Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A Masterpiece!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Had I not been with several friends, I would have walked out. All I can say. Awful.

The first movie I saw that stars Tom Cruise is A Few Good Men. I hated that movie, and I think Tom Cruise is terrible in it. The major reason for me to hate that film is the blatantly simple thematic message of patriotism, and I thought Tom Cruise was bad because his character was just an archetype already used in thousands of other pictures and books before. The things I hate about A Few Good Men made me nervous in the first twenty minutes of Born On the Fourth of July, because it seems that this is another one of those movies that boast about the American patriotism simple-mindedly, with a most ordinary lead character giving out okay performance. Thank god the movie proved me wrong. Tom Cruise is amazing in this movie. It takes about five minutes to know if someone is talented in acting, and Tom Cruise has about ten of those five minutes in the movie. I don't know any other character's name, but most are pretty good. Another thing about the characters is that this is a very character-driven story, which makes every other character apart from Tom Cruise having only a minor role. This might be the reason for people to think the movie is not very fleshed out, because not even one character stays to the end: his first love leaves him, his fellow soldiers either die or go missing, his friends only appear from scene to scene, and his parents disappear towards the end. However, all the characters have clear motivations, and their appearance always helps convey the thematic message. The camera work is astonishing. The film plays with the lighting very well, to the point of exemplary. Also the director loves to use hand-held extreme close-up, and most of them are very well-handled. I would say one or two scenes do not work. The ending is obviously rushed, but it does not ruin the movie. Overall I would have one point off for the problems, and I definitely recommend it as a war/identity/patriotism genre movie.

this films story is serious its a political drama film directed by Oliver Stone i don't like his films but have to say this one is the best.this film is about adventures of a Vietnam war veteran who looses his legs during a mission in war.i wont go into much detail of the story or other things but as a hardcore tom cruise fan i picked this up without any expectations & i was blown away its got action,drama & comedy all in one the best thing was the dialogues & funny situations like when tom cruise & willem dafoe at one point starts arguing & spitting & each other while sitting on wheelchairs on a deserted road is the most laugh out loud scene ever.tom cruise is the main highlight here he talks about how war affects people both in serious & comedy scenes.Born On The Fourth Of July 1989 is a must watch film for everyone for people who say tom cruise cant act i say just forget his mission impossible action films for once & see him in either cocktail,eyes wide shut & even collateral 2004 where he plays a assassin Or this one he can rally go into the character deep & bring out something amazing.my rating for this film is 10/10 Recommended

Exactly 25 years ago today, I went to my normal, daily summer routine of watching everything and anything in the theatres. Mostly dollar cinemas – yeah, when they actually were a dollar, since I never had any real funds. Luckily, this movie was still playing and I thought so appropriate that I would see this on the Fourth of July. But, unluckily, the film broke half-way through the feature and we were all given free passes to return. I never did. Well, at least to this movie.Not that I didn't like it. I was actually getting into it. But, I had other movies to watch. Then, it obviously came to home video, but I never got around to it. Coincidentally, I chose the quarter of a century anniversary for me to finally return to it and finish it once and for all.I'm glad I did. It was an extremely well-made movie and far ahead of its time with its dealing with PTSD and a country divided. Yeah, this dealt with the Vietnam War, but, it fits events today as well. Cruise, who oddly enough was ALMOST born on the Fourth of July (7/3/62,) was excellent and it was heartbreaking what happened to the real-life character he played. Sadly, America's head got way too big from the WWs, and even though Korea was a bust, there was still enough patriotism to fool more men to go fight a no-win war. Thankfully, there were protesters, or people who stood up and questioned what was force-fed us.I'm getting a little political here, or, more accurately, anti- political, but that's this movie. I just happen to agree with it. Miserably, a lot of the same politics play today with more brainwashing and mercifully, there are still people who will stand up against the fear mongers. I digress. Very good movie and you shouldn't wait 25 years to see this. See it now.