Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Story of a young man who makes it through Marine basic training and goes on to Vietnam.
Biased, pithy comments: Where some Vietnam movies question high-level assumptions about why America got involved in Vietnam, this movie keeps the focus tightly on the psyches of the grunts who are stuck there (and, in some cases, are even enjoying it). Like ``One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,'' we are treated to the internal struggles of a man who starts mostly sane but finds himself immersed in an increasingly mad situation. As with all Kubrick films, it's a gripping watch, but (and I'm opening myself to floods of email here) probably not the definitive Vietnam experience movie. Fantastic performances by D'Onofrio and real-life drill sergeant Ermey in the first half.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey.
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick