One rifle, one gun. One for killing, one for fun.

Starring: Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Emery, Dorian Harewood, Arliss Howard, Kevyn Major Howard, Ed O'Ross, John Terry

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"Has anybody here read a real book about vampires, or are we just remembering what a movie said? I mean a real book." - Jacob Fuller

Why watch this? Vietnam - this is Kubrick's attempt to describe the undescribable.

Plot Summary: A group of U.S. Marine recruits endure dehumanizing and brutal basic training under a harsh drill instructor at Parris Island, resulting in the psychological breakdown of one soldier. Following their training, the recruits are deployed to Vietnam, where they experience the intense chaos of the Tet Offensive. The film follows the main character, "Joker," as he navigates the brutal, confusing conflict.

Dad's Preview: Like Platoon (1986) the year before, this Vietnam war movie does a pretty stellar job conveying, to us that did not experience it, that era's constant chaos. This film illustrates this in two distinct acts: the squad's basic training under their sadistic drill sergeant (memorably portrayed by the intense R. Lee Emery), and action they endure during the Tet Offensive, one of the bloodiest operations of of the conflict. We see that these young men are put through a psychological meat-griner, their senses and morals crushed to make them cold-hearted killing machines. Some men broke. Some embraced it. Those that survived were never the same again. Perhaps this is the nature of warfare, but Vietnam just feels worse.

Natant, Harrier Films; Warner Bros.