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Born on the Fourth of July

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Born on the 4th of July (film): Tom Cruise's first best actor nomination@netflixr480d

While I had heard about this film a great deal and do in fact remember how popular it was at the time of it's release, I somehow managed to not watch this somewhat famous film until yesterday. Perhaps it was the nearly 2 and a half hour runtime or maybe it was released at a point in time where I shunned all Academy nominated films. Whatever the reason was, I ignored this film for 35 years.

[src](https://resizing.flixster.com/-XZAfHZM39UwaGJIFWKAE8fS0ak=/v3/t/assets/p12039_p_v8_ag.jpg)

I enjoy war films and as I am certain most people are aware, that is exactly what this is. Since it was produced and directed by Oliver Stone, this was always going to end up in award-ville, but it is still kind of surprising to me that Tom Cruise was selected for the main role. Keep in mind that this was released in 1989 and Tom hadn't yet been typecast as the action star that he is so well-known for these days.

Was he the best person that they could have selected for the role? I kind of think so after watching it.

[src](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/styles/social_share_image/public/screenshots/csm-movie/born-on-the-fourth-of-july-ss1.jpg)

Cruise plays that main role of Ron Kovic, a boy who was raised in a military family and was brought up to believe that there was no greater honor than to serve your country in the armed forces. He was just the right age when the Vietnam war was going on, and unlike many others, he was excited about the idea of getting involved in combat to fight against the spread of communism. He grew up a true patriot and has a massive love for his country.

Without spoiling too much let's just say that things don't go so well for Ron, and he is grievously injured in a combat mission gone terribly wrong. At first he starts out hopeful that he will recover from his paralysis and works harder than anyone else in a gung ho fashion convince that if you just work hard enough, you can overcome anything.

[src](https://moviesalamark.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/born-on-the-fourth-of-july-movie-clip-screenshot-july-4th-parade_large.jpg)

When he returns home after the injury, he is at first admonished as a hometown hero and they put on a parade in his honor. Despite what has happened to him because of his service in the military, he is completely dedicated to his patriotism and has a strong belief that what the USA is doing over in Asia is the correct path and he has no regrets for having participated in it. Over time as public sentiment towards the war loses steam, and he is taken care of less and less by his family, the government, and the general public, his position on these things starts to change slowly but surely.

Like so many others that were in this position, he lives out his days in a booze-fueled walking dead sort of fashion as he is kind of pressured by his family who has grown tired of his drunken antics, to go to a community in Mexico that is popular among those veterans that are restricted to wheelchairs because of war injuries.

This is where he truly hits rock bottom as he slowly becomes the people that he meets and initially loathes.

[src](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7FPIfGRrnU3d7qdzzyBl19tSMF992dF3wPe3kPSV9TPyNJzEJTaT2ptAvenDwMt95J0G8mLWH-JC3_YV9r4Ho8UL-I5AWLUSZWmNBVzbMbhHFrx25B709bf74mJ-VQn7r2soopJEkd8sj/s1600/1989-Born-on-the-Fourth-of-July-08.jpg)

I didn't even know what Willem DaFoe was in this movie until he appeared on screen and it was awesome to me that he agreed to do what for him would be considered a "bit role." As expected DaFoe is incredible but for me, I was really impressed with Cruise in this movie.

I tend to forget that there was a time when Tom was considered an absolutely fantastic actor and had a lot more range than we have seen from him in the past 10 years. These days he seems to only be interested in "cash cow" action films but maybe Tom had already seen the other side of acting and just decided to cash in. This film kind of proves that he is a fantastic actor and at one point or another was interested in making genuinely good films. He also likely did this film for damn near free since the entire budget of the whole film was less than $20 million.

I'll be honest and say that this lack of budget is kind of evident in the combat sequences. I don't think they did a very good job of creating a believable "Vietnam" in the few war scenes that we get to see. As it turns out they were filmed in the Philippines. It turns out that Oliver Stone wanted to film in Vietnam but was denied that opportunity by the Vietnamese government. I can't imagine why :P

[src](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L5kZ5hOUO78/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLDfjL_3pIMibGqge3kkTF8WBAiegw)

The film is very powerful though. We see this boy turned man who has everything taken away from him but still continues to fight until he hits rock bottom because of a system that turned its back on him and threw him out once he was no longer of any use to it. While I don't know anyone that was subjected to this sort of thing because the war was over when I was born, I am sure there are a lot of stories that are just like this one.

In fact, this film is based on the real life of the real Ron Kovic and Oliver Stone, who is himself a veteran from that same war, was eager to work on making this film.

Should I watch it?

The quality of that trailer can kind of give you an indication as to how old this film is.

This film is extremely tragic and for the right kind of person it will have a lasting impact on them after watching it. The horror of war is something that fortunately most of us don't know anything about and the story of Ron is the story of countless others who started out as enthusiastic members fighting for a cause that they were kind of brainwashed into participating in in the first place.

I think the main reason to watch this is because it is truly a wonderful display of how talented Tom Cruise actually is. Aside from Jerry McGuire and Magnolia, we never really got to see what Tom is actually capable of because I think Tom realized pretty early on that the real money is in cash-grab action films and not so much in dramatic performances such as this one. Tom was nominated for "best actor" for his role, but didn't win. He was beaten by Daniel Day-Lewis and if you were ever going to lose to anyone and not have any shame about it, it would be losing to Daniel as it isn't even a fair fight competing with someone who is likely the single greatest actor alive.

This film is long, so strap yourself in or break it into a two-night ordeal. I had planned on breaking it into two parts but the next thing I knew I was pausing the movie for a bathroom break only to realize that it was 15 minutes from the end. They do a good job of keeping you interested all the way through and this film truly deserved the nominations that it got.

Especially if you enjoy war films that are based on actual events, I think that you will enjoy this one.

photodune-6774981-recommended-grunge-red-stamp-xs-643x272.jpg _{This film can be legally streamed on Netflix and Amazon, and is available for purchase for a few dollars on basically all the other services as well}

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›Film Review: Born on the Fourth of July (1989)@drax1421d

No other single person has helped frame Hollywood’s depiction of Vietnam War as Ron Kovic did. In 1978 his life story served as inspiration for the fictional protagonist of Coming Home, providing Jon Voight with Oscar for Best Actor. A decade later, Kovic became subject of conventional biopic Born on Fourth of July, written and directed by Oliver Stone, a film that would, just like the previous one, become one of the best known depictions of Vietnam War.

The film is based on the Kovic’s eponymous autobiographical book and in the film his character is played by Tom Cruise. The plot begins in small town where Ron Kovic grows up in working class Catholic family and adopts its values of patriotism and self-sacrifice. While still a teenager, he decides to join US Marines immediately after finishing high school. Earning the rank of Sergeant, he volunteers to fight in Vietnam War, but there finds that the conflict very different from what he imagined and the series of incidents would leave him confused and traumatised. First his unit gets involved in massacre of innocent civilians, then he accidentally kills his own soldier during the firefight, and, finally he gets wounded. In the hospital where he recovers, he is told that he would remain paralysed from the waist down. Kovic nevertheless remains optimistic, despite experiencing horrible neglect in understaffed and underbudgeted Veterans Administration hospital. When he returns home, he receives hero’s welcome but gets increasingly baffled by the American public turning against the war. This gradually leads him to question his beliefs and start drinking, which would result in break with his family. Like so many confused veterans, he tries to find solace in drugs, drinks and prostitutes, but after spending time with fellow veterans in Mexico, he decides to turn his life around and become passionate anti-war activist.

Born on the Fourth of July is often considered the second part of Oliver Stone’s Vietnam trilogy (with first being Platoon and third Heaven & Earth). Stone actually wanted to make the film a decade earlier, and it was only thanks to the “Oscar” triumph with Platoon that production became possible. Stone was attracted to the story because he, like Kovic, was Vietnam War veteran and, like Kovic, went through transformation from enthusiastic war supporter to ardent war critic. Despite similarities with general theme, Born on the Fourth of July is very different film from Platoon. It is more personal story that also covers more ground and has plot ranging through decades, with actual war being depicted in short segment. The epic scope allowed Stone to divide film in various segments which would apply different style, in many ways helped by cinematography of Robert Richardson. First part, that shows Kovic’s early years invokes Boomer nostalgia; second part, that takes place in Vietnam, is made to look confusing; the third part, which shows Kovic’s recovery and epiphany is shot in elegiac tones. Stone tries to create same effect with the use of 1960s pop and rock songs, but that effect is at times unfortunate, but, impression is saved by incredibly powerful score by John Williams.

The biggest asset of the film is, however, Tom Cruise. Although he had some serious dramatic roles before, he was still considered young and many saw his career only through framework of commercial cinema. The most successful of such roles was in Top Gun, celebration of American gung-ho militarism and other values that had led Kovic to go and fight in Southeast Asia. Ironically, his role in Born on the Fourth of July represented anti-thesis of Top Gun. Cruise has worked very hard in it, trying his best to convincingly play both idealistic teenager and broken cripple. His effort, which almost made him temporarily paralysed for the sake of authentic display of Kovic’s affliction, paid off and this is one of the best roles in Cruise’s career, after which he disarmed the last sceptics and established himself as truly great actor and not just pretty-looking Hollywood star. Cruise’s efforts are helped by small army of capable character actors which include Raymond J. Barry and Caroline Kava as his parents, as well as part of Platoon cast (Tom Berenger, John C. McGinley and Willem Dafoe) in small cameo roles.

Stone directs film with great flair, unimpeded with relatively low budget and using every opportunity to give each scene epic “larger-than-life” feel. The result is very passionate and memorable, but also an imperfect film. The most problems appear near the end when the transformation from Kovic as pathetic wreck into charismatic leader of anti-war movement appears too quickly. The final scene, in which Kovic delivers address at 1976 Democratic National Convention, is actually anti-climactic and appears as forced attempt to give some sort of closure and happy end to otherwise sad story. Although it had big success at box office, rave reviews and couple of prestigious awards, Born of the Fourth July had misfortune of being made at the worst possible time – shortly after collapse of Berlin Wall and US victory in Cold War, as well as during US invasion of Panama, the first in the series of short, simple and victorious military campaigns that would give PG-13 rating to Americans’ view of war and create perception that Vietnam debacle was exception rather than the rule. As Vietnam War faded from memory and people like Ron Kovic became less relevant, path towards misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan was being paved. It remains to be seen whether those events would receive their versions of Born on the Fourth of July.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/2604-born-on-the-fourth-of-july Critic: AA

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›Born on the Fourth of July - Movie Review!@neiraurdaneta2179d

I have always been against war, it's one of the most absurd things that human beings do. The Vietnam War was a very cruel and irrational war which left an indelible mark on the American people, thousands of young people lost their lives there, others were crippled and with difficult psychological trauma to overcome.

The films that I have watched related to the Vietnam War and that deal with this type of subject are, The Deer Hunter (1978), Apocalypse Now (1979), Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987), but in my opinion the Best of all has been Born on the Fourth of July (1989).

Source

Born on the Fourth of July is a film directed by Oliver Stone based on the life of Ronald Kovic (Ron), played by Tom Cruise. It's about a young American from a Catholic family with very patriotic principles and values, Ron's father had fought in World War II. It is important to note that in the film you can see the strong influence of the mother has on the family and especially on Ron.

Ron Kovic volunteered to serve in the Vietnam War and is sent to the battlefront, there he experiences firsthand the horror and cruelty of war. The first thing the young military man observes is the killing of Vietnamese people and the destruction of their humble homes, but he is convinced that this type of thing happens in war and simply refers to carrying out orders from his superior officers.

Source

The film shows very strong and heartbreaking scenes from the war that leave a strong impression on Ron. An important scene, and brilliantly dramatized, is when in a fierce confrontation with a battalion of the Viet Cong (Viet Nam Cong San) Ron Covik is wounded in battle which leaves him with consequences for life.

Source

After the war ends, Ron decides to change his life, convinces himself that the Vietnam War was a serious mistake for his country, and becomes a peace activist. The last scene is when Ron Koviv during a congress in front of thousands of people gives a speech in which he tells his story and how despite everything he managed to forgive and achieve his inner peace.

Source

It is a moving film, which I recommend watching, it is not for very sensitive people since the scenes are strong, sad and heartbreaking that show what war is like, but it also shows how despite suffering and adversity a person can overcome it and live a full life.

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