Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15214 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-07-03
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Formats: Collector's Edition, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 138 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

Synopsis
A drama based on the true story by Ron Kovic of a young soldier who returns from Vietnam paralysed.

Customer Reviews

Riveting film about paraplegic Viet Nam veteran
This film based on the true life experiences of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) who started out as a dedicated patriot joining the US Marines to fight in Viet Nam. His experiences in Nam make him embittered with the futility of the conflict and the sufferings of the Vietnamese.

The first part of the film showing Kovic growing up and joining the marines is more targeted at American audiences, but once he is wounded, paralysed and a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair the appeal is universal. His gradual conversion to the aims of the “Stop the war movement” and peace activist are superbly acted by Cruise.

This is a tough, harrowing film to view, it depicts the desperate trauma I have read about suffered by Nam vets, I once saw a veteran comment “Nam made me so wild I am not safe to live amongst ordinary people”. We encounter the equivalent of that in this film, it is devastatingly honest and depicts not only the horrors of the conflict, the field hospitals, and the destruction of the souls of the men who survived.

Compelling viewing, but only if you are prepared to face the truth about war, but at the end there is some kind of hope.

Excellent film
This is an excellent film and has one of Cruise's best ever performances. Based on the book of the same title, which is a powerful read, this is also a powerful film. I found this film very moving and inspiring to see how one deals with his disability and tries to make a difference. Still brilliant even after repeated viewings and over time. Well worth a viewing.

Tom Cruise Can Act?
I must admit that I'd never previously rated TC as an actor, but his work here is certainly worthy of all the plaudits that it has received. He convincingly portrays Ron Kovic, an all-American patriot, who willingly goes to fight in Vietnam and is gradually transformed, through his experiences, into a committed anti-war activist. Though the film is frequently raw and shocking, Stone is still able to infuse some moments of dark humour into the mix (Kovic being given the last rites by a priest before he'd even been seen by a doctor; Kovic's fight with another wheelchair-bound veteran, etc).

The 'Special Edition' comes with disappointingly few extras. There is an audio commentary from Oliver Stone and 22-minutes of interviews with Stone, Cruise and the real Ron Kovic. The interviews were done at the time of the film's original release in 1989, the audio commentary was recorded more recently.