War Films Worth Watching
'Born on the Fourth of July'
Along with "Platoon" and "Heaven and Earth," "Born on the Fourth of July" forms director Oliver Stone's trilogy of Vietnam War films. The movie is remarkable for its raw portrayal of the emotional aftermath that veterans often face when the war is over.
Based on the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), an 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 when he accidentally kills one of his own men in a firefight. His downfall is furthered by a bullet wound that leaves him paralyzed from the chest down. He returns home, 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.
Tom Cruise in "Born on the Fourth of July," 1990. (Photo: Universal)
Based on the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), an 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 when he accidentally kills one of his own men in a firefight. His downfall is furthered by a bullet wound that leaves him paralyzed from the chest down. He returns home, 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.
Tom Cruise in "Born on the Fourth of July," 1990. (Photo: Universal)
