Born on the Fourth of July

Rating:
Summary: Haunting and distrubing, but ultimately redemptive
Review: 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. I also didn't want to reprise the bloody horror of our involvement in the war in Vietnam that I knew Oliver Stone was going to serve up. And Tom Cruise as Ron Kovic? I just didn't think it would work.

Well, my preconceptions were wrong.

First of all, for those who think that Tom Cruise is just another pretty boy (which was basically my opinion), this movie sets that mistaken notion to rest. He is nothing short of brilliant in a role that is enormously demanding--physically, mentally, artistically, and emotionally. I don't see how anybody could play that role and still be the same person. Someday in his memoirs, Tom Cruise is going to talk about being Ron Kovic as directed by Oliver Stone.

And second, Stone's treatment of the sex life of Viet Vets in wheelchairs is absolutely without sentimentality or silver lining. There are no rose petals and no soft pedaling. There was no Jane Fonda, as in Coming Home, to play an angel of love. Instead the high school girl friend understandably went her own way, and love became something you bought if you could afford it.

And third, Stone's depiction of America--and this movie really is about America, from the 1950s to the 1970s--from the pseudo-innocence of childhood war games and 4th of July parades down Main street USA to having your guts spilled in a foreign land and your brothers-in-arms being sent home in body bags--was as indelible as black ink on white parchment. He takes us from proud moms and patriotic homilies to the shameful neglect in our Veteran's hospitals to the bloody clashes between anti-war demonstrators and the police outside convention halls where reveling conventioneers wave flags and mouth phony slogans.

I have seen most of Stone's work and as far as fidelity to authentic detail and sustained concentration, this is his best. There are a thousand details that Stone got exactly right, from Dalton Trumbo's paperback novel of a paraplegic from WW I, Johnny Got His Gun, that sat on a tray near Kovic's hospital bed, to the black medic telling him that there was a more important war going on at the same time as the Vietnam war, namely the civil rights movement, to a mother throwing her son out of the house when he no longer fulfilled her trophy case vision of what her son ought to be, to Willem DaFoe's remark about what you have to do sexually when nothing in the middle moves.

Also striking were some of the scenes. In particular, the confession scene at the home of the boy Kovic accidentally shot; the Mexican brothel scene of sex/love desperation, the drunken scene at the pool hall bar and the pretty girl's face he touches, and then the drunken, hate-filled rage against his mother, and of course the savage hospital scenes--these and some others were deeply moving and likely to haunt me for many years to come.

Of course, as usual, Oliver Stone's political message weighed heavily upon his artistic purpose. Straight-laced conservatives will find his portrait of America one-sided and offensive and something they'd rather forget. But I imagine that the guys who fought in Vietnam and managed to get back somehow and see this movie, will find it redemptive. Certainly to watch Ron Kovic, just an ordinary Joe who believed in his country and the sentiments of John Wayne movies and comic book heroics, go from a depressed, enraged, drug-addled waste of a human being to an enlightened, focused, articulate, and ultimately triumphant spokesman for the anti-war movement, for veterans, and the disabled was wonderful to see. As Stone reminds us, Kovic really did become the hero that his misguided mother dreamed he would be.

No other Vietnam war movie haunts me like this one. There is something about coming back less than whole that is worse than not coming back at all that eats away at our consciousness. And yet in the end there is here displayed the triumph of the human will and a story about how a man might find redemption in the most deplorable of circumstances.

Rating:
Summary: Stone at his best
Review: With his last great movie 'Nixon' in 1995 people have pretty much forgotten about one of the greatest directors of all time. This is hands down Stone's second best film after 'JFK'.

I love this movie because it works on every level there is. Photography, editing, story, acting, score, everything is top of the line. In the opening we are blown away by Ron Kovic's childhood. Why? Because of the stunning photography and editing. Stone gives us an idea of America so perfect you feel like getting up and singing along.

Next Ron is thrown into Veitnam, the exact oposite. It's pure hell. Ron's unit kills women and children and even one of there own men. The contrast in settings is amazing.

The verteran's hospital the probably the most discusting we see how badly our men need help but instead they are subjected to the most inhumain conditions you can't believe it happened in America. "I just want to be treated like a human being! Is that so much to ask?" yells Ron.

Once home we see how Ron tries hard to fit back into America but his body is destroyed and he comes to the harsh realization that his life is ruined forever.

We switch scenes again to Mexico where Ron induldges in as many vices as he can to show just how low he's sunk.

Ron ends up getting his act together and confessing to the family of the fellow Marine he killed, and becomes an anti war activist.

I'm probably the only guy writing a positive review of this film that agrees with the Veitnam war 100% but I love movies and 'Born' stands by itself as a stunning drama and cinamatic masterpeice. How they did the photography for this I'll never know. It was way ahead of its time. An anti war movie in the decade that gave us 'Red Dawn'? Stone had guts and vision!

...Stone won the Oscar for best director. It should have won for best picture!

Rating:
Summary: Ron Kovic is a hero
Review: 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 positive action. He has more meaning to his life then most of us do.
This movie was great, although if you read his book you will be a tad disapointed because of how some of the facts are rearranged differently in order to fit into the 2 hours of the movie. It's a wonderful movie though. I especially love the part where right when your about to just burst out bawling (in the fighting scene with his mom), he does something that just totally makes you laugh. Watch the movie to find out what.
A great great great movie.

Rating:
Summary: the negative reviews
Review: just a response to some of the negative reviews i read, one in particular says that ron didn't protest the 72 republican convention, he protested the democratic convention. i also read his book, and the book states he was at the 72 republican convention where nixon accepted his nomination. he was a speaker at the democratic convention. he cowrote the screenplay with stone, so i'm unsure of where the dreaded hollywood liberalism comes into play. maybe elsewhere, but i don't think with revisionism.

Rating:
Summary: Stone's Second Vietnam Epic
Review: 1989's Born On The Fourth Of July found director Oliver Stone revisiting the scene of his greatest critical success, Vietnam. Unlike his Academy Award winning Platoon, Born On The Fourth Of July is not based on Mr. Stone's war experiences, but is the true life story of Ron Kovic. Mr. Kovic was an idealistic young man from Massapequa, Long Island who wanted nothing more than to join the Marines and serve his country in battle. He joins the Marines after high school and ends up in combat in Vietnam. It is very different than the solider games he played as a child. He is forced to commit acts he could never have imagined, including destroying a village, unbeknownst to the unit, which isn't filled with Vietcong, but women and children and this lays the groundwork that helps to break his patriotic zeal. Eventually he is wounded in combat and the injury to his leg renders him a paraplegic. Back home in the States, he undergoes rehabilitation believing that he will walk again, but is forced to finally concede that he will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Both he and his family have a difficult time dealing with his paralysis and he is burdened with fact that he will never have use of his lower body and will never be able to have sex. He becomes extremely bitter and gets drunk all the time. Finally after going off to a place in Mexico where other wounded vets have gone, he realizes that war is wrong and he is an example of the destruction it causes. He joins a group of veterans against the war and joins in protest against it, faces opposition to his cause before it is accepted and until the final scene in the film where he shown about to go onto the stage and speak at the 1976 Democratic Convention. Tom Cruise stars as Ron Kovic and gives a performance unlike any in his career. He perfectly fits the image of the young Kovic, bright-eyed and fresh faced, but as he changes into the longhaired, unkempt wheelchaired bound Kovic, it is a Tom Cruise we had never seen before. Mr. Cruise is brilliant and he deservedly was nominated for his first Academy Award, but lost out to another actor playing a man with an affliction, Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot. The film was nominated for seven other Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Screenplay based on another medium in which Mr. Stone and Mr. Kovic shared the credit and it won two awards, one for Film Editing and Mr. Stone took home his second Best Director award. Born On The Fourth Of July is a powerful and heartfelt movie that shows that families can be ruined by war even when someone survives and that all men who fight in battle are heroes in one way or another.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome home, soldier
Review: A dark and disturbing movie, but in many ways, Tom's best work yet. Stone's epic quasi anti-war movie quite rightly shows how the Nam Vets were never honoured for the heroes that they truly were - and that includes the 10,000 Army nurses and Red Cross SRAO women.

This movie exposes the Government hypocrisy in many ways, yet perhaps the most powerful commentary is on the state of the Vets hospitals. It's hard to say which scenes are the most harrowing - the ultra-graphic scenes in the Surgical Hospital in Nam, in which the staff had to follow strict Triage protocols and decide who would live and who would have to die (for reasons of resources and time) - or the scenes in the Vet hospital with its almost nineteenth century barbarism.

Perhaps the most shameful part of the Government's conduct of the War is that Nixon got elected in 68 on the basis of bringing the boys home, yet he waited until December, 1972 to unleash Linebacker II, the only effective and unrestricted strategic bombing campaign of the entire war.

Some years ago I read Robert Bly's Iron John, in which he mentioned that even at that time, more Nam Vets had committed suicide since the end of the War than died during the War itself (more than 58,000). Around the same time, I heard a report that about one third of America's homeless were Vietnam Vets.

Watching this movie, you can understand how both of these tragedies have unfolded. I am not a pacifist by any means, but movies like this should be required viewing for people who are considering a career in the military. Not to put them off, but to give them a sense of how badly things can go, so that they may go in with their eyes open.

Ron Kovic is a man of tremendous strength and integrity, and he is just one of many many thousands of Vets who were never honoured by their country, and who never heard the words "Welcome home, soldier."

There is still time to honour the Vets. We just need to find more ways to do it.

Rating:
Summary: great movie
Review: When it comes to great powerful movies in history look
no further then Oliver Stone the academy award winning
director of JFK,PLATOON,WALL STREET,and this masterpiece.
With horrific battle scenes and anger filled foul dialogue
used casually and emotional tear filled scenes this is one
of the greatest after war view that is supierior to THE DEER
HUNTER.With powerful performances by Tom cruise,Frank Whaley,
and the great Willem Dafoe this deserved more then it got.
It's a crime this didn't win best picture,best actor,and best
supporting actor for Dafoe personally I think this is in the
top five best films of the 80's.And is really the only movie
where Tom Cruise is a ugly looking man and this is his best
performance ever.So if you liked THE DEER HUNTER,COMMING HOME
or PLATOON you will like this one.Don't be dumb watch this movie

Rating:
Summary: Notions Of War
Review: Director Oliver Stone's biopic of former Vietnam Vet and Activist, Ron Kovic, (Tom Cruise) is a pretty powerful film. The script, by Stone and Kovic, based on Mr. Kovic's book, makes for a fine companion to PLATOON. The movie traces Kovic as a young teen, who is eager to join the millitary, and go to war in Vietnam. Once he gets there, he becomes paralyzed, when he is shot by a enemy sniper. After an agonizing rehabilitation, he comes home, to a very different United States, and must come to terms with that. I am among those people, who thinks that Cruise, isn't all that good of actor. I have to say though, that he surprised me in BORN ON THE FORTH OF JULY, and really does some solid stuff here. For his part, Stone gives viewers everything that they have come expect from his films. The best part of the movie, for me, is what happens to Ron after he comes home. Not only did he have a hard time adjusting to life at home with a disability, but his family and friends have an eaqualy hard time dealing with, how the war changed him. The rest of the cast is top notch. Kyra Sedgewick, as Donna, Ron's girlfriend, Karoline Kava, as Mrs. Kovic, Raymond J. Barry, as Mr. Kovic, and Frank Whaley as Ron's friend, Tim, all give memorable perfomances. If PLATOON showed us what it was like on the field of battle in Vietnam, than this film shows us what happened when our soldiers came home, from the war.

Unlike most of Oliver Stone's films available on DVD, there is not much, in the way of extras here. There's a few production notes and some cast and crew information for you to look forward to. The only other feature is a thought provoking and informative commentary from Stone I always enjoy his words, even if I don't agree with all of his political notions, that he talks about on the commentary. The DVD is recommended

Rating:
Summary: Powerful Anti-War Movie
Review: This is the only film starring Tom Cruise that I like.
Compare his Ron Kovic character in this movie to his "Maverick" character in Top Gun (1986). You aren't so cocky and egotistical now, are you, Mr. Cruise?
Becoming paraplegic for life really stinks, and Oliver Stone realizes this. Yet each individual copes with life-long, severe, disability differently. What we see in "Born on the 4th.." is almost a worst case scenario.
Everyone in the United States should watch this film. However, most people would soon become too depressed to finish the viewing.
The ending is Kovic speaking before the 1976 Democratic convention. Yet there is no real feeling of redemption, even with a flashback of Ron's mother telling him as a little boy, "I dreamed that you were speaking in front of a very large audience of people".
By 1976, US armed forces had pulled out of Vietnam.
In 1991, the real Ron Kovic could not prevent US armed forces from attacking Iraq.

Rating:
Summary: Hate war, but honor veterans
Review:

While most war movies focus on the courageousness and bravado of the combatants, this one shows what life is like for wounded veterans. Anyone thinking about joining the military should be interested, because anyone joining the military should be not only be prepared to fight, but be prepared for the consequences.

A good question posed in this movie comes when the main character is getting drunk and having a tantrum at a local bar. A solid WWII former Marine who fought in Iwo tells him "we lost 6,000 guys the first day, what are you crying about?" Well, I think the answer to that question is that the US won WWII, Americans were proud of the veterans, and this provided wounded veterans with a justification for their suffering. We lost Vietnam, we didn't gain any territory, and Americans didn't display the same support for Vietnam vets as they did for WWII vets. Wounded Vietnam vets are constantly plagued by the thought that they sacrificed so much for so little, and it's more difficult for them to accept their loss.

Of course, regardless of their war, the capabilities of wounded vets depends largely on the vet's mentality. But, regardless of their individual ability to cope with their wounds, no one can argue that the nation shouldn't support them generously.

Anyway, this is a pretty good flick, and definitely an important one to watch, since hardly any war movies deal with life after the bullets stop flying, except maybe a couple foreign flicks and "Johnny Got His Gun."

-- JJ Timmins