The above is what fell out of my mouth during the final 20 minutes of this film. I've never laughed so hard at bad acting, cheesy sentiment, and overwrought "drama" before seeing this farce. Utterly ludicrous dialogue permeates the film but it never seems overly unwatchable until we enter the home stretch. Until then, it is a mildly enjoyable exercise, filled with decent costumes, vehicles, and locations (including genuine Vietnam footage --- nice). I'd rented on a whim expecting nothing, so I was surprised that it at least looked accurate and wasn't boring.
However, the movie's ultimate undoing is its commitment to the most overt and silly sentimentality this side of the "tell me I'm a good man" framing sequence from SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. The filmmakers milk it for all its worth and believe me it isn't worth much. Endless 'crying' scenes in slow motion, repeated 'breaking down' scenes, slamming of fists against walls, brotherly hugs, etc, beg the question if this was not all meant as satire.
A handful of scenes work fairly well --- the battle for Hue City is harrowing and exciting, and a "tunnel rat" sequence is suspenseful even though preceeded by the silliest on-the-nose dialogue imaginable. One bit involving a spare fuel pod in a treeline is cartoonishly innovative but seems more fit to MISSING IN ACTION than a movie meant to be taken seriously.
Ultimately the movie fails as it adds nothing to the played-out genre of the 'Vietnam film.' "War is bad!" --- check. "You wouldn't understand because you weren't there!" --- check. "It was a massacre!!!" --- check. All it lacks is a gruff Air Cav officer admonishing his troops that CHARLIE DON'T SURF!!!! Then we'd have had something.
