Kovic was a kid from Massapequa, New York who grew up believing in the post-World War II beliefs of American superiority, anticommunism, and John Wayne, and who wanted to serve his country. But in Vietnam, he had the tragic misfortune of being shot by a VC bullet and paralysed from the waist down. He would now never be able to have children, and he would never walk again. Like a lot of Vietnam vets, he was met either with indifference or hostility to his suffering. He became embittered and hostile in his own way.

But he soon learned that his experience could be used for a greater purpose than war: to educate Americans about the realities behind the myths that helped tear America apart during the 1960s and 1970s.

Although a long film at 140 minutes plus, BORN is a stunning look not only at Kovic's personal experiences, but the experiences of our nation when we moved from braggadocio and John Wayne patriotism to cynicism and political violence. Never in this movie do Stone or Kovic ever say that Vietnam vets didn't serve their country proud. They do, however, indict the culture of paranoia and anticommunism that worshipped a supposed "patriot" like John Wayne, who NEVER saw any combat action in his life. And on that count, they must be commended fully.

It is an honor to serve one's country, but when you don't know the truth about what you're supposedly fighting for, the results can be devastating. That is what Stone and Kovic say was wrong with America's Vietnam experience, and I can't help but believe they were 200% right.


a real film which touches our thoughts   May 29, 2001
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

when i watched born on the 4th of july, i thought it was much different then other movies, it showed a different side of war showing that a country did not care about a person who fought for his country. A very long film with great acting and is very worth to have on video.


The best movie yet about the Vietnam War   May 21, 2001
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Oliver Stone's second entry in his intended Vietnam trilogy (the first being the extraordinary and revisionist Platoon, the last the under-whelming Heaven and Earth) is a powerful, moving and politically uncompromising adaptation of Ron Kovic's autobiography of the same name. Charting Kovic's transition from blindly patriotic, gung-ho high school senior to bitter, cynical war veteran and anti-war activist, Stone paints a convincing and depressing portrait of a generation betrayed by their political leaders, leaving you emotionally devastated and politically angry. A totally disarming career best performance by Cruise, who - in any other year - would have walked away with the Oscar for Best Actor (as it was at the time, he was up against the world's greatest living actor, Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot). Weighed down slightly by an ill-judged and arguably unnecessary diversion into Kovic's drinking, whoring and cussing experience of Mexico. Such is the power of the rest of the film, that the indulgence hardly costs it a deserved five stars. Cruise's performance is undoubtedly the heart of the movie and he delivers impressively with a performance of unexpected maturity and depth. Stone reinforces a convincing claim to being one of the last true remaining auteurs of American cinema. Long may he continue to shake the mainstream out of its complacency.


Good Acting   May 18, 2001
 3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Cruise really showed he is a legitimate actor in this one. Could have been 4 stars but Stone's pure liberal propaganda and unbelieveably false historical references take away from the intent to make this a film based on a true story...