Review of The Boys in Company C (1978) by David G — 23 Feb 2009

Really good war movie that centres on a group of really interesting characters - young men, whether by their own choice or not, joining the Marines and being shipped off to the 'Nam. I particularly liked Stan Shaw's Tyrone Washington and Craig Wasson's Dave Bisbee, the former a hustler from Chicago who intends to traffic heroin back home from Vietnam for huge profits and the latter a drafted "Make Love, Not War" hippie. All the men find conflict, friendship and brotherhood through their experiences and whether they change for the worse or the better, they never forget who they are.

I've heard that the film was an inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and it's hard not to see how - the first 40 minutes follows the recruits through boot camp before shifting the story to Vietnam. R. Lee Ermey even plays one of the drill instructors, though don't expect anything even approaching the magic of FMJ's D.I. Hartman. Also, this is a war movie that's strictly about the characters so don't expect any notable battle scenes. Trust me though, in this case you won't miss them.