Review of Born on the Fourth of July (1989) by Lee P — 23 Jan 2011

Oliver Stone's twisted and realistic as hell outlook on America during the Vietnam War is something that's so intense and well made, it may as well feel like I was there.

The acting is terrific, Tom Cruise gives his best performance of his career, his character and all the things he has to commit to as an actor in this movie are absolutely incredible, Willem Dafoe is great as well, just a lot of terrific performances. The filmmaking is outstanding, Oliver Stone knows how to make a period piece for sure, his direction is out of this world, the cinematography, the score, the writing, and overall atmosphere is intense and dark. The emotion you get from this movie is so EPIC! You really get a feeling that these people are fighting for something that was probably one of America's darkest period's, there is a lot of disturbing and dark things in this movie, so hang on while watching it, it gets really bumpy, and the ending is fantastic.

I can praise this movie up and down all I can with how good the movie looks and how well the acting is, but the story turns into a mixed bag, now, I'm not sure if this is a true story or not, but I felt that they had a good start up with his story and love interest, including his family, yet, that all changes tone once he gets into the war, the movie had me really confused, and I was really into that beginning story of him and his family, yet that never gets contrived in the end. For being a movie that moved me with it's message, it was way too Activist, now I know that's how Stone feels, but I really don't think that his beliefs should be part of the story of this non-fictional/fictional character, and it loses so much focus into some things, and if your not the one of much disturbing images and violence, this will not be a movie for you, this movie had me closing my eyes at some scenes, now that can be worth praising, but not if that whole tone has changed automatically.

I think Stone made a Realistic Epic that's worth watching once around your lifetime, Tom Cruise gives an amazing performance, and if your the history buff, it's very accurate as such.