Born on the Fourth of July (Special Edition)

Customer Reviews:

Born on the Fourth of July.......2007-07-06

Helmed by "Platoon" director and Vietnam vet Stone, "Born" is a profoundly moving portrait of a macho athlete whose horrific battle experience causes him to reassess his politics and reorient his give-`em-hell attitude. Cruise, in an ambitious turn away from heartthrob roles, plays Kovic with precision and conviction, especially at his darkest moments, delivering the finest work of his career. Co-written by Stone and Kovic, "Born" reflects the pain and anger felt by an entire generation of returning US soldiers, and will leave a lasting impression.

Intensely moving exploration of the Vietnam War years.......2007-04-19

Born on the Fourth of July follows the journey of Ron Kovic from his innocent childhood in the 1950's through his experience in the Vietnam war and its aftermath. His painful journey reflects the tumultuous journey that America took during the Vietnam War years.

Tom Cruise, delivering an intense performance as Kovic, and director Oliver Stone, a Vietnam Veteran, allows us to share in the raw emotions of the character. John Williams provides a brilliant score to add to the emotional punch.

This film was made when Stone could command a big budget post-Platoon and before he succumbed to the excesses of his later films - Born on the Fourth of July stands as his finest film.

"This must be hell.!!".......2007-02-22

To be in a hot sun in a thick heavy uniform is very hard especially for those who never been in hot countries.You'd get easily confused and combined stupidities.
This movie features an ambitious young man dreams to be a hero of his land fighting enemies in other people's land.Ron Kovic has been brought up in a good family,but ends up for the rest of his life on a wheelchair.This... must be hell.
If you're born without legs,you'd never feel this kind of suffering.if you don't have love but have your legs,it would be different.Think what war can do to your children.
Kovic is interprated by Tom Cruise, an actor we have never seen so sad and depressed like in this movie.Oliver Stone is to me the 'Hero' of Vietnamese war's movies.Never forget that handsome Yankee Doodle Boy as young Kovic too.

Cruise's performance is one of his best...,.......2006-12-19

Everything that people love and detest about Oliver Stone's films is in full flower here--ambitious theme, strengthen visual style, undisguised political biases...

The film is also an important turning point in Tom Cruise's career, completing his transformation from rising star to serious actor... He received his first Academy Award nomination for his role as antiwar activist and Vietnam veteran... Though Ron Kovic's story is presented as a distillation of the political and a violent social commotion that America went through from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies... At heart, it's propaganda...

Stone begins the story as a twisted cinematic version with boys playing war in suburban woods... It's Massapequa, Long Island, 1956...

Ron Kovic grows up as a typical American white kid who believes in God, country, sports, and sex... His father's (Raymond J. Barry) leaving his forceful mother (Caroline Kava) as the dominant personality in the home... To Ron, she's a repressive slave driver who sets a standard he can never measure up to... That, in part, is why he enlists in the Marines, straight out of high school... Cut to the Cua Viet River, October 1967, where Sgt. Kovic is in his second tour...

The short vision of Vietnam that Stone presents here is even more surreal and horrifying than the violence in "Platoon." An attack on a village is a disaster, and the Marines' retreat from it is even worse for Kovic... That nightmare is settled when Kovic is seriously wounded, sent to a MASH unit, and then to a Bronx Veteran's Administration hospital...

Paralyzed from the waist down, Kovic sank into a deep depression... From that moment, the next hour or so is a steep downward spiral of self-pity, drunkenness, anger, misery, and, most important, guilt over one incident for which he cannot forgive himself... It's honest, unflattering, and ugly...

Cruise's performance is one of his best, capturing both the cocky, insecure young man and the haunted veteran...The motion picture is never boring and, until the last reel, the action moves forcefully...

If Stone had elected in the middle section to spend less time rolling about with pleasure in Mexican fleshpots and to pay more attention to Kovic's full development, he might have created the antiwar epic he was aiming for, revealing the physical and psychological costs of one of the most tragic events in history...

Stone's best; Cruise's best and never more timely than now.......2006-10-21

How could it have happened? Thousands of innocent soldiers and civilians killed for nothing? The most powerful nation on earth, having free speech and a free press, duped into a totally unnecesary and even counterproductive war? A Congress fooled by a dissembling and deceitful administration, with few dissenters.

Well, it happened again in 2003, and watching this movie, one of my favorites, is even more heartbreaking now than it was when I first saw it years ago. It's a period piece starting in the '50s, beautifully filmed, wonderfully acted, and perfectly capturing the spirit of three decades that I know well from personal experience. It's the story of Ron Kovic, who volunteered for duty in Vietnam, was severely wounded, and returned to find that not only had the war been unnecessary, but he and his fellow veterans were not all that welcome, especially when they started exercising their rights to protest the continuation of the war.

This is Stone's best movie by far. The joys of family life, the horrors of war, the pain of catastrophic injury, the trauma of alienation, the exhilaration of redemption... all are depicted movingly and accurately. In this movie, Stone is uncharacteristically as understated as John Williams' wonderful score. There are scenes, such as when Cruise's character, based on a real story, returns to his old neighborhood on Long Island to find his parents,family, and neighbors uneasily prepared for him, that always bring tears to my eyes. But that is just one of many such scenes.

Stone also is dead-on in his depiction of the attitude of the American public toward returning Vietnam veterans and the veterans' despair and bitterness. Alas, I fear that we have not seen yet the development of those same feelings as we have yet to see very many returning Iraq War veterans in this war, which never made any sense, but we will.

It's amazing to watch this movie again now and to see all the parallels with Vietnam, beginning with the killing of innocent civilians, confusion in the fighting, deaths of minority and working class kids, etc.

Like I said, it is heartbreaking to see this happen again, but this movie ought to be re-released or be shown in schools. Of course, being realistic, it has so much profanity and explicit references to sex that it will never be seen by those who ought to see it--impressionable kids who are brainwashed by government propaganda.

A side note: George W. Bush was probably at the 1972 GOP Convention that is depicted in the last part of this movie, so he was probably there when Ron Kovic and other Vietnam Veterans against the War were spit upon and gassed by police. Why John Kerry and his campaign did not bother to mention this--and a number of other things having to do with unnecessary wars--in the 2004 campaign is beyond me.

This is a movie to watch with your teenage son or daughter and to discuss afterward.

Average customer rating:

I couldn't watch this movie until now-16 years later!
This movie sucks
Limey Vision
Welcome antidote
Platoon is better.

Born on the Fourth of July - DTS
Starring: Seth Allen (II) , Raymond J. Barry , Anne Bobby , Tom Cruise , and Amanda Davis
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Vietnam War | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: 0783230745
Release Date: 1999-04-13

Amazon.com essential video

The second film in Oliver Stone's Vietnam trilogy moves from the brutality of war in Platoon to its equally traumatic aftermath. Based on the memoir of combat veteran Ron Kovic, the film stars Tom Cruise as Kovic, whose gunshot wound in Vietnam left him paralyzed from the chest down. He is deeply embittered by neglect in a veteran's hospital and by the shattering of his patriotic idealism because of the horror and futility of the Vietnam conflict. While painfully and awkwardly adjusting to his disability and a changing definition of masculinity, Kovic joins the burgeoning movement of antiwar protest, culminating in a climactic appearance at the 1976 Democratic national convention. A powerfully intimate portrait that unfolds on an epic scale, Born on the Fourth of July is arguably Stone's best film (if you can forgive its often strident tone), and Cruise's Oscar-nominated role is uncompromising in its depiction of one man's personal anguish and political awakening. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

I couldn't watch this movie until now-16 years later!.......2005-12-19

When this movie was released in 1989, I had been married for the second time for one year. I was involved in marriage, family, career and had left the 60s behind for awhile. I had the privilege of doing that; Ron Kovic could not. Reading the reviews at that time, I knew this movie would be too intense for me, and a few years later, when my husband would suffer a major stroke and become partially paralyzed himself, causing both of us to endure years of rehabilitation, I deliberately avoided the movie whenever it aired on TV. What I had glimpsed was too raw and authentic--I had enough of that in my own life.

But I watched it tonight on AMC and marvelled at the film--Stone's brilliant directing, Kovic's terrible honesty about his journey, Cruise's willingness to "go there." This is perhaps Stone's greatest movie, thoughtful to the tiniest artistic detail; director is too shallow a title for his achievement with this film. Kovic--it is his story that inspires me to write this review. Three years after my husband died--he lived nearly 10 years with his disability--I understood all too well Kovic's path. The fact that he kept going, that he didn't give up even when life was dark, painful, and utterly bizarre is simply amazing. Having to face "aloneness" and "dependence" and life without "equipment" is the most terrifying experience one can deal with. My husband had me. He knew he was loved everyday. Ron had none of that, but, thank God, he found a community and a mission--one that he sought and created. What kind of strength is that? It comes only when you face that awful test in life that none of us wants, that we'll do anything to avoid. Those who have encountered it are either dead by choice or alive and transformed. Kovic went through it, came out the other end, and I'm in awe.

This movie sucks.......2005-03-26

This is one of the most pointless movies that I have ever seen. I guess one of the points to the movie that I missed was that I was supposed to feel sorry for Ron throughout the movie. The only time I ever felt sorry for him was when he was stuck in the hospital and no one took care of him. With the exception of him becoming disabled and was in the hospital, I felt that he brought a lot of his troubles on himself.

Another point to this movie that I missed was that his being disabled and fighting in a terrible war gave him an excuse to do whatever he wanted. Rather than getting a job or doing something useful, he drank, told his sad story to anyone who wanted to listen, and cussed at his parents who take care of him. Oh yeah, he took a trip to Mexico to be touched by a hooker and fought with another disabled vet.

The third point that I missed was that Ron changed his view on the war because of everything that he suffered. Going back to point number one I felt that he brought a lot of the troubles on himself. Before he went on his trip to Mexico, his girlfriend rejectes him because he is disabled and doesn't agree with her views on the war. The movie also shows his brother arguing with him over the war.

The last point that I missed in the movie was that I am supposed to think that Ron found some kind of purpose in his life by speaking out against the war. So what? He does it because of point number three. Ron has only changed his views on the war but he is still the same selfish person that he was before the war. I'd be really impressed if he did something for someone else or thought about someone else.

So unless you agree with what the director is trying to say-don't watch this movie because it is pointless.

Limey Vision.......2005-02-10

Flint Westwood Here - its late here in Limey Land - the 51st State of the US of A. I am quite shattered at this stage. As for Mr Cruise, he ROCKED in this movie. The beard never suited him though, although, he looked much better with a beard in Collateral. This was his mistake, not getting his beard trimmed. I think he must have thought he was a hippy at the time. Led Zep all looked like extras from Catweasle around 1972. Whats Catweasle I hear you Yankees cry. Its a Brit show about a crazy looking wizard from the 13th Century. Cruise's beard looks just like Catweasle's. Perhaps Cruise should have been a time traveller like Dr Who. Never mind.

FLCW 9.2.2005

Welcome antidote.......2004-10-25

'Born On The 4th Of July' was originally supposed to have been made in the 1970's with Al Pacino playing Ron Kovic. However, after major financial backers pulled out of the project the film collapsed, but Stone made a solemn promise to his fellow Vietnam veteran that when he became more successful, he would try a 2nd shot at it.

We see the innocence of early 60's America in Cruise's eyes as well as a heavy dose of Polish Catholic guilt. 'Born On The Fourth Of July' acts as a useful antidote to hero worship. Cruise's performance is powerful and unrelenting and Stone manages to pull off something poigniant in his writing, (personal relationship dialogue has never been his strong point).

Although many seem to disparage the film on historical grounds, both Kovic and Stone are veterans of Vietnam, which in my mind lends the film a tinge of authenticity. Stone has chosen to be a popular film maker and popular film is always more emotional than intellectual. He has used Kovic's experience as a symbol of the U.S. experience of Vietnam in general. Stone himself has even admitted that there were inaccuracies in the film and that he has used 'generic' historical moments. But the fact that there were protests against the Vietnam war cannot be denied.

As a popular film-maker Stone knows that the majority of his audience do not read history books. If film can make history come alive more than books can and help drive the discussion about the war among a mainstream audience, then Stone has done his job.

Platoon is better........2004-09-24

Tom's performance is the best thing in this movie, the score is good, the cinematography is good, its pretty powerful and has some shocking things in it, it also explains alot about the truth of vietnam, everything else is good but not great. There is some smut that could have been taken out, it also ends to abruptly and i would like to know what happened to him, did he die, or live happily or well as happily as he could ever after, what happened? Besides those 2 flaws its pretty good, but platoon is better. Toms best performance is in The Last Samurai which is also a better film. I hope Alexander proves to be Stone's best which i think it will be. 7 out of a 10 for this movie.

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