Now I left an infantry unit in '67, so MAYBE things changed, BUT CERTAINLY NOT TO THIS EXTREME.Nobody screamed at anybody in the field. That only happens in poorly administered basic training units and in garatrooper units where no one has ever been in a fire fight or seen a friend shot and die... and, of course, in this terrible movie and those so-called "militia units".And All, or majority, Black units? Not when I was there, but of course, I left in '67. Maybe there was a surge of African American Patriotism afterwards, but I doubt it, particularly after MLK was assassinated in '68.Now UNDERSTAND, I don't believe getting drafted or enlisting makes you a "patriot". Anyone who was in the woods 3-10 klicks a day, c rations, no bath for a month, digging a hole every day and doing ambush patrols, LP's and walking point will tell you where to stick your "Patriotism".But ask me and I'll put up Muhammad Ali, the kids that died at Kent State, and the thousands that were beaten and jailed burning their draft cards... and most heroic...our "enemy". Can you imagine living on a cup of rice a day fighting against the most powerful army on earth???That took a pair. And THIS MOVIE SUXXXES!

Give me a break. The Vietnam war was a real war where real people died. Total U.S. fatalities in the theater were over 55,000, if I recall correctly. And as wars go, this one was not managed very well, in my opinion, but this movie is disgraceful in its blatantly dishonest portrayal of the war. All of the characters are basically comic book characters. All of the behaviors displayed by all of the characters are behaviors that would never have been exhibited by anyone who actually found themselves in a war zone. The movie implicitly wants to be taken seriously, but you cannot take it seriously. The white officer leading the platoon is especially a comic book character. His enlisted men show him a level of disrespect that is so far over the top, and so far beyond what any officer in the U.S.M.C would ever tolerate of his marines, that the movie becomes a comic book within just a few minutes. And it is a bad, bad, comic book. In reality, a marine officer will put his life on the line for his marines at the drop of a hat, and his non-commissioned officers will do the same for him. No non-commissioned officer in the marines would ever speak to his superior officer in the way that these jackasses do. Anyone that did would find himself doing hard time. In the U.S.M.C., discipline is everything. Discipline is the life blood of the Marine Corps. This movie isn't just unrealistic, it is disgraceful. The people who made it are shameless, and have no knowledge of the Marine Corps.

I was looking at the free movies on demand and saw Joe Morton was in this, so I decided to watch it. I was really glad I did. The interactions between Joe and Eddie Griffin were great. I also loved the soundtrack; it reminded me of my youth. I have to disagree with anyone who thinks Blacks weren't disproportionately represented in Vietnam. Actually, all poor Americans were; unfortunately, inner cities happened to have a lot of poor minorities and little political clout. The movie did suffer a little with the generic stereotype VC, and the fighting seemed low budget, but the acting among the main characters was great. Worth seeing if you come across it.

It could have been much better, the movie is actually worth watching once just for the dialog of Eddie Griffin's character and Sgt. Barkley. The problem comes in the form of awkward acting from all the cast (except the aforementioned characters) and the very predictable nature of EVERYTHING you experience during the movie. The film feels rushed and underdeveloped and very average. As the movie moves along you become a bit more attached to the characters due to the flashbacks of life before being deployed to war and good character development but overall this is probably one of the worst war movies I've seen. I give it a 5 just for Eddie though, he is great in this flick.