best among all of his movies.
Submitted by a reviewer (San Diego, CA USA) 
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 The Real Truth Told In This Epic Film
Oliver Stone has made some great movies and this is my pick as his best. Tom Cruise should have won the Oscar for his performance, but somehow he was denied. Stone has his facts right about the way republicans treat vets who speak out against a war (any war) they feel is wrong. They don't like the truth and they never will. The cast is brilliant and you will feel strong emotions when you watch this movie, especially knowing that it is a true story. I'm a veteran and proud of that fact, but this movie exposed the treatment of injured vets at VA hospitals long before the Walter Reed travesty came to light and Stone and Cruise deserve credit for having the guts to show the other side of war and what the injured go through when the war is over. A+++++
Submitted by Donnie (Oakland City, IN, USA)
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 "I want to go to Vietnam--and I'll die there if I have to."
The second of three films by co-writer/director Oliver Stone to explore the effects of the Vietnam War ("Platoon" and "Heaven and Earth" are the others), "Born on the Fourth of July" tells the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), a patriotic, All-American small town athlete who shocks his family by enlisting with the Marines to fight in the Vietnam War. Once he is overseas, however, Kovic's gung-ho enthusiasm turns to horror and confusion. During his time in Vietnam, Kovic sees the true nature of war. His platoon mistakenly fires upon a town where the enemy is supposedly hiding; however, they end up killing women and children. During the confusion that follows, Kovic accidentally shoots a fellow soldier and his guilt would encompass him for years to come. But when Kovic himself is wounded in a field, he returns home paralyzed from the waist down, spends an appalling, nightmarish stint in a veterans' hospital, and follows an increasingly disillusioned and fragmented path that ultimately leaves him drunk and dissolute in Mexico. However, Kovic somehow turns himself around and pulls his life together, becoming an outspoken anti-war activist in the process. The film is emotionally powerful; many consider it Stone's best work and Cruise's best performance. Both were nominated for Oscars, as was the film itself, but only Stone, who co-wrote the film with Kovic from the latter's book, won for Best Director. When asked why he wanted to make another film about Vietnam after the success of "Platoon", Oliver Stone is quoted as saying, "There was another war waiting for the soldiers when they returned home." Indeed, he was right. "Born on the Fourth of July" follows Kovic's account of his experiences in Vietnam and the indifferent nation that he returned to. When Kovic returns to his home from the hospital, he realizes that the world has changed. People protest the war, sometimes protesting against the soldiers themselves. Before the war, Ron was a much simpler character. He knew what everything was about, he knew his role in the world, and he knew his duty to his country. Late in the film, Ron will say to his friend Charlie (Willem Dafoe) "Do you remember when things made sense?" When we see Kovic in the final sequences of the film, he has become an eloquent and persuasive critic of the war, producing facts to support his case that the audience is not familiar with. The film shows, if you will, the "spiritual" change in Ron Kovic, how the war changed him, almost killed him, almost drove him mad, but in the end taught him about true patriotism. [filmfactsman]
Submitted by filmfactsman (Beverly Hills, CA, USA)
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