Courtney B. Vance was kind of all over the place in this wasn't he? One moment he's an over-the-top make everything political racist, and the next moment he actually cares about everyone... and then it's back to nothing but race... and then he cares about people. He really needed to pick a direction and roll with it, because he came across as going too places at once.

But otherwise this is the forgotten cousin of Platoon. It's not exactly as good as Platoon, but it is more solid start-to-finish than Full Metal Jacket was.

The strength really comes from an attempt to depict the events without really making anything heroic, or action-hero dramatic. And, instead, they do their best to make it just a straight war movie. No great odyssey, no moral point, no real views on Vietnam as opposed to other wars. Just a straight war movie and nothing.

It's not unlike Saving Private Ryan, in which the film is able to make both a pro-soldier statement while also being anti-war. It's a fine line to walk, but they do it with the skill needed to both show absolute brutality, and the humanity of soldiers that are put in that horrible situation.