Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

VividSimon Simply Perfect

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

MisterWhiplash As the third part of an unofficial trilogy of Vietnam films, Stone picked as the final point a good challenge for himself as making a film not only from a woman's point of view (1st time), but from the side of the "enemy" of the war he and Kovic fought in. Of course Vietnamese people were seen in Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, but always as the "other", either in limited roles as the so-called enemy or as tragic figures of oppression. And yet despite opening during the Christmas season, it failed to connect with audiences.Seeing it now, finally, I can see why in some part; people from the West, Americans especially, wouldn't necessarily be interested in the point of view of someone who was on the side of the 'other', whether it's oppressor or oppressed (despite the attempted selling of the film on Tommy Lee Jones, audiences probably knew better that he wasn't the full star, more on him in a moment). It's one thing to see the point of view from the side of Americans, but for the other it's a tougher pill to swallow (maybe the exception is Letters from Iwo Jima, maybe), despite years after things are over and the wounds are beginning to heal. Maybe there's another aspect that is difficult to pinpoint but I could see it as Stone's, shall one say, spiritual side coming through which is his Buddhism, which is the religion of the protagonist Le Ly. How does one fully forgive and go for the belief in karma and past lives and so on? For me, this is a film that I could connect to simply on the grounds of it being a human portrait of a life lived through many, many beats. And in a way it makes sense from how the life story is told that it's the third part of a trilogy which began as a story of someone's life in the short term (the stint in combat), somewhat longer (from youth to awakening as a man full circle), and here it's from childhood to further as an adult. The life of Le Ly is at times dramatic... no, actually, it's brutal and unrelenting in its grimness. Le Ly's village is decimated and torn apart by war (not simply the Americans, though they certainly leave their mark, but the division between the two sides of the Vietnamese who bring equal hardship and misery and torture to Le Ly), and then when she has to leave with her mother to Saigon, as the story would say, "my troubles were about to begin".I'm tempted to say the first half of this may be TOO dramatic, in a sense, that things keep being thrown at Le Ly's way one after another: torture, rape, becoming an unwed mother on the streets, a dying (soon after dead) father, as well as a brother who was sent off to war and died. When I say 'heavy' it's more like an anvil is dropped. This is not to say the tone is always so heavy as far as being over-bearing - the emotion that's poured out in scene after scene by Hiep Thi Le is incredible, showing so much through her eyes as many a great actor can do. I think part of is is simply through Oliver Stone being... Oliver Stone, this coming as the "cool-off" between JFK and Natural Born Killers, so you can expect sometimes unwieldy camera-work and black and white flashbacks and the sort of intense lighting and compositions from Robert Richardson that, in a way, feel a little more out of place this time than in other Stone films of the period. The attempts to amplify the tension and horror (with the exception of one image, a big shock of fire going across the screen) are too much this time and clash with the otherwise strong, pretty straightforward direction of the dramatic scenes.Then we get into the second half when Tommy Lee Jones comes in, and it becomes a stronger picture. But his part in the film as well as everything that comes after does only work with that first half, if that makes sense; everything that Le Ly has endured and experienced, every moment that's forced her to be less foolish or ignorant or slow to understand something or naive makes her stronger so that when a strong, seemingly kind and generous man like Jones' Steve comes in, we get it. We know why she puts her guard up and why it goes down. And for Jones' part, as he has an arc as well as a man with a slowly-but-surely deteriorating veneer of strength through years of being a f***ed up "Psy-Ops" guy, he gives the performance that I'll just pretend he won the Oscar for in 94 instead of the Fugitive. It's really among his major performances, certainly one of the ones he should be remembered for, creating this man Steve as an engaging, fun, terrifying, wounded, tragic figure in Le Ly's life.I think that if Stone had reeled in some of his crazier stylistic tendencies of the period - he does, mostly, but not enough - and perhaps cut a little out (at 140 minutes it feels too long, mostly near the end, however necessarily in general it may be to complete Le Ly's arc), it would've been a film to stand with the rest of his work for the time. But as far as underrated films from a major director, this is one that is deeply felt and reveals someone who can deliver an experience outside of his usual worldview. At the same time it works as a feminist picture, a story of a woman making her own life on her own terms, while the spiritual side of things is always there. Though I wanted to like it more, I'd say if you want to finish Stone's oeuvre you won't be disappointed.

Theo Robertson It's interesting that when this film was released in 1993 that the prominent scene shown in film review shows is the scene where the South Vietnamese Army enter the village of Le Ly and come under attack by the VC . This gives the impression you're going to be watching a Vietnam film and the early part of the film does concentrate on the history of Vietnam . Too much so because if you do have a rough outline of Vietnamese history then you'll find the main story is being held up by Le Ly's potted history of Vietnam at every opportunity . There is a train of thought that if a film is too reliant on voice over then the film is failing on that level and this may well be a case in point That's not the only flaw . The way everything is shot gives an idealised view of a far off exotic land . If the Vietnamese government want to do a plug for visiting Vietnam then director Oliver Stone has done the country a big favour . There's a war on don't you and no matter what Le Ly's village still manages to look like a Utopian destination and despite people getting frequently killed and raped one wonders why on Earth anyone would want to leave here . Indeed the cynic in me wonders if Stone is seeking a personal redemption by making this film . I know Stone volunteered for military service in Vietnam and I know prior to that he volunteered to be an English language teacher in Vietnam but yet I never felt I was watching a real world view of Vietnam , more of a clichéd Lonely Planet romanticised Westerner view of the country There's also another flaw and that is Stone seems obsessed with Eastern mysticism . Heaven and Earth ? Ying and Yang ? Slumdog non millionaire and other new age nonsense as Stone concentrates on Karma and other metaphysical nonsense . The Vietnam war came about via Cold War politics and had nothing to do with nature or anything else outside of human engineered power struggles . Stone wants us to believe that a spiritual force is controlling everything but I'm afraid I'm more likely to listen to historians and scientists rather than soothsayers . The main flaw of the movie is that the story is ugly but the visuals are beautiful and while the audience can understand the point Stone is making via this technique it doesn't make new age thinking anymore credible

bobbyallright This movie gives a passionate and realistic view of the war. Things that really happened such as army guys trying to bring Vietnamese wives back to American and trying to make it work out. Like others have commented it makes you question who really started this war and for what reasons. Tommy Lee Jones character says it all in that quiet whisper that turns into an ugly argument when he tells his wife his mission is and has always been from the beginning to sell arms to countries such as her country. So it gets you thinking about what war is really about. Obviously the soldiers are trained to follow orders and not think about or question those orders. That would result in discharge. And for many in the war it dragged on for years on end and eventually people realize the pointlessness of it. How can the supposed most powerful nation on earth loose a war? You can break their backs with superior technology but you can't break their spirit. And you can never completely eradicate a poor people from their own country. There will aways be a resistance no matter how small. So you can never really win. It's like the old school yard bully who beats up on all the small guys. But as long as people despise the power and strength of the arrogant and evil bully there will always be resistance until the bully eventually pulls back and his pride injured. This has happened throughout all of history in all the world empires. Why is it we believe we are something different? This movie in someways gets you to think about that. Could it possibly be that we are the ones to blame? That we are where the problems started? But of course no one wants to consider that when it is so much easier to and cowardly to blame other people. That is why this film wasn't as well known and didn't rake in the multi-millions as other more popular Rambo movies.

spirou666 I don't understand why this film has been rated so poorly, it really deserves better. The breath-taking landscapes, subtle imagery, the overall excellent craftsmanship alone make this movie worth seeing.The unique and very personal perspective of this movie makes it hard to keep your distance. Some scenes are rather brutal, but these scenes are necessary for telling a realistic story. Definitely no Disney family movie though.I give it a 9 out of 10, because even with 140 minutes runtime the story feels rushed and crammed. Sometimes less is more, I shall read the books now.