i must say... I didn't care for it.I thought the writing was weak and cliché, tried to hard to be a Vietnam film instead of allowing it to become one (if that makes sense) i thought the acting was poor and the special effects (even for 1987) were amateurish. not one character sold me. I don't miss too many war movies...and this one had a good reputation, but im not sure where it came from.to say it was the best Vietnam war movie ever, really takes away from some great films. maybe i went in expecting too much because of the reputation this film has, but i left disappointed

This movie has some nice images and shots, but overall, it looks like a really slick and bad Hollywood version of war. None of the characters are believable and the acting is sometimes so over the top it almost makes you cringe. Little stuff, like grunts that look like GQ models, officers that are supposed to be smokers, but you can tell they have never smoked before in their life, dialog that sounds like something penned by Max Fischer in Rushmore. An overall absence of any depth. It just looks like a movie based on other movies. I am a big fan of the Vietnam genre and read all I can on it, but this film seems quite distant from the gritty reality of the Vietnam War. This resembled more the Vietnam War being mocked by Tropic Thunder.

As the extra material points out, this was the 1st movie for many of the cast. Only Don Cheadle and Dylan McDermott have moved on, as I can tell. the rest have stayed rested.Courtney Vance played a racial character with over-the-top racism.While the movie is based on a true event, it was acted poorly and was a poor script. In retrospect you have to wonder why the commanders of this siege just didn't pull off all the troops and just napalm the whole hill for about 3 days.. I've seen most war movies and this has to rank around the very bottom in execution. "Inglorious basterds" was a better movie to watch.

No matter how much mud or blood there was in this film at any one time it could be counted upon that the soldiers would all have pearly clean, pristine white (and flossed) teeth! Seriously, all the time: an arm blown off, no problem, lets smile to the camera ...shot in the face, it's okay, do my teeth look good?!Every conceivable moment a track from the era popped up, to be played right to the end, so if its a 5min song, you hear the whole thing, that drags.What else... well, bad, no, really hollow, flimsy-bad, acting, utterly over the top. If only the actors could have extracted that out of the audience at the same time and they'd be on to a winner.Oh Christ, why bother, just don't, watch something else. Full Metal Jacket for the fifteenth time if you have to, just, just not this!!